The Jurupa Rancho and Our Fair City

This great map was done by Loren Meissner who grew up in Riverdale Acres back in the day. It shows an outline of the Jurupa Rancho superimposed on a map of the cities of Jurupa Valley and Eastvale.  The diagonal line that is the northern boundry of the rancho is today's Bellegrave Avenue. So, if you live south of Bellegrave you live in the Jurupa Rancho and if you live north of Bellegrave you live in an area that was homesteaded, at least to some extent. Thanks to Loren for his mad mapping skills! 

There May be a New Book in the Works!

I just submitted a proposal to a publisher of local history books for a new book on Jurupa history. Yeah! This one will look at famous and infamous crimes over the years. Yes, yes, I will include the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders! We couldn't forget those! If anyone out there has any ideas for me on crimes that have occurred in the Jurupa area, I would be happy to consider them for the book, assuming the publisher accepts my proposal. I am looking for crimes other than murder ( I have enough of those, unfortunately). Something like a swindle, or a crime with a funny or ironic twist, would be great!

I have removed the requirement that you sign up for a Google service of some sort in order to comment on this blog. I didn't realize that that box was checked! So please feel free to comment on my blog postings. I would love to hear your stories, too!  

But then, what would we be called?

Our neighbor to the southeast, Riverside, is, as we all know, a Johnny come lately compared to our fair area. Juan Bandini was granted the Jurupa Rancho in 1838 and built a house by the Santa Ana River near the Hamner bridge.  Another house was built by Benjamin Wilson in today's Rubidoux sometime around 1843. The colony of Riverside didn't began seeing families move in until October 1870.  Riverside is situated on what was called "bench land" that was originally part of the Robidoux Rancho. Since it sat above the river it was difficult to irrigate, given the available knowledge of the day, and so it was considered worthless, except perhaps for cattle grazing. As a matter of fact, when Louis Robidoux's holdings were assessed in 1854 for tax purposes by San Bernardino County, he was only assessed for 3000 acres, since the other 3000 or so acres he owned on the other side of the river were  considered without any value for tax purposes. Wow! If the tax man thinks something is worthless, it must really be bad! Well, obviously someone thought it had potential since it was the site John North et al picked out and purchased for a new town.  When trying to decide on a name for this new place, they did float the name Jurupa, but Riverside won out. A little uninspired, perhaps, but much easier to spell! Now, over 100 years later, I guess those of us in Jurupa Valley have to admit that Riverside has done pretty well for itself! 

Childhood Summer in Jurupa Hills

I have just one brother who is much older than me so I was, in many ways, an only child. When we lived on Moraga Way in Jurupa Hills the late 1960s there weren't a lot of kids around, either, so I had plenty of time to myself, creating my own fun. At that time there were still lots of undeveloped lots in the area and the houses on Pico hadn't been built yet. So, I had lots of open fields to range around in. My little dog Patches and I would sometimes be gone for hours while I made up stories along the way of the adventures I was pretending we were having!  There were lots of great big rocks to climb on, and if I went really far I could check out the rail road tracks. One time I found a dead baby rabbit. I felt so sorry for it not having a proper burial that I took it home in a box and hid it under my bed until I could have a proper ceremony the next time my friend Myra came over. Well, Myra didn't come over as soon as I had hoped and one day I looked under the bed to check on the rabbit and caught a whiff of something unpleasant. Somehow I knew that I better get that rabbit buried soon. I enlisted the help of David who lived down the street, even though he was a yucky boy (it wasn't that he personally was yucky, but at that time of my life I though all boys were yucky!!). We buried the rabbit. David, of course, slammed a big old rock down on top of the grave. Note I said "slammed," not "placed." I was annoyed but knew that it was better that the rabbit be out from under my bed, rock or not.   

New Book on County Parks

Local historian and author Steve Lech has come out with his latest book. Its title is “More Than a Place to Pitch a Tent: The Stories Behind Riverside County’s Regional Parks.” Steve works for Riverside County Regional Park and Open Space District and though that connection he became interested in the stories behind the thirteen parks, six interpretive centers, and the park district headquarters.

After several years of research his new book is ready for reading! It is 150 pages and includes both historic and contemporary photos.  It is a hardback book and will retail for $28.

This book includes the stories behind the Louis Robidoux Nature Center, Rancho Jurupa Park, and Jensen-Alvarado Historic Ranch and Museum. Here is hoping that one of our local libraries will arrange a book signing for Steve in our local area.

If you are interested in purchasing a book directly from Steve (for less than the retail price) or having him come to talk to your group or do a book signing, you can reach him at rivcokid@gmail.com or at (951)990-0269.

Do You Remember A&W Root Beer?

At the corner of Mission Boulevard and Opal Street is a little fast food place called "Joyce Burger." When my kids were in high school they loved to go with their friends to Joyce Burger when school got out early. In fifty years, they will be saying "Remember Joyce Burger?" That little building has an older history, however. When I was a kid it was A&W Root Beer! We didn't eat out a lot but occasionally my mother would get a break from the kitchen and we would pick up dinner from the A&W. I always got a kick out of the fact that it had Papa burgers, Mama burgers, Teen burgers, and Baby burgers. Usually my Dad got a Papa burger, my mother got a Mama burger and I got a Baby burger. I don't remember what my brother got, but since he was a teen age boy I doubt he got the Teen burger, he probably wanted the Papa burger like my dad! I will have to ask him....

Making Jurupa History, Part II

Yeah, we officially became a city as of 12:01 a.m., July 1st! What a great feeling knowing Jurupa Valley controls its own destiny now! All kinds of activities have been happening, the most important being the swearing in of our city council at their very first official city council meeting which was held on July 1st in the Patriot High School auditorium. Laura Roughton, Verne Lauritzen, Mike Goodland, Frank Johnston, and Brad Hancock will go down in history as our very first city council. They are all very nice people and I look forward to good things with them at the helm!

Yesterday my husband and I braved the heat and enjoyed the parade. I always get a lump in my throat when I see something so typical of small town America happening right before my very eyes! I really enjoyed the cheer leaders, the band, the horses, the cars, and even the dump truck and the sewer pumper! It has been a great weekend to begin this new chapter in the history of Jurupa Valley.