Business Guide - San Dimas Chamber of Commerce

History of San Dimas
The bronze statue of Jedediah Strong Smith, the first American
explorer to lead a party overland to the valley in 1826, sits on the
southeast corner of the City Hall property, proclaiming it to be “A
Welcome Sight.”
At this time, the area was known as “Mud Springs” and was part
of the 23,000 acre Rancho San Jose, the last Spanish land grant. It was
a swamp, several acres in size, and a regular stopping place for early
Indians, as well as later explorers. The Santa Fe Railroad came through
in 1887, and the San Jose Land Co. was formed. The company chose to
call the new town San Dimas, which was then the name of the canyon
to the north.
Every little town from South Pasadena to San Bernardino built a
hotel for the expected rush of settlers. The hotel in San Dimas is the
only hotel surviving. When the land boom collapsed in 1889, the J. W.
Walker family from Kentucky purchased it and it was occupied by six
generations of their family. Now known as the Walker House, it is
located just north of the intersection of Bonita and San Dimas Avenues.
After trying different crops, the San Dimas area was found to be
especially favorable to lemon and orange groves, and to lesser extent,
avocados. Water was available from both the old Mud Springs swamp
and from San Dimas Canyon. For many years, San Dimas boasted a
“frost-free” climate, and R.M. Teague established his citrus nursery, which
became the world’s largest. The San Dimas Lemon Association was said
to be the largest packing plant in the world and was responsible for
many innovations. At one time, four citrus packing houses were located
in San Dimas, as well as a marmalade factory. The San Dimas Feed
Company, established in 1897, is the oldest business in town.
In the 1950’s, burgeoning housing tracts, coupled with a disastrous
disease affecting the citrus trees, changed the town and the surrounding
area forever.
From the early years of this century, there were attempts
made to incorporate, but the Board of Trade (now the Chamber of
Commerce) could not get the residents to agree. That changed when
the surrounding cities began to annex areas in San Dimas’ “sphere-ofinfluence”.
The citizens became sufficiently alarmed to vote in favor of
incorporation in 1960.
In the early 1970s, the “Western Village” concept for the downtown
core area was developed. Now, with about 35,000 residents, our
community stretches from Interstate 10 Freeway in the south to the
foothills of the San Gabriel mountains in the north.
San Dimas . . .
The Legend
Behind the Name
For many years, it was commonly
accepted that Don Ignacio
Palomares gave the name “San
Dimas” to the canyon because
of the practice of horse thieves
hiding their booty there. It was
said that, in exasperation, the Don
made reference to St. Dismas,
the crucified, repentant thief on
the Cross, and wished that the
horse thieves would also repent
and stop the depredations of his
livestock. However, in researching
his book, San Dimas, Preserving
the Western Spirit, Dr. Nicholas
Polos discovered that Don Ignacio
Palomares had come from the little
town of San Dimas in northern
Mexico. Although it is not as
romantic a legend, local historians
now feel that the probability is
that the Don named his new home
after his old one in Mexico.
The canyon, now called
Horsethief Canyon, lies to the
west of San Dimas Canyon and
was formerly known as Sycamore
Canyon for the multitude of
sycamore trees growing there.
The name Horsethief Canyon has
no historical basis except for the
Palomares legend.
Beginning in the fall of 1998,
the new Horsethief Canyon Park
became the permanent home for
the annual San Dimas Rodeo, held
as a part of Western Days in early
October.
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