The story of the internationally famous Mission Inn Hotel, and its predecessor, has been intertwined with the city of Riverside’s history since both began. As the slogan once said, Riverside is a “City with a Mission Inn its Heart.” For more than a century, the Mission Inn and its eclectic collections have intrigued visitors, artisans, architects, and dignitaries who have come to Riverside for a myriad of reasons. The Mission Inn, founded by colorful entrepreneur Frank Miller, was integral to the city’s turn-of-the-20th-century tourism as wealthy Easterners flocked to Riverside and its famous hotel, lured by a Mediterranean climate, investment opportunities, and vast navel orange groves. Unlike other grand hotels of the time, the Mission Inn, with its Mission style architecture, was a luxury hotel that was uniquely Californian.

Riverside's Mission Inn (Images of America)

Business & Money

Lech, Steve

Johnson, Kim Jarrell

Biography & History

Arcadia Publishing

The far northwestern corner of Riverside County, between the San Bernardino County line and the Santa Ana River, contains a collage of unincorporated small communities with a medley of names: Pedley, Mira Loma, Indian Hills, Glen Avon, Sunnyslope, Jurupa Hills, Belltown, Rubidoux, Eastvale, and Crestmore. North of the occasionally bone-dry riparian course that gave the County and City of Riverside their names, these crossroads and "burgs" together are referred to as Jurupa. Originally part of the vast Mexican land grant known as "Rancho Jurupa," the area evolved from the days of the caballeros to a place with a population now approaching 100,000. Its history includes ranching, farming, mining, catastrophic floods, and booming subdivisions. In this volume, more than 200 vintage photographs depict Jurupa in the only published collection of historic images devoted to this area.

Jurupa

Arts & Photography

Photography & Video

Arcadia Publishing Library Editions

The story of the town of Rubidoux has always been intertwined with the whims of the Santa Ana River. Through devastating droughts and the ravages of repeated floods, the community that began as the Robidoux Rancho (the original spelling of an early pioneer's name) evolved into a small village with a downtown centered along Mission Boulevard, the main route between Los Angeles, Riverside, and points beyond. Soon there were motels for travelers, businesses that catered to residents, and Riverside County's first drive-in theater. On its way to becoming the county's most urbanized unincorporated community, the town--originally called West Riverside--changed its name to Rubidoux in the 1950s to honor the pioneer family. This volume showcases photographs of Rubidoux, as well as of neighboring Belltown and Crestmore, in the first published collection of historic images devoted solely to these communities.

Rubidoux

History

Americas

A Brief History of Eastvale

The vibrant and beloved community of Eastvale was once an agrarian paradise. Developed initially as ranchlands, this area tucked along the Santa Ana River was transformed by industrious farmers who produced alfalfa and other crops, raised poultry and eventually thrived as dairymen. Eastvale's latest agents of change, however, weren't cattlemen or farmers but real estate agents. Indeed, land developers saw the same potential in Eastvale as the initial ranchers did. Beginning in the 1990s, developers created charming homes and planned neighborhoods for former city dwellers eager to live in Riverside County. Despite the changes, the bucolic ambiance of the bygone era remains. Authors Loren P. Meissner and Kim Jarrell Johnson recount the dynamic changes, important people and exciting events that created Eastvale.

Meissner, Loren P.

History Press Library Editions

The Wineville Chicken Coop Murders a horrible 1928 national news story that inspired the 2008 movie The Changeling from director Clint Eastwood are only the most infamous despicable deeds that have bloodstained the rural countryside between Riverside City and the San Bernardino County line. Jurupa Valley has been a region of dark doings and scandalous misdeeds for generations. The city of Jurupa Valley was formed in 2011 from the area's smaller communities, including Wineville (renamed Mira Loma to escape the shame), Pedley and Rubidoux. Buried in its landscape are salacious sagas of unchecked bootlegging, payday orgies and gruesome murders. Author Kim Jarrell Johnson digs deep to disinter the unsavory stories that have traditionally marked her home city as a resting place of enduring infamy.

Wicked Jurupa Valley:: Murder and Misdeeds in Rural Southern California

The History Press

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Books by Johnson, Kim Jarrell