Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Jurupa Voting District

Because of the recent cityhood election I looked at portions of the voter registration rolls. One of the most puzzling things I saw was that the voting precinct in the area of Clay Park is called "Jurupa." I assumed that it was a recent name used because they ran out of place names in that area - Pedley and Indian Hills having been used for adjacent voting precincts. However, I just found out that my assumption is not correct. According to an article in the October 2, 1932 Los Angeles Times, the West Riverside district had five voting precincts at that time:  Mira Loma, Glen Avon, Crestmore, West Riverside, and Jurupa. Crestmore was actually called Crestmore Heights and part of the Pedley area was known as Jurupa Heights. There was a Jurupa Heights water company and Pedley School was originally named Jurupa Heights. The Jurupa voting precinct was probably named after Jurupa Heights but the Registrar of Voters shortened the name for convenience sake.  Another mystery of history at least partially solved! 

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