USA > California > Riverside County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume I > Part 33
USA > California > San Bernardino County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume I > Part 33
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Colton is a city of industry and of enterprise. Its canneries and dried fruit packing houses, the Globe Mills Grain & Milling Company, pre-cooling plant, citrus fruit packing houses, two national banks, with city-owned water and electric companies, speak for prosperity.
Colton has a wideawake Chamber of Commerce, active in all things that means for its advancement. The officers are: President, I. M. Knopsnyder ; First Vice President, M. P. Cheney ; Second Vice Presi- dent, J. V. Rea; Treasurer. F. A. Amundson ; Assistant Secretaries, R. P. Head, James King. Wilson C. Hanna, E. T. McNeill and Fred O. Lewis. Directors: M. P. Cheney, F. A. Amundson, T. V. Rea, I. M. Knopsnyder, James King, Dr. C. F. Whitmer, R. P. Head, B A Dixon, F O. Lewis
The Colton Woman's Club is a splendid organization of 140 mem- bers. It was organized in 1900 by Mrs. E. D. Roberts, who was elected its first president. The club owns its clubhouse, with plans well laid for a new one. Officers for the year 1921 are as follows: President, Mrs. E. T. McNeill; First Vice President, Mrs. D. G. Thomas; Second Vice President, Mrs. E. E. Helsby ; Recording Secretary, Mrs. G .H. Jantzen ; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Ralph Emery ; Federation Secretary, Mrs. C. F. Whitmer ; Treasurer, Mrs. L. C. Newcomer.
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There is a beautiful Carnegie Library, costing upawrds of $25,000. Mrs. M. E. Spragins is librarian.
One of the specially beautiful things accomplished in the last year is a Municipal Memorial Park. The sentiment that goes with it-that of being a memorial institution-brings added value to the enterprise and clothes it round about with that which speaks of the "worth while."
During the late war the Red Cross organization received great praise for its most excellent work and high honors were bestowed upon the members, individually and collectively, for their faithful services, and their fame is one of the rich legacies of which Colton is justly proud.
Colton is a city of orange groves and beautiful homes and takes special pride in not only being known as the "Hub City," but as a "well-balanced city."
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CHAPTER XVIII
ONTARIO
Lying to the west of the "red hills" of Cucamonga is found Ontario, the town and colony that in 1882 consisted of only a barren waste extend- ing from the San Antonio Canon on the north to the Rancho Santa Ana del Chino on the south and from Cucamonga on the east to Rancho San Jose on the west. The early history of the colony is that of a part of the original Cucamonga Rancho, which, after passing through many hands, finally came into the possession, April 15, 1882, of Capt. J. S. Garcia and Surveyor J. S. Dunlap, through "an option for the purchase of that part of the grant known as the "San Antonio lands" at the net sum of $60,000. This property comprised 6,216 acres, together with the water, water rights and privileges of San Antonio Creek, and the waste water of Cucamonga Creek.
Prior to this there had located at Riverside, for the purpose of engag- ing in the real estate business, the Chaffey brothers, George B., Jr., and William B., and these progressive business men soon formed the acquaint- ance of Captain Garcia, who was then residing at Etiwanda, where he owned a ranch and one-half of the water in Dry Canon and all the water in Smith Canon. He sold his 1,000-acre property to the Chaffey Brothers. "Not long afterwards," says Captain Garcia, "I went to San Francisco and interviewed the Cucamonga Company and bonded their Cucamonga lands with one-half the water flowing from the San Antonio Creek for $60,000. I took John C. Dunlap as a partner and he was to have one-half the commission over and above the price fixed by the company. M. L. Wicks of Los Angeles and Professor Mills of Mills' Seminary, Oakland, were then operating largely at Pomona. As soon as my option was put on record in San Francisco, Mr. Wicks interviewed Mr. Dunlap and offered quite a sum for it. Chaffey brothers then offered Mr. Dunlap and myself the same price as the other parties for the option. We consented to let them have it and George Chaffey and myself went to San Francisco to make arrangements with the Cucamonga Company. Our contract having been surrendered, N. W. Stowell was set to work to make cement pipe and also put up the first house in Ontario, between Eighth and Ninth. Soon afterward the Chaffey brothers built a barn and a boarding house for their men. Andrew Rubio was put in supervision of the work." Not long thereafter there was laid the cornerstone of Chaffey College. It is said that the plan of the Chaffey brothers for their new colony of Ontario, named for their former home in Canada, was the most perfect ever formulated for colonization. They distributed the water for irrigation over the whole tract and delivered it on each lot in iron and concrete pipes, this alone requiring some forty miles of piping. In October, 1882, they oragnized the San Antonio Water Company and entered into an agreement whereby the water was to become ultimately the property of the users. They likewise planned to lay out and improve a main thoroughfare through the colony, Euclid Avenue being extended from the depot due seven miles north, and in addition the brothers donated twenty acres for a college and made provisions for an endowment.
During the next several years work was pushed rapidly and the settlers began to come in in goodly numbers. The original colony lands had been augmented by the purchase of railroad and government sections
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and by purchase from private individuals, until they now extended as far south as the tracks of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The land now occupied by the town of Ontario was purchased from Maj. Henry Han- cock. The laying of the cornerstone of the college referred to was the occasion for a large excursion, and the tourists who made the journey were not backward in spreading the fame of the "Model Colony" among their friends in other sections. Naturally this brought in an influx of settlers from various parts of the country and even from Canada, and by March, 1883, the community was ready for its first postoffice, which was established with L. Alexander as postmaster. The postoffice was installed in June in the new building of the company, and was also the railway station, and in the following month the Ontario Hotel was erected and opened under the management of O. Sweet, who donated a number of books as the nucleus for a public library. In 1883, also, a school district was formed, and the public school was established March 8, 1884, in the attic of McIntyre's carpenter shop. The second term it was removed to the "adobe" which had been erected for a printing office but never
DATE PALMS
used for that purpose, and in the following year it was removed to the college building, where two east rooms on the first floor had been granted for its use, pending the erection of a suitable school building. Improve- ments went rapidly forward in 1884, and with the appearance of a number of skilled mechanics and the establishment of a planing mill and lumber yard an impetus was given to building operations. In writing of the first edition of the Ontario Record, owned and published by the Clarke Brothers, which made its appearance in December, 1885, E. I'. Clarke says: "My most vivid recollection of the night we ran off the first edition on a hand press is of the howling of the coyotes-that pretty well illustrates the primitive conditions that prevailed in Ontario at that time."
Ontario's first telegraphic message was sent December II, 1885, a year in which the building up and development of the little community progressed more rapidly even than in the previous year. The closing of the year witnessed the opening of the college, the nucleus of a library and reading room, the establishment of the Methodist Church and of Con- gregational services and the organizing of the lodge of the A. O. U. W. Almost every branch of business was represented at this time.
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An important change took place at Ontario in the spring of 1886, this being caused by the Chaffey brothers disposing of their interests to the Ontario Land & Improvement Company in order to accept the offer of the Australian Government to establish a similar colony in that country. Land sales were numerous in 1886, as Ontario had been recognized as being in the true citrus belt. The Ontario Land & Improvement Com- pany made several important purchases of land, plans were made for the subdivision of all the lands south of the railroad, and contracts were let for the bank building on Euclid Avenue. The end of 1886 and the beginning of 1887 saw the completion of the second school building of Ontario and a large addition to the Ontario Hotel.
Another impetus to the development of the central part of the colony was given by the passage of the first Santa Fe train through the Cajon Pass. The Bedford Brothers, at their first sale, in May, 1887, disposed of $50,000 worth of lots in what is known as Upland, then called Mag- nolia, the home of the Magnolia Villa Hotel. The South Side tract was put on the market at this time, and various other improvements made the year one of marked advancement. An event of the year that was not so satisfactory was the furious wind and sand storm of December 14th, which caused much loss in oranges and fruits and destruction of unstable buildings. A lesson was taught, however, and the structures that were erected thereafter were firm and sound, while the loss to the fruit was instrumental in bringing about a different and improved system of pruning.
Improvements of various kinds continued in 1888, in which sidewalks were being laid, streets graded, etc. The narrow gauge road was already running to Chino and the rails were laid for the electric road to San Antonio Heights, a lot for a cemetery was donated and a cemetery asso- ciation was formed. A new paper, known as the Observer, was started and assisted greatly in the way of securing new settlers and added capital. In 1889 the Citizens' Bank opened its doors, the Ontario Fruit Company began business at North Ontario and other enterprises began to flourish In 1890 the Southern Pacific Hotel was opened, the People's Building & Loan Association was organized and Harwood Brothers, to whom the interests of the Ontario Land & Development Company had been assigned, purchased what is now Upland.
Ontario was incorporated as a city of the sixth class in November, 1891, but a mistake was made in taking in only a half mile square, a mistake which was attempted to be rectified some years later by the inclusion of all the colony lands. Finally, in 1900, a tract of twelve square miles was incorporated.
The San Antonio Electric Light & Power Company was organized in 1891 for the purpose of furnishing electric light to Ontario, Pomona and Redlands, and to this company belongs the credit of being the first plant for long-distance transmission of electricity in the United States. During 1892 the cannery, established by the Ontario Fruit & Produce Company, was running full blast in the summer and met with great success in the handling of deciduous fruits. Unfortunately, with no experience, it began packing oranges, paying high prices and selling at a loss, with the result that the company failed and the cannery was closed, a great loss to the community, as a cannery is almost a vital necessity to a town of this kind.
In 1893 Ontario entertained the Editorial Association of Southern California. The Ontario Fruit Exchange filed its papers of incorporation and the Lemon Growers' Exchange of Ontario was organized. During the years 1894 and 1895 the town experienced a healthy building boom, and a system of sewers was established, electric lights were furnished the
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town and cars were operated by electricity for the first time. What was known as Blackburn's Addition, a tract of 1,100 acres of Chino Rancho, was placed on the market in 1896 by R. E. Blackburn, and lots sold rapidly. Serious loss to the town was caused by the destruction, in December, 1897, of the Brooks Block, which contained the Southern Pacific Hotel, the postoffice, a stationery store and various offices. Dur- ing 1899 and 1900 building operations continued and new industries were attracted. For some years the amount of deciduous fruit produced in this district emphasized the fact that a cannery at Ontario was a necessity. Accordingly, in the spring of 1901 .a number of citizens organized the Ontario Fruit Company. As a result of this organization there was established what was the most complete cannery plant in California, which was ready for business in the summer of the same year.
ONTARIO'S WATER SUPPLY. Like many other Southern California communities, and particularly those of the San Bernardino locality, Ontario could never have flourished without an adequate water supply, and this was the principal factor in the calculations of the founders, the capable and energetic Chaffey brothers. For the purpose of supplying the tract, the San Antonio Water Company was organized in 1882, the point of diversion for San Antonio Creek, the water rights including the overflow and underflow of which had been purchased, being in the San Antonio Canon, about two miles to the northwest of the colony tract. For the first one-half mile, the water is conveyed in a cemented ditch to the main pipe line at the base of the mountain, where the water enters the largest main. The system of distribution over the entire tract con- sists of pipe lines, about sixty miles or more in extent, varying in size from six to twenty-two inches in diameter. Considerable water has been developed by a tunnel extending up the canon more than a half mile and tapping the underflow. When the colony was started, it was thought the San Antonio Creek in connection with its underflow would furnish abundant water for irrigation, and the San Antonio Water Company had a right to one-half the water that flowed in the bed of the creek. It was demonstrated for years that an average rainfall insured Ontario an ample supply of water during the irrigating system. But there came a series of years remarkable in the history of California for light rainfall, and it was deemed advisable that precautionary measures be taken by the water company, which accordingly purchased additional water rights and land and proceeded to make developments. By these purchases and developments the San Antonio Water Company became the possessor of four sources of water supply : first, from the San Antonio Creek ; second, from the tunnels; third, artesian water, and fourth, that pumped from numerous wells.
ONTARIO'S FRUIT INDUSTRY. Under the excellent system of irriga- tion prevailing, Ontario's soil produces lemons, oranges and pomelos, as well as fruits of other kinds. This fact made the matter of marketing one of vital importance. At the start the marketing of citrus fruits was largely experimental, while a cannery and various drying establishments took care of the deciduous fruit which could not be marketed fresh. Out of many organizations and experiments the present co-operating system of marketing has come forth, and the packing and handling of citrus fruit has become a great industry, requiring good judgment, knowledge and skill, as well as the best modern appliances for every department identified with the business.
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The Ontario-Cucamonga Fruit Exchange is an enterprise which includes in its membership all of the citrus handling houses in western San Bernardino County, and at present has the following members : Lemon Growers' Association, Upland ; Cucamonga Citrus Fruit Associa- tion, Cucamonga ; Mountain View Orange & Lemon Association, Upland ; Stewart Citrus Association, Upland; West Ontario Association, Narod ; Upland Citrus Association, North Ontario ; Etiwanda Citrus Association, Etiwanda, and Citrus Fruit Association, Ontario.
The Ontario Fruit Exchange was organized June 3, 1893, and Sep- tember 25th became an association of the San Antonio Fruit Exchange. Two years later it withdrew therefrom and entered the Southern Cali- fornia Fruit Exchange, as a separate district exchange, a position which it occupied for two years. In 1897 it became one of the associations com- prised in the Ontario-Cucamonga Fruit Exchange. This association, the principal packing house of which is located at Narod, handles oranges and grape fruit only, and its brands are "Nucleus Bear," "Nucleus Owl" and "Nucleus Quail."
The Citrus Fruit Association of Ontario was founded in 1898, and its progress having been rapid, it is now one of the largest associations, in point of numbers, in Southern California. The packing house is located on the eastern side of the City of Ontario, and the association's brands include "Special Bear" and "Special Quail."
The Upland Citrus Association, while one of the younger affiliated bodies, is one of the largest in the district of the Ontario-Cucamonga Fruit Exchange, and its name arises from the fact that it handles the oranges grown by its members on the highest lands cultivated in the Ontario colony-the foothill territory which extends from the base of the mountains on the north to a short distance below the Santa Fe Railway on the south. Its brands include "Upland Bear" and "Upland Quail."
The Lemon Growers' Exchange of Ontario was formed in the fall of 1893 and is the oldest organization for the marketing of lemons in California. From its foundation it has been sustained loyally by the growers at Cucamonga and Ontario. It handles a very superior quality of lemons, the soil being peculiarly adapted to the perfection of that fruit.
EDUCATION. The first school at Ontario was opened in March, 1884, the school district having been formed in January of that year. Classes were held in various private buildings and in rooms of the college build- ing until January, 1887, when the Central School building was completed and occupied. This structure cost about $6,000. In 1889 the Seventh Street and South Side buildings were erected, each at a cost of about $2,500, and since that time the West Side School has also been erected at about the same cost, and a building of one story erected on Euclid Avenue. The San Antonio district, practically a part of the Ontario district, has a commodious building, employing two teachers, and the Upland School employs four teachers. For the season of 1903-4 Ontario employed fifteen teachers in its graded schools and had an average attend- ance of 519. In 1901 a high school was established in the city, the build- ing formerly occupied by the Chaffey brothers being utilized as a high school building. In 1903 the school had an enrollment of 134 pupils and a faculty of six teachers.
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ONTARIO'S CHURCHES. Although there was at that time no church edifice at Ontario, religious services were held as early as 1883 in the little colony, Methodist services being held in the parlors of the hotel
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during the autumn of that year, with persons of all denominations attend- ing. When the "adobe" was finished services were held therein until the completion of the chapel in the college, where the services of the First Methodist Episcopal Church were held. Eventually the present church edifice was built at G Street and Euclid Avenue. Several additions have since been added to this place of worship. It now has a large member- ship and maintains a Sunday school, an Epworth League, a Ladies' Aid and a Mission Society.
The North Ontario Methodist Episcopal Church was organized October 1, 1899, being the outgrowth of a class which had been formed in 1890 by former members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church residing at North Ontario. This congregation now has a church and parsonage ,and maintain a Sunday school and several societies.
The Bethel Congregational Church was organized March 22, 1885, and services were first held in a private residence and later in an "adobe." Later services were held in the Ohio Block, and then in Rose's Hall, and when the latter structure was destroyed in a windstorm, the Ohio Block was again used. A church edifice was erected in 1888 at the corner of Palm Avenne and A Street.
The Church of Christ of Ontario was organized October 11, 1891, with fifteen members. It held services in various places and had a hard struggle for existence until 1897, when the congregation began holding services in the Unitarian chapel on Euclid Avenue. This building was later presented to the church by James Young.
Christ Church, Episcopal, was founded in 1884-1885, when occasional services were held, and in 1886 the upper story of the Rose Block was secured, a mission of the Episcopal diocese of Los Angeles being estab- lished at that time, known as Christ Church Mission. This mission was formally received as a parish in 1896. When the Episcopalians secured a lot of their own, they bought the one-story building which they had previously occupied as the upper story of the Rose Block and removed it to their lot, but in the winter of 1893-94 lots were purchased for the present site, to which the old building was removed. It was enalrged and made into a most fitting and attractive chapel, and in 1901 a lot adjoining was purchased and a large and well-appointed rectory was built.
During the spring of 1894 several of the Baptist families of Ontario held prayer meetings at their various homes, and September 16th of that vear a business meeting was held, at which the First Baptist Church of Ontario was organized. In 1899 the church was incorporated and in 1901 a modern church edifice seating several hundred people was erected. The usual societies are connected with the church, which is in a pros- perous condition.
The first Presbyterian Church services were held in 1887, and the church was organized in the following year with twenty-four members. A church building was erected in the same year at the corner of Ninth Street and Euclid Avenue, but this was destroyed by wind in 1890 and in 1891 a new church was erected. Since that date a manse has been erected. The regular church societies are well sustained.
The Westminster Presbyterian Church was organized in April, 1895, by the members of the North Ontario Church, who found it inconvenient to go so far to their place of worship and who first erected a small building on the corner of C Street and Euclid Avenue. The membership increased so rapidly that it was found necessary to build a large addition, which made the edifice one of the finest churches in the settlement. The adjuncts of the church are well organized and doing effective service.
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FRATERNITIES. Ontario Lodge No. 345, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was instituted July 14, 1888, and has been a successful institu- tion which has paid largely out of its treasury for the sick and for other benevolent purposes. The lodge owns its own hall on Euclid Avenue, between A and B Streets, where its weekly meetings are held.
Euclid Lodge No. 68, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of North Ontario, was instituted November 28, 1898, and meets weekly. Its features are identical with those of the lodge mentioned above, being both charitable and beneficiary, and its affairs are in a flourishing condition.
Ontario Lodge No. 222, Knights of Pythias, was instituted April 1, 1901. It meets weekly in the I. O. O. F. Hall, and is a greatly popular body.
The Fraternal Aid Association was organized in 1892. This is a beneficiary organization which has grown rapidly and has been one of the strongest in the colony.
Ontario Lodge No. 301, F. & A. M., was organized in 1890, and has enjoyed a steady and wholesome growth, having always been a strong and active organization. Euclid Chapter No. 179, Order of the Eastern Star, was organized May 3, 1900, under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of California and Nevada.
In 1887 a meeting was called to organize the Women's Christian Temperance Union, at which time about thirty ladies gave their names as members. A society was organized, but this was later allowed to lapse. On October 7, 1890, the Union was reorganized, and while it has never been large in membership it has been a force for righteousness in the community.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS. Beginnings give way to accomplished under- takings, and at the close of the year 1921 Ontario's growth is found to be one worthy of a big volume of history all its own.
Within its boundaries are 7,250 homes, a woman's club, churches of all leading denominations, a Chamber of Commerce, with five hundred wideawake members; of the latter, Wells F. Ross is president; C. E. Mead, vice president ; H. E. Swan, treasurer; B. W. Spencer, secretary.
There are hotels, a theater, public auditorium, packing houses, banks, canneries, nurseries and factories. It is the center of a great citrus industry and many hundreds find employment in the various lines of operations.
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