Vroman’s Bookstore was originally founded on November 14, 1894 by Adam Clark Vroman, and was located at 60 E Colorado Street, a few blocks from its current location. Born in 1856, in La Salle, Illinois, Vroman moved to Pasadena, California in the late 1800s to improve his wife's health. When she died two years later, he started a partnership with J.S. Glasscock and opened a book and photographic supply store. Vroman was a passionate photographer, specializing in scenes of the American West and portraits of Native Americans. Indeed, Ansel Adams called Vroman an influence on his own work. Vroman’s photography hangs in both the Huntington and the Southwest Museum. He was a bibliophile with an extensive collection of books which he sold to open the store. Once the store became profitable, Vroman returned to book collecting, donating his massive collection to Pasadena Public Library when he passed away.

Vroman’s Bookstore holds an important place in Southern California’s history. Through the years, it has continued to be an independently owned family business, expanding several times, opening a stationery supply store and a second bookstore location in the Hastings Ranch area of Pasadena. For many years, it was the largest bookstore west of the Mississippi, and it continues to be the largest independent bookstore in Southern California. During World War II, Vroman’s donated and delivered books to Japanese Americans interned at nearby camps, returning on several occasions despite being fired upon by camp guards. Vroman’s was the first bookstore in the country to have a computerized inventory, and one of the first to implement streamlining efforts like license plate receiving (a computerized receiving method that improves efficiency).