Riverdale Acres to Riverside

I had an interesting email from Loren Meissner this past week about how his family got to Riverside from Riverdale Acres back in the 1930s before Limonite Avenue was built from Van Buren through to Riverview Drive. Here is what he said:

 I seem to remember that Limonite was extended east of Van Buren (at Pedley) and up over the hill toward Mission Blvd by WPA labor, mostly shovels and wheelbarrows – nobody wanted to bring in big earth moving machinery, cuz the whole point was to make jobs.

Before that, to go from Riverdale Acres to Riverside (vicinity of Mt Rubidoux) we would go N on Etiwanda to Jurupa (part way to Bellegrave), then E all the way to Mission Blvd at Sunnyslope. But now we could take Limonite all the way from Etiwanda to Mission Blvd.

So Many Limonites, So Little time....

Did you know that there are four streets with the word Limonite in their names right here in Jurupa Valley? Yes, I think our fair city has single handedly cornered the market on naming streets after this obscure mineral! First of all, what is limonite? Well, according to Mindat.org it is an earthy looking light brown to brown or yellowish brown mineral that is created from the decomposition of many iron minerals, most commonly pyrite. Click on the following link to see a photo of limonite:http://www.mindat.org/min-2402.html

So, once there was a street called Limonite Avenue. It was just a two lane road that wandered and curved and followed the landscape. Then someone decided it should be a four lane road that didn't wander but went as straight as could be accomplished with road graders and dynamite. One small problem was the big gas pipe that went right down the middle of where they wanted to put the road. No problem! They would just create a nice wide median. Two more small problems: two short pieces of Limonite Avenue which already had houses and such on them would be left out when Limonite Avenue was straightened. And so the County, in its infinite wisdom, created Limonite Frontage Road, which is east of Avenue Juan Bautista in the Jurupa Hills area and Old Limonite Avenue in the Mira Loma area between Dodd and Marlatt Streets.

The County had boatloads of infinite wisdom, however, and so they were not done. They decided to put an underpass under the railroad tracks at Limonite and Van Buren. Remember that gas pipe? It was still there! So to avoid digging under and around and through that big gas pipe, they just left it and Limonite where they were and dug to the north of where the right of way was. The existing portion of Limonite, west of Morton Road, became a cul de sac and new Limonite curved slightly and went under the railroad tracks and Van Buren Boulevard. That little bit of old Limonite became Limonite Court.

I did what I admit was a limited search on Google Maps but could find no other streets named Limonite in the United States. But we have four! Whoo Whoo!