Miss Orton's Classical School for Girls

The school's college preparatory curriculum reflected a national shift in women's educational opportunities; until the late nineteenth century, girls' schools were mainly finishing schools or arts schools and were not academically equivalent to men's schools. Miss Orton's School was the first non-religious private girls' school in Pasadena, as well as the only such school in the city until 1913, making Orton a pioneer of women's education in Pasadena. The school closed in 1930.[2]

The first building at the school, which housed a single classroom, was constructed in 1892. A gymnasium was built at a later point, and a dormitory was constructed in 1900. A bungalow which served as Miss Orton's home was built in 1908. The buildings were designed by Frederick Roehrig in the Victorian Colonial Revival style; they were probably the only educational buildings designed by Roehrig, a significant Southern California architect. The classroom and gymnasium burned down between 1910 and 1925 and were replaced by a social hall. The dormitory is now the only building remaining at its original location; while the bungalow is also still at the site of the school, it was moved to a new foundation in 1947.[2] The dormitory was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 4, 1995.[1]

• Inez Asher, novelist and television writer