Northside - City of Riverside

developed for the city of Riverside and figure prominently in the development of
many areas not explored in depth here, as they do not relate to the history of
development, the nature of the extant historic resources, or the historic inhabitants
of the survey area. The theme of Immigration and Ethnic Diversity has been
recommended for further study as association with ethnic groups, particularly
Northsiders of Hispanic descent, could not be fully developed.
Themes that have been developed in this historic context are organized according to
major periods of settlement and growth and include Early Settlement on the
Northside 1870-1900, Early Development 1901-1918, Suburban Development 1919-
1941, and Post-WWII Development 1946-1959. History and development, which
includes a discussion of related property types and architectural styles, are explored
within each period and presented chronologically. The Northside is a very large
area, encompassing roughly 2 square miles that was developed over a period of
decades. Over time, areas distinguished by associated property type and use
emerged within the reduced survey area of less than 1 square mile, providing a
logical pattern for organization for the context statement. Thus, each main area of
development – Fairmount Heights, File’s Island, Southeast Quadrant, Main Street
Industrial Corridor, Freeway Industrial Interchange, and North of State Route 60
(SR-60) – are summarized, after a brief historical overview, and are explored within
the applicable themes introduced above (Figure 2).
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
Approximately 50 miles east, southeast of Los Angeles, the city of Riverside lies on a
plain that is interrupted by the Santa Ana River to the west and a series of foothills
that are known as Rubidoux Mountain, Box Springs Mountain, Jurupa Mountains,
Pedley Hills, Pachappa Hill, and Victoria Hill, all of which partially define the City’s
boundaries. A series of arroyos from the eastern hills to the Santa Ana River crosses
the Riverside plain. The Tequesquite Arroyo, the largest of the arroyo system,
largely confined development to the original townsite, now Riverside’s downtown
core, for over four decades.
The greater Riverside area was originally inhabited by several Native American
groups, including the Cahuilla, Serrano, Luiseno, and Gabrieliño Indians, with the
Northside area of Riverside specifically within the traditional cultural territory of
the Cahuillas and Gabrieliños (LSA 2005:5). The present-day Riverside area received
its first European visitors in 1774-1776, shortly after the beginning of Spanish
colonization of Alta California in 1769. At that time, Juan Bautista de Anza, the
famed Spanish explorer, reported that several Gabrieliño villages were found near
the Anza Narrows on the Santa Ana River, approximately three miles southwest of
the survey area (Patterson 1996:120; Gunther 1984:25-26). After the establishment of
Mission San Gabriel in 1771, the Riverside area became one of the mission's principal
20