Sierra Madre is known as “Wisteria City”, and its city seal is decorated with a drawing of the now widely known 500-foot (150 m) vine. It is also called the “Village of the Foothills” and was an All American City in 2007
Sierra Madre is historically linked to the old mountain resorts of the San Gabriel Mountains and Valley.
The Sierra Madre Villa Hotel was a pioneer of summer resorts that populated the San Gabriel Valley in the late-19th century. The municipality also operated and maintained the landmark “Lizzie’s Trail” inn at the head of Old Mount Wilson Trail.
Harvard College established the first Mount Wilson Observatory in 1889. The installation of the Harvard telescope in 1889, which brought its own problems of transporting the instrument up the old Wilson trail, caused an interest in a Mt. Wilson roadway, something more than a trail. The Harvard telescope was removed and in July the new toll road was officially opened to the public. The toll was set by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors at 25 cents for hikers and 50 cents for horseback. The new road was called the “New Mt. Wilson Trail” and it was more popular at the time than the old Sierra Madre trail. Foot and pack animal traffic became so heavy that in June 1893 the trail was widened to six feet. The Pacific Electric “Red Cars” established their route to Sierra Madre from 1906 until 1950. Literally thousands of people rode the cars to Sierra Madre to hike the original Mt. Wilson Trail.