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Lost L.A.: How Christmas Tree Lane came to be

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The day is Christmas, 1938. Thousands of cars rumble down Altadena’s Santa Rosa Avenue, the street’s towering cedars aglow for what a photo caption in the Los Angeles Times calls ‘The Mile of Trees.’

The tourist attraction wasn’t really a mile long -- but people loved it anyway. Today the street is known as Christmas Tree Lane, and the tradition endures. Should it?

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Sam Watters asks that provocative question in our latest Lost L.A. column. The trees may still stand and the lights may still glow, Watters says, but has the essence of Christmas Tree Lane gone the way of the cars in this photo? Learn how the lane came to be and read Watters’ take on its existence today by clicking here.

-- Craig Nakano

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