Courtesy Katharine Rudnyk

history continued

No longer able to care for the large ranch and recognizing the encroaching development pressures within the City of Glendora, the Pittmans subdivided and sold their land in 1976. The Pittman family, however, understood the significance of the border plantings and sought to protect them in the face of further development. By that time, the Glendora Bougainvillea were a significant horticultural element, just by their size alone (some with trunks as thick as twenty-four inches in diameter). Due in large part to the perseverance of the Pittman family, the Glendora Bougainvillea became a California State Historical Landmark in 1977; a year later, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Nearly four thousand people attended the parade and dedication ceremony held that winter to celebrate the designation. The National Register nomination was revolutionary in its own time and continues to be so today in that there are only a select number of nominations that have been prepared solely for a collection of plant materials. In fact, Dr. William Murtagh, then Keeper of the National Register, pointed out that the Glendora Bougainvillea set a precedent by being the first plant or group of plants ever listed.

In the 1980s, the Pittman's citrus grove was felled and a large condominium development was constructed. In hopes of assuring the survival of the Glendora Bougainvillea, the Pittmans shored the vines up with a series of metal trellises and transferred the land on which the plantings sit to the City of Glendora. Mayor John C. Gordon established a festival called “Bougainvillea Days” in 1985. Although the festival no longer takes place, it shows the pride the community took in its horticultural heritage, even while development consumed the last of the city's citrus groves.