Monrovia Nursery Co. Is 65 and Still Growing
Harry E. Rosedale, a young immigrant from Denmark, founded the Monrovia Nursery Co. in 1926 on a 10-acre plot in Monrovia.
The nursery was relocated to the sprawling Foothill Ranch in the Azusa-Glendora area in 1952 and grew into one of the nation’s largest wholesale producers of container-grown plants.
But by the early 1980s, the nursery was outgrowing the old citrus ranch, and the company bought a second site in Oregon, which has since expanded from 60 acres to more than 900.
Despite its 600 acres--which includes land in Azusa, Glendora and unincorporated Los Angeles County--space has once again become tight, nursery officials say. Some of the paved and dirt roads, which weave between the large growing areas, are filled with plants in plastic containers. Other plants are stored on normally vacant hillsides.
As a result, in 1995 the nursery plans to relocate to a 1,600-acre site near Visalia in the San Joaquin Valley where cotton and alfalfa are now grown.
The company originally planned to move to Ventura County but, concerned with the limited supply of water and its high salt content, bought the land near Visalia three years ago.
Plans are being formulated with Lewis Homes Management Corp. to develop the Azusa area nursery land. In the meantime, business goes on as usual. Daily, the nursery’s 700 employees prune, water, weed and fertilize their plants. Propagation crews continue to grow plants from seeds, cuttings or tissue cultures.
Palm Drive, the long, straight road leading to the nursery’s offices, has twin driveways lined with 226 California fan palm trees. Rumor has it that a feud between two sisters who lived on the property years ago resulted in the two rights of way. The sisters lived in separate homes and each had to have their own driveway.
One driveway now leads to the nursery’s headquarters, originally built as a residence in 1908 by Mr. and Mrs. J. S. Vosburg.
Mrs. Vosburg was the daughter of Jonathan Sayre Slauson, a citrus grower, who gained control of most of the huge Rancho Azusa in the mid-1800s. The structure has stood through several expansions and has retained its mixture of California ranch and Craftsman-style architecture.
In the heart of the nursery are the 116-year-old Fairmount Cemetery and Manresa Retreat.
Jesuits established the retreat on a 10-acre site in 1947. The original retreat mansion was torn down, and an eight-room Country French Chateau, complete with a library and parlor, was built. An additional 75 private rooms, similar to motel units, were built around the main house.
The retreat is open to the public seven days a week.
On San Felipe Hill in Glendora is the 1.8-acre graveyard that overlooks the Foothill Shopping Center and Citrus Community College.
Historians say settlers James Carson Preston and George Wright donated part of their property as a public burial ground after a local woodcutter, named Nelson, was killed in 1875 in Big Dalton Canyon protecting his wood from a thief. Nelson was single and had no known relatives.
The Fairmount Cemetery Trustees, a court-appointed body, oversees the burial ground.
Each trustee has ancestors buried in the graveyard. Community groups voluntarily maintain the decrepit cemetery, which has fallen victim to vandals and thieves. The last burial there was about four years ago.
Glendora resident Elizabeth Shorey, 76, president of the three-member board, said the city has declared the cemetery a historic landmark, and the group is seeking the same status for it from the state.
