Northside - City of Riverside

with Magnolia Avenue, the main arterial that strings the three developments
t ogether (Figure 1). In downtown Riverside, Magnolia Avenue becomes Market
Street, which continues to bisect the southern portion of the survey area. Market
Street serves as a northern gateway to the City; however, development along Market
Street within the survey area is oriented away from the arterial and is associated
with bordering neighborhoods rather than the streetscape.
During the 1870s and 1880s, amid a land boom that swept through southern
California, the budding town of Riverside grew rapidly with approximately 4,600
residents by 1890 (Census Bureau, Census 1890). As land values were tied to
agricultural production, the most important boost to Riverside's early prosperity
came with successful, canal system irrigation and the introduction of the naval
orange in the mid-1870s. Its nearly instant success in Riverside led to the spread of
citrus cultivation throughout southern California, and propelled Riverside to the
forefront of the citrus industry.
The City of Riverside was incorporated in 1883 by a vote of 228 to 147 by the citizens
of Riverside (Phillips 1995:3) and at that time encompassed approximately 56 square
miles. The incorporated area included the original purchase by the Southern
California Colony Association as well as the Arlington area and the lands in the
Government Tract (Patterson 1996:17). The business district was located in the heart
of the original Mile Square townsite, while about 33 square miles were divided into
small farm lots of 5, 10, 20, and 40 acres and the remainder dedicated to hay raising
and grazing (Bynon 1893-4:23). In 1893, Riverside became the county seat of
Riverside County, which formed in that year from portions of San Bernardino and
San Diego Counties, and by 1895, Riverside was a thriving, irrigated cooperative
that specialized in citriculture.
Riverside grew rapidly and early, and development soon spread north and east of
the original townsite. The Northside area, which lies adjacent (northeast) of the
City’s downtown core (Figure 6), experienced areas of concentrated development
primarily throughout the first half of the 20 th century. Development to the southwest
was not substantial until the early 20th century, after the Tequesquite Arroyo, a
natural land barrier, was filled in 1913. The fill allowed the growing Riverside
population to spill into the areas southwest of the original townsite, including the
former Government Tract, which were covered by citrus groves and, to a lesser
degree, vineyards and walnut orchards. Historically, ethnic communities were
concentrated on Riverside’s Eastside, “Chinatown,” and scattered throughout the
Arlington area, while the homes and businesses of the Northside were occupied
with predominantly white, working- and middle-class citizens until the latter 20 th
century (Mermilliod & Klure 2005a & 2005b). Today, more than half of the
Northside’s approximately 6,200 residents are Hispanic (Census Bureau, Census
2000 – City of Riverside Northside Neighborhood Demographic Profile).
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