Like many other communities in the San Gabriel Valley, San Dimas formed with the coming of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad (later the Santa Fe Railroad) in the 1880’s. At the time, it was known as Mud Springs due to the riparian marsh area that made transportation through the area difficult. In […]
The first official settling of Rialto appears to be in 1851 by the Mountain family, who had purchased land from the Lugo family of Rancho San Bernardino. This claim by the Mountain family appears to have been amended by the United States government, but would eventually become Rialto. The Santa Fe Railroad came to Rialto
The City of Pomona was named in honor of the Roman goddess of fruit by horticulturist Solomon Gates prior to it becoming “Queen of the Citrus Belt” in the 1920’s. First settled by the Gabrieleno Tribe, it became part of the Mission San Gabriel’s grazing lands before being granted to Don Ignacio Palomares (who died
The Community of La Verne originated with Isaac W. Lord’s purchase of land from Jose Palomares in the mid-1880’s, and in 1887 Lord had the land surveyed and began selling lots. He originally named the community Lordsburg after himself, and immediately set about building a motel, post office, and water mains. However, the expected land
As with other San Gabriel Valley communities, Glendora was established in previously remote agricultural land with the coming of the Santa Fe Railroad in May 1887. However, an additional boost at the end of 1907 occurred with the arrival of the Pacific Electric Line’s Monrovia – Glendora line, which connected directly to Downtown Los Angeles.
Fontana – Italian for “fountain” or a source of water – was founded in 1913 by Azariel Blanchard Miller, and formally incorporated in 1952. It was primarily a citrus and vineyard area and remained largely rural until Henry J. Kaiser (of Kaiser-Permanente fame) built a large steel mill in the area after World War II.
The area of Devore is an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, at the southern entrance point of the Cajon Pass. It is located roughly near where I-15 and I-215 come together, and is the home of the Glen Helen Pavilion and Amphitheater, the largest amphitheater in North America. Sycamore Valley Ranch, formerly known as
Like the other communities in the region, the area of Claremont was first inhabited by Serrano Indians. However, here, a Serrano village has been discovered just northeast of Route 66 (Foothill Boulevard) and Indian Hill Boulevard. Much of the area within Claremont became part of the Rancho San Jose in 1834. Eventually, the coming of
The former town site of Bagdad was located approximately eight miles west of Amboy and was founded in 1883. Primarily constructed to serve the mining towns surrounding it, it survived into the 1950’s with a cafe, motel, service station, and garage serving Route 66 travelers. It’s primary claim to fame is that it holds the
Essex is a small desert town along National Old Trails Highway/Route 66 and one of the many desert towns that was by-passed with the construction of Interstate 40. It once was an important stop for the railroad. Look for the old water well that was built by the Automobile Club of Southern California. The well