Monrovia founder William Newton “Daddy” Monroe (1841-1936) was a railroad contractor who lived a long, itinerant life. The Indiana native married Mary Jane Hall (1845-1932) in Fort Kearney, NE in 1863 while serving as an officer in the Civil War. After the war, Monroe worked on the Union Pacific’s westward expansion: the Monroes’ five children were born in four different states. The family first came to Los Angeles in 1875 but were soon off to Texas for more railroading. (Their six-year-old son Jesse died there in 1882.) They returned in 1884 and Monroe, now working on the Southern Pacific, bought 240 acres of the Santa Anita rancho from Lucky Baldwin. More land was acquired – with help from well-moneyed investors like lawyer John D. Bicknell, L.A. mayor Edward F. Spence, and carmaker John Studebaker – and the town of Monrovia was announced in late 1885. (It’s been said that Bicknell and Spence wanted to name it “Monroe” but Monroe himself protested; he did, however, agree to be its first mayor.) Its 1887 incorporation makes Monrovia the fourth oldest city in the county after Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and Pasadena. Monroe Place was one of Monrovia’s first streets and was the site of its first homes. The Monroes’ own mansion, “The Oaks” on Primrose, faces this little street. W.N. Monroe would spend many more years abroad, including a long stint building railroads in Alaska, but he returned to Monrovia for good in 1911.
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