Security Guard in Sierra Madre, CA

In approximately 500 CE, Tongva Indians, the native people migrated from the Mojave area to what would become Los Angeles County (including the San Gabriel Valley). Their name means “People of the Earth”. Their primary language was Uto-Aztecan Shoshonean. In the 16th century, there were about 25 Tongva villages, with a population of approximately 400 people. By 1769, the first Spanish settlers arrived in the region, finding an estimated 5,000 Tongva living in 31 villages. Sierra Madre was the site of a settlement named Sonayna. Two years later, Mission San Gabriel Arcangel was founded in present-day Montebello. The mission was later moved to San Gabriel because of severe flooding from the Rio Hondo River, which ruined their crops. The original mission site is now marked by a California Historical Landmark. Tongvas were integrated into the culture of the mission, and the tribe were renamed Gabrielino Indians by the Spaniards. The first Mount Wilson trail was carved by the Gabrielino Indians, who used it when they carried timber down from the mountains for the construction of the San Gabriel Mission in 1771.

Using Mexican and Chinese laborers, Benjamin “Don Benito” Wilson expanded the Mount Wilson Trail in 1864. Nathaniel Carter purchased the original 1,103 acres (4.46 km²) that comprise Sierra Madre in 1881: 845 acres (3.42 km²) from “Lucky Baldwin”, 108 acres (0.44 km²) from the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, and 150 acres (0.61 km²) from John Richardson (1811-August 9, 1884). In 1888, the Santa Anita railroad station was built. The first of the year brought Pacific Electric Railway Red Car passenger service to Sierra Madre. Later that year the first electric lights were installed by the Edison Electric Company. In December 1906, the first telephones were installed (250 of them) by the Home Telephone Company of Monrovia.

On February 2, 1907, the first citywide election was held and 96 citizens voted 71-25 to officially incorporate Sierra Madre; the population was about 500. In February 1907, eighteen days after the election, Sierra Madre became incorporated as a California city. Charles Worthington Jones was the first mayor.