Riverside County CA Archives History - Books .....Organization Of Riverside County 1912
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Book Title: History Of Riverside County California

CHAPTER XVII.
ORGANIZATION OF RIVERSIDE COUNTY 
By E. W. Holmes

   The county of Riverside was formed in 1893 from a comparatively small but
populous and wealthy section of San Bernardino county (590 square miles) and a
large but more thinly settled portion of San Diego county. The territory
included is about equal in extent to the state of Massachusetts, there being an
area of 7,031 square miles within its borders, of which far the larger portion
is mountain and desert. But while the fertile portion is much less in area than
that which is classed as desert there are but few portions of the earth where
profits better repay intelligent investment and labor, or where the advantages
of climate render life more enjoyable. And the rocky ranges which occupy so
large a portion of the county contain, at present practically undeveloped,
mineral wealth which will ultimately make the county as conspicuous as a mining
section as it already is in a horticultural way. Indeed, the variety and
quantity of the finest clays and stone for building and street purposes, already
being shipped from the territory between Corona and Elsinore, furnish an
important item in the list of products of the county, while immense bodies of
the finest iron and copper ores in the desert section are now attracting the
attention of capitalists, and their utilization will make possible great
manufacturing developments in Southern California. -The precious metals also
abound, but may not prove of the real value of the baser metals through the
wider uses to be made of them.

   The topography of the county is varied and remarkable. At the eastern base of
the San Jacinto range, whose beautiful summits are lifted some 11,000 feet into
the clear blue sky, lies the Coachella valley, containing the Salton sea and
several young-towns lying hundreds of feet below the sea level. Here, in what
was once deemed a hopeless desert, around the towns of Coachella, Indio, Mecca
and Thermal, the people are demonstrating the peculiar fitness of the soil and
climate, not only for the production of early fruits and for general farming,
but for the growing of the finest varieties of dates, which industry is very
sure to become here the source of large and certain profits. Twenty-five hundred
feet above the sea, in the San Gorgonio pass, lie Banning and Beaumont, whose
prosperity comes from climatic and soil conditions which enable its citizens to
produce a quality of deciduous fruits unexcelled anywhere. Westward, between the
great mountains and the coast range, lie the great fertile valleys containing
the bulk of the county's population and wealth; Riverside, Corona and Wineville,
in the valley of the Santa Ana river; Perris, in the heart of an immense plain,
where water at last is found to transform it into an almost boundless area of
alfalfa; Elsinore, nestled beside its mountain-bordered lake, and tempting
invalid and tourist with its hot-spring resorts and pretty surroundings; San
Jacinto and Hemet, sister cities lying in the sheltered corner of the great
valley, growing rapidly because of the wealth of the fertile soil and ample
water in all the section around them. And away off, on the banks of the
Colorado, 200 miles from the county seat, are the Palo Verde and Chuckawalla
valleys, with hundreds of thousands of fertile acres, waiting only for the
application of the water which the great river can supply, to duplicate the
experience of the Imperial valley and make of the country tributary to Blythe
another rich county for California.

   This was the territory taken to form the county of Riverside. San Diego
county made no serious objection to the loss of her territory, recognizing the
hardship to the residents who were compelled to go hundreds of miles and pass
through the territory of two other counties to reach their county seat. But it
was quite otherwise with the San Bernardino officials, who made a bitter and
expensive fight to retain a section which had been most heavily taxed to
maintain the county government. The Riverside section had but one representative
on the board of supervisors, the first being Capt. B. B. Handy, the next A. P.
Johnson, then G. W. Garcelon. The latter, disgusted at the over-bearing attitude
of his colleagues, resigned, and A. S. White was selected for the position.

   Unable to prevent the arbitrary action proposed by his colleagues, Supervisor
White called a meeting of the people of Riverside, to take action looking to a
division of the county. Although committees were appointed and funds raised,
nothing was accomplished in the legislative session of 1891. In anticipation of
the session of 1893 a committee was chosen, composed of Frank A. Miller, S. C.
Evans, Sr., George Frost, Bradford Morse, John G. North, J. R. Newberry, W. J.
McIntyre, O. T. Dyer and E. W. Holmes of Riverside, D. G. Mitchell of Perris, F.
W. Swope and John McLaren of San Jacinto, and George M. Pearson of Murietta, to
go to Sacramento to aid our legislative representatives in making the division
fight.

   The reasons given by the committee for the division of Riverside county from
San Bernardino county were as follows: In June, 1891, the board of supervisors
of San Bernardino county called an election to vote $350,000 in bonds for a new
courthouse. Although this proposition was voted down, the supervisors defied
public sentiment and expended nearly $100,000 for a new courthouse, increasing
the annual rate of taxation to obtain this sum from $1.60 to $2 on the $100.
This so incensed the voters outside of San Bernardino's influence that the board
of supervisors again called an election in June, 1892, to vote $250,000 in
twenty-year bonds for the completion of the courthouse, which was also defeated
by an immense majority. But the supervisors (three of the five) continued their
defiance of public sentiment by pushing-forward the work on the courthouse. Not
only so, but they furthermore reduced the assessed valuation of the county seat
from $4,487,585 in 1889 to $4,008,453 in 1892, while increasing the valuation of
the rest of the county $3,500,000. An increase was made in the assessment of
nearly every section of the county that had voted against the bonds, Riverside
being marked for especial retaliation in an increased assessment of fifty per
cent. This discrimination was so apparent and marked that it could only have
happened by premeditated design.

   The assembly defeated Riverside's ambition in 1891, but many who were its
opponents then became its advocates in 1893. Its obvious justice won friends,
not only at Sacramento, but also in the section of San Diego county which it was
proposed to incorporate in the new county, and the efficient aid rendered by the
people of this section overcame previous local indifference and opposition, and
materially aided the final success.

   The bill forming Riverside county was introduced in the senate by Senator
Streeter of Riverside, and in the assembly by Assemblyman Barker of Banning, on
the 9th of January, and on February 8th the bill passed the. senate,
twenty-seven to twelve, and on the 25th of the same month it passed the assembly
by a vote of sixty-two to fourteen. Governor Markham attached his signature to
the bill on Saturday, March 11, 1893.

   In accordance with its provisions, Governor Markham appointed a commission of
five to organize the new county. These were Bradford Morse of Riverside, D. G.
Mitchell of Perris, John McLaren of San Jacinto, O. A. Smith of South Riverside
(Corona), and Frank A. Miller of Riverside. The act required the approval of the
people and the selection of a county seat, and at the election called by the
commission the vote stood 2,277 in favor of a new county and 681 against, and
the selection of a county seat was made by a vote of 2,140 for Riverside, 459
for Menifee and 70 scattering.

   The new county started out with an assessed valuation of $12,309,250 and a
tax rate of $1.85. The total valuation in 1912 is $31,532,687, and the rate $2.20.

   The following named citizens have represented the territory now included in
Riverside county in the state legislature and in the national congress: In the
assembly, Henry M. Streeter of Riverside, Elmer W. Holmes of Riverside, C. O.
Barker of Banning, E. W. Freeman of Corona, F. T. Lindenberger of Winchester, A.
S. Milice of Riverside (two terms), Frank D. Lewis of Riverside, Miguel
Estudillo of Riverside, E. B. Collier of Corona, George W. Freeman of Corona and
W. H. Ellis of Riverside. In the senate, A. P. Johnson, Henry M. Streeter, A. A.
Caldwell and Miguel Estudillo, all of Riverside. In the national congress, Capt.
M. J. Daniels of Riverside. How differently progressive action appears today
from what it did twenty years ago is shown by the fact that the first necessary
expenditure of some $12,000 to build a decent graded road through the Box
Springs pass, to make communication easy between the county seat and the
territory to the southward, was subsequently made the basis of a bitter campaign
against the authorities on the ground of extravagance, while the expenditure of
some $40,000 to improve this very strip of road has recently been the most
effective argument in behalf of the candidate conspicuous in securing this
generous appropriation. Now, aside from the district levy for road building, the
county appropriates some $80,000 annually from its general fund in aid of
permanent road and bridge building.

   Important duties fell upon this first board of supervisors in starting the
machinery of the new county. John G. North and W. S. Wise were appointed to
arrange a financial settlement with San Bernardino county, and A. H. Naftzger
and Horace McPhee to perform the same duty with San Diego county. The Arlington
Hotel was leased for a courthouse, which was used some ten years, until the
acquirement of the block on Main street made possible the locating of a
beautiful and convenient courthouse and the county jail upon it.

   The county hospital for a time occupied a building near the Santa Fe station,
and the first to have charge of it were Dr. E. H. Way, as county physician, and
Z. T. Brown, as superintendent. Dr. R. D. Barber of Corona was made the first
county health officer. The second board of supervisors moved the county,
hospital to San Jacinto, where it was located until the building occupied was
wrecked by an earthquake, when the county purchased a large tract of land on
Magnolia avenue, below Arlington, and erected a group of buildings especially
fitted for hospital use and the care of the indigent. In 1910, to comply with
the requirements of a recent law, the county has located upon these grounds,
facing on Garfield street, suitable buildings where, in a "detention home,"
neglected children are suitably cared for.

   Among the first of the appointments made was a board of horticultural
commissioners to care for our important fruit interests, Messrs. Judson House,
George W. Van Kirk and Charles W. Godfrey being named for this duty. E. P.
Cundiff has for years had the entire charge of this department.

   The records of the meetings of the supervisors, held June 27, 1893, show that
on that day an ordinance was adopted prohibiting the liquor traffic within the
limits of the county of Riverside, a policy which has been permanently maintained.

   The following is a list of the elective officers who have served the county
since its organization, with the dates of their assumption of their duties:
Superior judge, J. S. Noyes, 1893; F. E. Densmore, 1906. County clerk, A. J.
Condee, 1893; W. W. Phelps, 1899; A. B. Pilch, 1907. County treasurer, D. G.
Mitchell, 1893. County sheriff, Fred W. Swope, 1893; W. B. Johnson, 1895; P. M.
Coburn, 1899; Frank P. Wilson, 1907. District attorney. John M. Anderson, 1893;
Lafayette Gill, 1895; Lyman Evans, 1898. County auditor, George W. Fox, 1893;
William B. Clancy, 1895; George H. Brown, 1905. County tax collector, A. B.
McCormick, 1893; J. C. Woodard, 1895; Oscar J. Palmer, 1896; E. D. Crane, 1910;
Charles R. Stibbens, July 24, 1912. County surveyor, George M. Pearson, 1893.
County assessor, Bradford Morse, 1893; John T. Jarvis, 1895; W. F. Montague,
1899. County coroner, Dr. W. S. Ruby, 1893; Dr. C. C. Sherman, 1895; Dr. C. S.
Dickson, 1899. Public administrator, George M. Frink, 1893; H. W. Bordwell,
1895; Warren Taylor, 1896; L. C. Russell, 1896; M. S. Bowman, 1900; W. H.
Polkinghorn, 1911. County recorder, E. H. Gruwell, 1893; I. S. Logan, January 5,
1905. Superintendent of schools, Lyman Gregory, 1893; Edward Hyatt, 1895;
Raymond Cree, 1907. County supervisors: First district, W. G. McVicar, 1893;
Ambrose Compton, 1895; Elwood Lilly, 1899; Thomas P. Drinkwater, 1902; J. T.
Hamner, 1903. Second district: Martin Hoover, 1893; J. M. Edmiston, 1895; Dr. C.
W. Craven, 1899; Elmer W. Holmes, June 6, 1904. Third district: Albert S. White,
1893; Fred M. Dunbar, 1897; Harry Bantz, 1905; Karl S. Carlton, 1909. Fourth
district: S. A. Stewart, 1893; H. C. Thompson, 1895; A. T. Kimbell, 1899; James
A. Crane, 1911. Fifth district: F. T. Loveland, 1893; John Shaver, 1895.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF
Riverside County
CALIFORNIA
WITH
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
OF
The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been
Identified With Its Growth and Development From
the Early Days to the Present
HISTORY BY
ELMER WALLACE HOLMES
AND OTHER WELL KNOWN WRITERS
ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME

HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 
1912


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