Repetto Hills
The Repetto Hills are a chain of low hills in Los Angeles County, California that form the southwestern boundary of the San Gabriel Valley. They are mainly within the cities of Los Angeles, Monterey Park, and Montebello and are densely populated. The hills are named for Alessandro Repetto, a 19th-century landowner in the area, and the Repetto Formation is named after the hills.
Geography
[edit]
The Repetto Hills separate the San Gabriel Valley to the northeast from the Los Angeles Basin to the south.[2][3][4] They also form a barrier between the groundwater basins of each area.[2][5]
From west to east, the Repetto Hills include Mount Washington, several unnamed hills in Eastside and Northeast Los Angeles, the Monterey Park Hills, and the Montebello or Merced Hills.[2] The Repetto Hills are bounded to the west by the Glendale Narrows section of the Los Angeles River, across which lies the Elysian Hills; and to the east by the Whittier Narrows, across which lies the Puente Hills.[2][6] To the Repetto Hills' northwest are the San Rafael Hills.[2]
The Repetto Hills are within the transition zone between the Peninsular and Transverse Ranges. The elevations range from ~870 feet in Montecito Heights to 200 feet at their eastern end at Rosemead Boulevard. The hills are separated by dry valleys that had active drainage during the wetter Pleistocene ice ages over 20,000 years ago.[2] The hills are densely populated.[7]
The hills were formed by uplift and detachment folding due to blind thrust faults in the Quaternary period as part of the Elysian Park Fold and Thrust Belt. The region features outcroppings of the sedimentary Tertiary-period Fernando Formation, Puente Formation, and Topanga Formation, which contrast with the surrounding Quaternary-period alluvial deposits.[2] The Repetto Formation, which is part of the Fernando Formation, is named after the hills.[8] These formations are distinguishable from the plutonic igneous rock of the San Rafael Hills, which are separated by the Eagle Rock Fault.[7]
History
[edit]
The hills are named for Alessandro Repetto,[9] an Italian immigrant and army doctor from Genoa[10] who acquired 5,000 acres of land in and near the hills[11][12] in 1866.[13] The land was previously owned by the Lugo family as part of Rancho San Antonio, and contained an adobe house in the hills built in 1840 by Jose del Carmen Lugo.[10][13]
In 1874, the bandit Tiburcio Vásquez raided the house, stealing two bags of gold and silver, and tying Repetto to a tree and forcing his nephew to withdraw additional money from a bank as ransom. Although Vásquez escaped, he was soon captured and was executed the following year. The incident gave rise to a legend that he had buried loot at the property, making it a destination for treasure hunters.[10][14]
Repetto's property was purchased by Montebello founder Harris Newmark in the 1880s, and around 1900 it was subdivided for a residential development.[15] In 1912, the adobe was still in fair condition and was purchased by the cities of Alhambra, Pasadena, and South Pasadena, and the Native Sons of the Golden West advocated for preserving it. However, it became dilapidated and collapsed in 1927 due to a heavy rain and the effects of digging by treasure hunters.[10][13]
Oil exploration in the Repetto Hills began as early as 1896.[6] Oil was discovered there by Standard Oil in 1917.[15] The hills were the site of an unexpected and unusual gusher from a new oil well in 1926.[16][17]
References
[edit]- ↑ VanAirsdale, Stu (2025-10-17). "Hill of Dreams: A native plant gem in Los Angeles". California Native Plant Society. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "SR 710 North Study: Geologic Hazard Evaluation to Support Environmental Studies Documentation" (PDF). CH2M HILL. 2014. pp. 2-1 – 2-13, Figure 2-1, Appendix B Figure 3. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
- ↑ "Azusa TOD Specific Plan Draft EIR: Population, Housing, and Employment". City of Azusa. 2015. p. 4.11-1. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
- ↑ Yerkes, R. F.; McCulloh, T. H.; Schoellhamer, J. E.; Vedder, J. G. (1965). "Geology of the Los Angeles Basin California—an Introduction: Geology of the Eastern Los Angeles Basin Southern California" (PDF). U.S. Geological Survey. p. A1. Retrieved 2015-01-19.
- ↑ "California's Groundwater Bulletin 118: San Gabriel Valley Groundwater Basin" (PDF). California Department of Water Resources. 2004-02-27. Retrieved 2026-08-01.
- 1 2 "More oil". The Los Angeles Times. 1895-05-10. p. 5. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
- 1 2 Lamar, Donald L. (1970). "Geologic map of the Elysian Park-Repetto Hills area, Los Angeles County, California". California Division of Mines and Geology. pp. 5, 11, 39. Retrieved 2026-07-31 – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ Swanson, Brian J.; Irvine, Pamela J. (2015-08-03). "Updated Nomenclature for Plio-Pleistocene Formations in the Onshore Ventura Basin, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara 30′ × 60′ Quadrangles" (PDF). California Geological Survey. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
- ↑ "All Over the Map While Drilling for Black Gold: Greater Los Angeles Petroleum Prospecting with State Mining Bureau Maps and in Harper's Weekly, 26 August 1899". The Homestead Museum. 2022-08-27. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
- 1 2 3 4 "Revives tales of buried treasure: crumbling adobe last trace of Spanish days". The Los Angeles Times. 1927-04-28. p. 28. Retrieved 2026-07-30.
- ↑ Rasmussen, Cecila (1995-02-20). "Buried treasure: Monterey Park". The Los Angeles Times. p. 47. Retrieved 2026-07-30.
- ↑ "Influences from near and surprisingly far". The Los Angeles Times. 2007-07-29. p. 88. Retrieved 2026-07-30.
- 1 2 3 Photograph of Repettos Adobe, University of California, retrieved 2026-08-01
- ↑ Rasmussen, Cecila (1995-02-20). "Buried treasure: Monterey Park". The Los Angeles Times. p. 47. Retrieved 2026-07-30.
- 1 2 "Influences from near and surprisingly far". The Los Angeles Times. 2007-07-29. p. 88. Retrieved 2026-07-30.
- ↑ "Oil field amazed by pulling liner on Repetto Hills". Press-Telegram. 1926-06-05. p. 8. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
- ↑ "Repetto Hills gets 1200-barrel well". Press-Telegram. 1926-06-25. p. 20. Retrieved 2026-07-31.