Northside - City of Riverside

categorized individual properties as contributors, non-contributors, or significant
outside of the boundaries of potential, eligible, or designated districts. Maps and
tables were to be completed for identified potential districts, and properties that
have been severely altered and those that require additional research were to be
separately listed in tables to assist in the next phase of the project. All individually
significant properties were to be documented on State of California Historic
Resources Inventory DPR form 523A (Primary Record and added to the City of
Riverside’s Historic Resources Inventory Database so that survey results could be
utilized in the planning process.
IV.
AREA SURVEYED
The area surveyed is located within the City of Riverside’s historic Northside, an
area of roughly 2 square miles just north of the city’s downtown core (Figure 1).
The survey area is located to the north/northeast within the current city
boundaries and is approximately 50 miles east, southeast of Los Angeles.
Discrepancies exist over the current boundaries of the Northside. Historically, the
southern boundary of the Northside was First Street, where street numbering
began anew at 100 and the distinction “North” was added before street names. The
western boundary has been cited as Market Street by some, which excluded
Fairmount Park (dedicated 1897) and the surrounding residential area, while
others include the city park, and the eastern boundary was the Atchison, Topeka,
and Santa Fe (ATSF) rail line. The postal designation, “North,” was removed
during the 1930 citywide address-renumbering plan when many addresses
changed from three to four digits, and the disparate numbering scheme from Old
to New Magnolia Avenue and the arterials north of First Street was resolved. After
the address conversion, the distinction, “North,” was not needed but remained in
practical use until recent years, and it appears the most significant cause in the
gradual shift in perception of the southern and eastern boundaries has been the
construction of SR-60 and SR-91, respectively, in the last half of the 20 th century.
According to many long-time residents of the Northside, the historic boundaries
remain intact, but younger residents and many official City maps indicate that the
southern and eastern boundaries conform to the modern freeways.
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