Timeline of San Bernardino, California history

This is a historical timeline of San Bernardino, California.

* 1810 - Padre Francisco Dumetz, a Spanish priest, names San Bernardino (the valley) on May 20, 1810, feast day of St. Bernardine of Siena [Schuiling, Walter C. "San Bernardino County: Land of Contrasts, Windsor Publications", 1984, p. 26]
* 1842 - Rancho San Bernardino granted to Antonio Maria Lugo, encompassing the entire San Bernardino Valley. [Schuiling, Walter C. "San Bernardino County: Land of Contrasts, Windsor Publications", 1984, p.34]
* 1848 - Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo cedes California to the United States [Schuiling, Walter C. "San Bernardino County: Land of Contrasts, Windsor Publications", 1984, p.41]
* 1851 - Mormon colony founded [Schuiling, Walter C. "San Bernardino County: Land of Contrasts, Windsor Publications", 1984, 44]
* 1851 - Jews arrive with the Mormon settlers. They establish the oldest Jewish cemetery in continuous use on the West Coast. Congregation Emanu El was later chartered in 1891.
* 1852 - Colonel Henry Washington erects survey monument in San Bernardino Mountains, founds the San Bernardino Base and Meridian. The Base Line is along the street of the same name. [Schuiling, Walter C. "San Bernardino County: Land of Contrasts, Windsor Publications", 1984, 47]
* 1854 - San Bernardino incorporated on April 13, 1854 [Schuiling, Walter C. "San Bernardino County: Land of Contrasts, Windsor Publications", 1984, p. 49]
* 1857 - Brigham Young recalls Mormons to Utah. San Bernardino disincorporated. [Schuiling, Walter C. "San Bernardino County: Land of Contrasts, Windsor Publications", 1984, p. 50] The first orange trees are brought to the valley. [Schuiling, Walter C. "San Bernardino County: Land of Contrasts, Windsor Publications", 1984, p.47] The Fort Tejon earthquake ruptured the San Andreas Fault, the last major earthquake on the San Bernardino portion of the fault to this day. [ [http://www.forttejon.org/historyearthquake.html The Great 1857 "Fort Tejon" Earthquake] ]
* 1862 - A flood causes the Santa Ana River to carry three times its usual volume, altering its banks, wiping out nearby Agua Mansa. A smallpox plague from Los Angeles hits San Bernardino.
* 1870 - Regional rival Riverside, California formed by John W. North.
* 1873 - The Southern Pacific Railroad enters into negotiations with the City to build a railroad through town. Talks break down.
* 1874 - The first permanent court house [Cataldo, Nick. "Images of America: San Bernardino, California"Arcadia Publishing, 2002, p. 39] is founded on Court Street near "E" Street.
* 1875 - The Southern Pacific reaches the valley but stops at Slover Mountain Colony. The station is named Colton after Southern Pacific Official David D. Colton, and will become the City of Colton.
* 1882 - Julia and Joseph Meyer arrive in the area today known as Verdemont in Northwestern San Bernardino, and eventually they will own 2,000 acres (8 km²) which they use to grow wine grapes.
* 1883 - California Southern Railroad reaches San Bernardino on September 13th. San Bernardino High School becomes the first high school in the county.
* 1885 - On November 9, 1885, the last spike is driven on the California Southern Railroad, linking San Bernardino to the Atlantic Pacific Railroad.
* 1886 - San Bernardino reincorporated. A passenger rail fare war erupts between Southern Pacific and Santa Fe dropping the price from $125 to $1. All of Southern California booms.
* 1890 - The sanitarium that later becomes Patton State Hospital is founded.
* 1893 - Rival city Riverside secedes from San Bernardino County and forms its own County, with the City of Riverside its county seat.
* 1894 - "The Sun Newspaper" begins publishing.
* 1901 - San Bernardino's first permanent City Hall is located on a Corner of Third and "D" Street.
* 1902 - San Bernardino Valley Traction Company forms to operate electric trolleys in and between Colton, San Bernardino, Redlands and Highland.
* 1905 - San Bernardino passes its first Charter. Harris Company opens inside a small dry goods store. It becomes a small regional department store until it merges with Gottschalks in the 1990s.
* 1911 - First National Orange Show held.
* 1923 - North San Jacinto Fault Earthquake of magnitude 6.3 centered 7 miles south of San Bernardino damages many buildings, including Patton State Hospital, County Hospital, County Courthouse and Hall of Records. Greatest damage due to sandstone, masonry or otherwise poor construction. [Laughlin, H., Arnold, R., and Kew, W.S.W. (1923). Southern California Earthquake of July 22, 1923. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 105-106, Plate 13.]
* 1925 - Future President Lyndon B. Johnson works as an elevator operator in the Platt Building in downtown San Bernardino
* 1926 - San Bernardino Valley College built.
* 1927 - The San Bernardino County Court House is built on the site of Fort San Bernardino, as Court Street is extended to Arrowhead.
* 1930 - San Bernardino's population grows to 37,481 [The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1943, p. 446]
* 1938 - A major flood from the mountains damages the City.
* 1940 - San Bernardino's population reaches 43,646 [Heritage Tales, San Bernardino Pioneer and Historical Society 1982, p.1]
* 1941 - Dorthy Ingrham becomes the first African American Teacher an Bernardino, and later the first African American administrator in the state.
* 1942 - San Bernardino Air Material Command opens (later Norton Air Force Base).
* 1944 - San Bernardino native Leland Francis Norton was killed in action over Amiens, France on May 27, 1944. He was dive-bombing a target in an A-20 attack/bomber.
* 1947 - San Bernardino Air Depot deactivated, Congressman Harry Shepard gets it reactivated and expanded.
* 1948 - On December 12, siblings Richard and Maurice McDonald convert their "barbecue" restaurant on "E" Street into a fast food restaurant, McDonald's, by introducing their Speedee Service System. Glen Bell, inspired by their success opens Bell's Hamburgers on the corner of Oak and Mount Vernon Avenues. Bell would later open Taco Tia at Base Line and Acacia in 1954, El Taco, and in 1962, Taco Bell in Downey, California.
* 1950 - Norton Air Force Base named after Leland Norton. San Bernardino's population reaches 73,827.
* 1952 - Neal Baker, a friend of Glen Bell's and an admirer of the McDonalds', opens the first Bakers' Drive Thru. This local chain now has 35 stores in the Inland Empire.
* 1961 - Dick and Mac McDonald sell Ray Kroc business rights to their restaurants for $2.7 million dollars; they retain the original McDonalds as "The Big M." Kroc opens a McDonalds across the street. Today, the Kroc restaurant remains boarded up, the original McDonalds was demolished, though a McDonalds museum exists at the original site (with a building built in the 1970s), which is run by Albert Okura, founder of the local chicken chain, Juan Pollo.
* 1965 - California State University, San Bernardino founded.
* 1970 - W.R. "Bob" Holcolmb is first elected Mayor. He would serve until 1985, and then again from 1989 to 1993.
* 1973 - A new City Hall is opened on what was once the middle of Third Street between "E" and "F". This modern, eight level, glass and concrete building, designed by Gruen and Associates is the current seat of City government.
* 1976 - Omnitrans is formed, replacing the San Bernardino Transit System. [ [Omnitrans Transportation Milestones 1951-1979|http://www.omnitrans.org/about/fleet_timeline_3.shtml] ]
* 1978 The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino is founded, covering San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, with its cathedral at Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral in San Bernardino on Arrowhead Avenue at 25th Street.
* 1980 - Starting on November 24, and raging for six days, the Panorama Fire scorches 24,000 acres (97 km²), left four dead, destroyed 284 homes, and damaged 49 others. Many City firefighters lost their homes to this devastating firestorm. Low interest FEMA loans (at a time with record high mortgage interest rates) allowed most victims to rebuild and even expand their homes. The [Census] counts 118,794 residents. [The World Almanac and Book of Facts (1993), p. 401.]
* 1985 - Norman F. Feldheym Library is dedicated. It is named after Rabbi Norman F. Feldheym, a prominent local leader who sat on the Library Board of Trustees for many years, among other civic accomplishments. Evelyn Wilcox is elected the first female mayor. The County Government Center (nicknamed the "Taj Mahal") opens at Fourth Street and Arrowhead Avenue, just north of the courthouse.
* 1987 - Professional (Single-A) baseball arrives when a team from Ventura California moves to Fiscalini Field in Perris Hill Park and are named the San Bernardino Spirit. James F. Penman is first elected as City Attorney, replacing Ralph Prince, City Attorney since the 1950s.
* 1989 - San Bernardino train disaster: Southern Pacific Railroad freight train derails, killing four on Duffy Street. Days later, the Cal-Nev gasoline pipeline ruptures and ignites at the same location from damage sustained in the derailment cleanup. The Miss USA Pageant is held in San Bernardino on July 25, and televised on CBS. Seeking free airtime, the City invests in an 800 number, which CBS does not show on the air. W.R. "Bob" Holcolmb, after four years out of power, is re-elected mayor.
* 1990 - San Bernardino's population reaches 164,164. [The World Almanac and Book of Facts (1993), p. 401.]
* 1994 - Norton Air Force Base closed.
* 1996 - San Bernardino Stadium (renamed Arrowhead Credit Union Park in 2003) is opened with the San Bernardino Stampede (formerly the San Bernardino Spirit) baseball club as its lead tenant. This stadium on South E Street replaced Fiscalini Field in Perris Hill Park as the home of the minor league baseball team. (They are later renamed the Inland Empire 66ers] ).
* 1997 - Mayor Judith Valles (Smith) is elected as Mayor. She is the first Latino elected Mayor in the City's history.
* 1999 - On January 31, the Harris' Department Store on E Street closes. George Brown, Jr., (D-Colton) the area's long-time representative in the United States House of Representatives dies in office.
* 2000 - In December 2000, the City closes the Cypress Inn mobile home park off of Mount Vernon Avenue in the City's Westside. The park is closed by the City's Fire Prevention Unit because of life safety issues involving a gas leak and illegal/unsafe electrical hook-ups. The park is largely inhabited by monolingual Spanish speakers. The City, using money set-aside for redevelopment, relocates the park's inhabitants to local motels. One resident, Valente Duran, complains about the treatment by the City. He says "In Mexico, they treat us better than here." San Bernardino City Attorney James F. Penman writes Valente Duran a letter in English and in Spanish that says in part "The people of this City have no desire to deprive you or your family of what you may believe would be better treatment by the government of Mexico. Therefore, in substitution for the housing, food, and other assistance the City of San Bernardino is voluntarily providing, we want to give you the option of continuing to receive this assistance or accepting our offer to arrange and pay for transportation for you and your family, one way, to Mexico." The letter causes a political firestorm.
* 2001 - Mayor Judith Valles is elected for a second term, running unopposed. Local newspapers allege this is a first in City history, but it is probably unlikely that someone ran against Apostle Amasa M. Lyman in 1854.
* 2003 - On October 25, 2003, the Old Fire (also known as the Old Waterman Canyon Fire), started by arson, destroys hundreds of structures in the foothills and in Del Rosa before heading into the San Bernardino Mountains. Many San Bernardino City Fire Department firefighters were battling the Grand Prix fire (which at the time was largely in Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga) at the time, reducing the City's full resource response. Two City firefighters lost their homes to the Old Fire. The hills denuded, floods devastate the KOA campground just outside the city limits on Christmas Day and the manager, Jan Bradley, is killed.
* 2006 Judge Patrick "Pat" J. Morris wins a mayoral run-off against City Attorney James "Jim" Frank Penman. On March 4, 2006, thousands of concertgoers start a riot at the Orange Show after a concert (see San Bernardino punk riot).

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