By Kent Crowley Contributing Columnist
Guiding a horseless carriage along the El Camino Real or Old Spanish Trail a century ago in the foothills between San Bernardino and Los Angeles, one would find few of the cities that compose the Inland Valley today.
From the east, travelers would pass through Rosena, just changing its name to Fontana as the first stop leading to Bear Gulch, North Ontario, Monte Vista and Spadra, before touching down in Lordsburg to the west.
For the cities today that dot this route, their current names represent the entire span of the history of the Foothills communities. Some have historical significance, others were selected to promote some aspect of the city – and one had to stage a wedding to make peace with its original name.
Lordsburg
La Verne’s name came about after Los Angeles businessman I.W. Lord purchased a sizable tract of land he named Lordsburg. He sent brass bands to Los Angeles and San Bernardino to drum up investors for the new development. Within four months, the town of Lordsburg boasted a major hotel, a newspaper, water mains and stores.
Two years later, two members of the German Baptist Brethren Church purchased the hotel and established Lordsburg College – today’s esteemed University of La Verne – and the town became a magnet for families and ranchers from the church.
One of those emigres was Mrs. L.H. Bixby, who along with her sister, Mrs. Lyman Allen, named their property La Verne after an archaic French term from which we derive the term “vernal” meaning spring-like or growing green.
Branding
In a region where the economy was primarily agricultural, city and town names became increasingly important as brands, especially with winemakers and citrus growers. Some cities had to change their names because other towns had earlier claims.
Spadra took its name after discovering the U.S. Post Office disputed the town’s first choice: San Jose. Montclair operated for nearly half a decade as Monte Vista until finding another city already had staked its claim to the moniker. By inverting the syllables of its neighbor Claremont, Monte Vista found a suitable and sonorous alternative in Montclair.
Neighboring Upland began life as North Ontario and Pomona was chosen to reflect the town’s agricultural industry. Ontario recalled its founders’ home province in Canada and San Dimas’ name reflected a long battle between local ranchers and marauding rustlers.
A wedding
La Verne grew as a town next to Lordsburg, but the residents recognized the importance of merging the two communities under one name, particularly since the citrus industry generated most of the economy.
After I.W. Lord passed away in 1917, the residents voted to merge the two cities under one name and celebrated with a symbolic wedding in which Miss Lordsburg was joined in marriage to Mr. La Verne.
