Colton

Larry Sheffield

• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Year: 2004
• Print ISBN: 9780738529011
• eBook ISBN: 9781439614280
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

Take a train to Southern California, and you'll pass through Colton. Once the home of Gabrielino and Serrano Indians, Colton is now known as the "Hub City, " the only place in the United States where the Union Pacific and the Burlington, Northern & Santa Fe railroads cross. Westward-bound rail passengers travel through the horseshoe-shaped valley along the same trails that served Spanish explorers journeying from Mexico to Monterey in the 1770s. The valley's early settlers made use of the rich soil and ready transportation, cultivating fruit trees and shipping their harvest north and east. Legendary figures have also roamed Colton's streets, including the famous Tombstone gunslingers Wyatt Earp and his brother Virgil, who was Colton's first marshal, and their father, Nicholas, who served as a justice of the peace and city recorder. Over the 150 years of the community's history, many have passed through Colton, and all have left their mark on this classically Californian town.

Three

HOMETOWN, U.S.A.

1900–1949

This bird’s-eye view of Colton in 1902 looks to the north. The north–south streets, from left to right, are the Santa Fe Rail Road, Seventh Street, Eighth Street, Ninth Street, and Tenth Street. East–west streets, from bottom to top, are J Street, I Street, H Street, G Street, F Street, and E Street. The southern half of the city is not shown. (Courtesy of CAM.)

Ernest A. Pettijohn, a fruit grower and a director of the Colton Fruit Exchange, served as president of the city board of trustees from 1892 to 1894 and again from 1900 to 1906. (Courtesy of CAM.)

The Pettijohn family plays croquet at their home at 1136 North Eighth Street while Mrs. Pettijohn’s parents stand by their automobile. Note the Pettijohn orchard to the north of the house. The house is still standing. (Courtesy of CAM.)

This early 1900s photograph shows the intersection of Ninth and I Streets. The view is along I Street to the west. (Courtesy of CAM.)

Electric trolleys powered by overhead electric cables ran on steel tracks along Eighth Street from the early 1900s until 1941, when they were replaced by motorbuses. The tracks were removed in 1942 and were used to help meet the wartime need for steel. (Courtesy of CAM.)

Colton’s first firefighting equipment consisted of a hand-pulled hose cart carrying a 1,000-footlong, two-inch hose. Two years later, the city bought a hand-drawn hook and ladder cart. The horse-drawn hose wagon shown here was purchased by the city in 1901. (Courtesy of CAM.)

In this 1902 picture of the Colton Bachelor Club are, from left to right, Doc Topriahanian, Gus Smart, Gene Howard, Fred Bruce, John Atkinson, Earl Curson, Willie Wright, and Howard Smith. Howard Smith later became a prominent banker in Colton. (Courtesy of CAM.)

Globe Mills, manufacturer of A-1 Flour, built this grain mill in Colton in 1902. The mill was located on the west side of I Street immediately west of the Santa Fe tracks. The Pillsbury Company acquired the mill in 1940 and operated it until the late 1950s, when a fire destroyed a large portion of the structure. The surviving section has been used by a variety of business since then. (Courtesy of CAM.)

Colton’s first high school opened for classes in 1904. The Mission Revival building remained in use as a high school until 1923, when a new high school building was erected nearby. The old building became Roosevelt Junior High. (Courtesy of CAM.)

Built in 1906, the first Grant School was located on the southwest corner of F and Third Streets....

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• One - FORERUNNERS
• Two - FOUNDING
• Three - HOMETOWN, U.S.A.
• Four - SUBURBAN COMMUNITY