First School in Mira Loma

In 1888 A.J. Stalder donated land for the first school in what is known today as Mira Loma. Lumber and labor were donated by local families to build the school in 1892. It was known as the Pleasant Valley school. Just a year later the County of Riverside was formed from portions of San Diego and San Bernardino. A school in the Winchester area was also known as Pleasant Valley so our Mira Loma school changed its name to Union, which was the name of the election district for that area. The school was located where Etiwanda intersects the 60 freeway today. This little school served the children of the area until a new school was built in 1915.   

The Most Amazing Bridge You Never See!

Someone stopped me in Trader Joe's the other day to talk about the railroad bridge that crosses the Santa Ana River into Jurupa from Riverside. It is located east of Van Buren Boulevard. This gentleman wanted to know why no one ever mentioned this bridge. Well, it is really simple - the bridge is almost impossible to see from any public road! It is most visible from Martha McLean-Anza Narrows Park in Riverside or if you go hiking in the riverbottom. A bit of the bridge can be seen from the very end of Riverview Drive or if you follow Pedley Road, south of Limonite, down and around towards Van Buren. The bridge is really one of the great historic wonders of both Jurupa and Riverside, since it lies in both of our fair cities.

Building began in 1903 on what was then the longest concrete bridge in the world. It is over 300 yards long with eight graceful arches over the river and smaller arches at either end. Many postcards were published over the years showing this lovely bridge.

As for it being forgotten or ignored, I will agree that it does not get the attention it deserves. However, the last issue of the Journal of the Riverside Historical Society Journal did have a nice article by Glen Wenzel about the construction of the bridge. Copies of the Journal are still available from the Riverside Historical Society.      

Floods of 1938

The flooding problems in the midwest and south right now are pretty mind boggling! It made me think of our own river, running right along of the edge of our fair city. The Santa Ana River looks pretty tame most of the time but when it gets angry it can get REALLY angry. The flood of 1938 was the big one. I have a chapter in my book, Rubidoux, that is devoted to the Santa Ana River. In it I include photos of various floods through the years, including the 1938 monster. Every bridge on the Santa Ana River except the one crossing from Rubidoux to downtown Riverside was damaged or destroyed by that flood. Much of Rubidoux (then called West Riverside) was flooded and the Riverside Airport was put out of business. Why the Riverside Airport was in West Riverside will have to be a story for another day!   

How the Santa Ana River Got its Name

I have a book in my collection called California Place Names by Erwin G. Gudde (4th edition).  According to this book, the Santa Ana River is named for St. Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary. It was named on July 28, 1769 by the Portola expedition when it camped by the river. The soldiers named it Santa Ana and this appears to be the only time on this expedition that the soldiers (as opposed to the padres) gave a place a holy name. Potola did not camp beside the river in our area, but the Santa Ana stretches all the way to the Pacific Ocean, leaving him and his expedition plenty of places to camp!