California note
El Monte still keeps the Gay's Lion Farm story
El Monte's Historical Museum keeps photos and artifacts from Gay's Lion Farm, a once-famous local attraction that brought lions and visitors to town.
El Monte has one of the more surprising old attraction stories in Southern California. Gay’s Lion Farm opened in the 1920s and brought real attention to the city. Charles and Muriel Gay raised lions there, and people came from well beyond town to see them.
The story had a bit of old-Hollywood flash. The farm drew famous visitors, including Eleanor Roosevelt and her son in 1933. It also gave El Monte a strange kind of local fame: a suburban place that once had a large lion attraction near the road.
World War II changed the picture. The farm closed in 1941, when food for the lions became hard to get. The animals were sent to zoos, circuses, and shows.
Today the best doorway into that story is the El Monte Historical Museum. Its collections include Gay’s Lion Farm pictures and artifacts, plus rooms for early residents, merchants, police, fire, school life, tools, and household objects. It turns a wild old headline into a local story you can actually see.
Where to see it
El Monte Historical Museum, 3150 Tyler Ave. Use the museum page for hours, collections, and tour details.
Sources
Sources for this story
Reviewed July 6, 2026
Public sources for the places, events, and details above.
Connected places
Open the local directory
Related notes
Related California notes
Tyler Avenue helps El Monte line up its civic story
El Monte's Tyler Avenue Heritage District links the museum, community spaces, senior services, library area, pools, and older local history in one easy corridor.
Read next →El Monte keeps an End of the Santa Fe Trail marker
Santa Fe Trail Historical Park points to El Monte's early pioneer layer, when some settlers called the area the End of the Santa Fe Trail.
Read next →El Monte Public Works handles many everyday street issues
El Monte's Public Works Maintenance page covers streets, sidewalks, signs, traffic signals, streetlights, graffiti, sewer maintenance, parkway trees, and street sweeping.
Read next →