Heading off to School on a Horse

The Morning Mission newspaper reported on August 22, 1909 that the Jurupa School (now called West Riverside School) had just had a new barn built on the school property. The newspaper said the barn "is quite a convenience for the scholars that are compelled to drive a long distance." I had a hard enough time getting my kids off to school. I can't imagine also having to get them on a horse, to have them take proper care of that horse during the school day and then get back on it and get home!

1964 Apartments

You never know what will pop up when looking in old newspapers. I found an article in the January 26, 1964 Los Angeles Times which mentioned the apartments that are located in Limonite Avenue, immediately west of West Riverside Memorial Hall. Built by David P. Crane Associates, the complex had (and still has I presume) 20 units and opened January 1st. The one and two bedroom units rented for $105 to $125 a month.

The article went on to say that the same company planned to build 100 more units on Limonite Avenue, near the Jurupa Hills Country Club. That never got built.    

Pedley Packinghouse

William Pedley, working on behalf of the San Jacinto Land Company, planted hundreds of acres of citrus trees in what we now call the Pedley area. Of course all that fruit needed a way to get to market. Conveniently there was a train route right through Pedley so Mr. Pedley built a packinghouse near the train tracks. This packing house was built with a technique that was very innovative for its time. Many of the walls were made by creating molds on the ground and pouring cement into them. After the cement cured the walls were tilted up into place. This "tilt up" method of construction is very now, but Pedley's packinghouse is thought to be one of the first times that method was used.    

Golden West Avenue

We drive down our streets all the time and never think about where the street name came from. Take Golden West Avenue, for example. I have been on it many times and I thought is was just a name from a 1960s era subdivision. Not so!

I visited the Riverside County Archives last week. Jim Hofer, county archivist, was his usual helpful self. In the process of trying to find some things for my next book, I stumbled across the fact that Golden West Avenue was named by a subdivision of the same name in 1917! The subdivider was the Golden West Fruit Company. That company still exists. Add this to the list of things I need to look into further! 

Getting Carried Away

On March 9, 1907 the Los Angeles Times reported the following marriage in a column about Riverside happenings. Some journalist was getting a little carried away with the reporting on this one:

"The romance of a black-eyed Indian maiden of West Riverside and a stalwart pale-face of Los Angeles culminated in a marriage in the Chambers of Judge Densmore in the Courthouse yesterday afternoon. The bride was Miss. Nora Martines, a Native Californian of twenty summers, and the groom was George E. Thompson, a Los Angeles dairyman, six years her senior. Though married the judge's office with an ordinary serge suit for her bridal gown, the bride was as happy as though the wedding had had all the accompaniments of soft music, orange blossoms, and a troop of bridesmaids."