Devore, San Bernardino

Last updated

Devore
Devore Heights
Cajon Boulevard, Devore, California (2010-01-30) (crop)-01.jpg
Roadside business in Devore along former historic U.S. Route 66 (Cajon Boulevard)
USA California location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Devore
Location within the state of California
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Devore
Devore (the United States)
Coordinates: 34°12′59″N117°24′05″W / 34.21639°N 117.40139°W / 34.21639; -117.40139
Country United States
State California
County San Bernardino County
City San Bernardino
Elevation
2,510 ft (770 m)
Time zone UTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
  Summer (DST) UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP codes
92407
Area code(s) 909 and 840
GNIS feature ID 270868

Devore Heights, or Devore, is a residential rural neighborhood of the city of San Bernardino, California. It is located just north of the junction of Interstate 15 and Interstate 215, about 12 miles northwest of downtown San Bernardino. It is also the last town to pass through before taking the Cajon Pass to reach Hesperia, California. The area is just outside the boundaries of the San Bernardino National Forest; nearby cities and communities include Verdemont, University Hills, Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana, and Rialto. Glen Helen Pavilion/Amphitheater, the largest amphitheater in North America, is located just south of Devore. Devore is completely within the city's 92407 ZIP Code and is within the 909 and 840 area codes as well.

Contents

History

Devore, in the northernmost corner of the original Muscupiabe Rancho in Township 2 North, Range 5 West, is an unincorporated community north of San Bernardino City in San Bernardino County bordering the San Bernardino National Forest in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountain Range between Cajon Pass and valley cities. It also includes several pieces of private property that border the Muscupiabe Rancho within the National Forest.

The San Andreas Fault runs through the hills in the upper end of Devore. In Cajon Creek/Wash below Devore run the Glen Helen and San Jacinto Faults.  Ground water barriers exist between the San Andreas and Glen Helen Faults. Other earthquake rifts, like the Peters Fault, also rumble in Devore on occasion.

The name changed a few times, from El Cajon de Muscupiabe to Rancho Muscupiabe (both names were being used during the 1858 survey) to The Martin District (1887) to The Guernsey Tract (1895) to The Glen Helen Tract (1901) to Kenwood Heights (1903), and finally to Devore a year or so later. For years residents called Devore “The Southern Portal of the Cajon Pass”.

Michael White, who had arrived in the US in 1817, received the Muscupiabe grant in 1842. He had become a Mexican citizen by then, had married a prominent Hispanic maiden, the daughter of Eulalie Perez, and his Spanish name was Don Miguel Blanco. He was situated in Cable Canyon, and his job was to watch the pass for horse-thieving Indians. He quit-claimed half the Rancho to A.P. Crittenden of San Francisco and Isabella Granger of Los Angeles County in 1855. Two years later, the Whites sold the remaining half to Henry Hancock, the L.A. County deputy surveyor, who had originally surveyed the Rancho.

Kenwood Corporation, a clothing manufacturer specializing in railroad uniforms, was located in the ritzy part of Chicago and in Delaware. A high-ranking official, possibly vice president, John A. Devore was sent to Southern California in 1901 at the age of 42 to cement relationships with the railroads. He was accompanied by his wife, Anna, and her brother, Walter Evans. Devore bought land from John and Nettie (Hawley) Cole, who had a 294.68-acre Jersey dairy in the hills at the top of Kimbark Ave., and 1394 acres from John M.C. and Elizabeth Marble of Los Angeles.

In 1902, the Kenwood Corporation contracted with Chicago Title and Trust Company to mortgage the Devore property for $560,000 and to issue 2800 bonds worth $200 each.  They were to be paid to the “investors” at a rate of $1.50 on the first and 15th of each month for 36 months. The Kenwood Commercial Company agreed to plant, cultivate, and maintain orchards and vineyards on the lands with trees and vines and crops most suitable to the climate and most profitable to the company. Kenwood Commercial Company filed for bankruptcy in Illinois on August 9, 1904, and for $1,000, the land of the Kenwood Company was deeded to John A. Devore in 1905. Robert N.C. Wilson and H.A. Barclay represented the California Southern Railroad Company since the deed of transfer to John Devore excluded the railroad right of way. An additional deed in 1906 transferred from Walter Evans, M.L. Cook, H.L. and J.H. and M.D. and C.H. Allison, F.S. Scheuer, and J.S. Bright, Jr.  to John A. Devore many of the placer mining claims.

Devore died young in 1907. John Devores vision for the land that now bears his name was evidently for a place of grace and beauty, and authors of his time lauded him for the lovely homes, rock walls, and gardens he had incorporated into the design of the community. Much of his effort was destroyed by the Flood of 1938.

By the end of 1910, the R.W. Poindexter Company of Los Angeles had transferred most of the Devore/Thomas land to Thomas S. Wadsworth, C.W. Hollister, J.A. Crandall, and Walter W. Brown, and the Devore Land Company was established. Anna (Devore) Thomas and William Thomas deeded to Title Insurance and Trust Co. of L.A. portions in Sections 21 and 22, as well as 20.

McGroarty in his 1914 History of Southern California says, “Devore is a station on the Santa Fe Railroad, nine miles north of San Bernardino, near the center of a new territory skirting the foothills. (The Devore Depot was the largest, most ornate of the stations built along the Cajon Pass track for fuel and water stops for the train engines.)

La Fuze in her 1971 Saga of the San Bernardinos described early Devore as a thousand-acre bench showplace producing grapes, apples, peaches, pears, (and plums).

In the 1950s, maps showed Devore on the lower lands, from Cajon Blvd. to Glen Helen, and Devore Heights was on the hill. With the land-grabs by San Bernardino and the I15 freeway so successful, not much of Devore is left except Devore Heights.

The area in the foothills of the ranges is composed of alluvial flows, which leave behind many canyons from where the flows originated. Canyons in Devore are often named after “original” landowners or those who came later and changed the names. Cable Canyon was named for the two Cable brothers who had a ranch there and were active in local politics during the 1870s.

Hopper Canyon was named for Henry and Julia (Akers) Hopper, who settled in the area with their seven children. Akers Canyon, now one of the Kimbarks, was named for Julias father Larkin B. Akers, or Frank (who married Charlotte Swarthout) or John M. Akers, who also farmed in Martin District in the late 1800s. The three traded land among them.

Middleman Falls was named after a New York farmer who settled in the area and was registered to vote in 1886. His name, James PettyMedlin, was mispronounced thereafter as Middleman. Medlin was rich in water rights, but that might have led to his murder in 1895. His land was sold at auction in 1906 for $81.25 to D. Walter Evans, brother of Anna Devore.

Wilson Creek took its name from Robert N.C. Wilson, who was dealing in land (including Glen Helen) and water all through the Pass in 1883 and became part of the Muscoy Water Company. This “invisible” man left little paper trail.

Pittman Canyon was named for Dr. Henderson Pittman, who bought his (now Mathews) property in 1913. Ames Canyon was named for settler Robert Earl Ames, who came with the Mormons and stayed. Swarthout (farmers and transporters) and Cleghorn (lumber cutters) are also names of early settlers, as was John Hansen (now E. Kimbark).

Devore has been composed of fiercely independent residents who have valued solitude, privacy, the rural lifestyle, and appreciation of nature, both wild and domesticated, whether that is the way its founders intended or not—or whether that’s the way it stays. Others move to Devore because its relative remoteness is conducive to concealing activities and lifestyles that would not be accepted in town.

Most of the mine claims filed were more practical than golden dreams: asbestos, calcite, talc, and clay. John Devore bought some placer claims to expand his land holdings, but he also bought claims for calcite.

Portland Cement was shipped from Europe until about 1904, so people had to mine calcite (lime) and make their own building materials. The kilns in the Kimbark Canyons were especially useful then. There was probably another kiln near the railroad tracks, as well as the one in Keenbrook.

Theodore and Harriet Walker, property dealers in Los Angeles bought over half of Devore in 1915. Mr. and Mrs. R.K. Walker, relatives of Theodore and Harriet also bought some Devore land, including the Devore Ranch and house. Mrs. R.K. Walker lived there for years and made a name for herself in flower and produce shows. Robert B. Peters, whose wife Florence was the daughter of the Theodore Walkers, also became involved in buying Devore land as early as 1915. He and his wife owned considerable property in Devore and lived in the big Devore house. After managing the ranch for several years for the R.K. Walkers, R.B. Peters bought it from Mrs. R.K. Walker, whose husband and two partners had purchased the ranch. Peters also was instrumental in the formation of the Mesa Alta Orange Company, a large landholder in Devore from 1928 to 1940.

Devore Land Company, a corporation based in Los Angeles, deeded all its water rights in Devore to the Devore Water Company on June 17, 1904, and additional rights were deeded on December 19, 1911. Devore Water Company still exists as a rare municipal water producer.

Devore Depot

The Devore Station, a concrete and rock structure, was sturdier and more ornate than most of the other train stations on the Cajon Pass run, which were made of wood. The Devore Depot, a two-story building designed by architect Harrison Allbright, was used between 1908 and 1930. It was demolished around 1958. The upstairs office was used by Station Master Herbert B. Davis and his wife Jennie Cook Davis, postmistress and well-known local poet. Photos available in Devore, A Scrapbook.

Education

Devore is served by the San Bernardino City Unified School District. Devore is home to Kimbark Elementary, a 2016 California Gold Ribbon School. While no middle or high schools are located within the neighborhood, the nearby neighborhoods of Verdemont and University Hills have a middle school and high school, respectively. Kimbark School opened in 1968. It was preceded by Cajon School just south of Devore Road on Cajon Blvd. Cajon School, one large room that could be divided into two by a sliding wall, was built in 1924 of native rocks by residents of Devore on land donated by R. B. Peters, one of the community's most illustrious residents. A four room wing was added in 1949 to accommodate students through sixth grade. That Cajon School was preceded by an earlier one on the other side of Cajon Blvd. which functioned from 1870 to 1921, when the Cajon School District was annexed by San Bernardino.

Local Attractions

Glen Helen Amphitheater (also known as Glen Helen Pavilion or G.H. Amphitheater), is a local, open-air venue that hosts many music festivals and performances. Originally designed and opened in 1982 by Steve Wozniak, [1] and with a maximum capacity of 65,000 people, it is the largest open-air amphitheater on the continent; [2] generally, most amphitheaters accommodate anywhere from 10,000 to 25,000 people, making G.H. Pavilion more than double the average capacity. The orchestra, box and loge sections can seat up to 10,902 people, with the lawn section at the back fitting an additional 54,098. [3]

Mountain High is a ski resort in Wrightwood that is open during the colder months for snow sports, including skiing and snowboarding.

The Old Fire

Devore suffered from a fire on October 25, 2003. The fire began at Waterman Canyon around 9:00 A.M and by 6:30 P.M the fire had grown up to 10,000 acres. The fire burned 91,281 acres, destroyed 940 residences, 30 commercial buildings and 300 outbuildings. More than 4,000 firefighters were called in effort to put this fire out. The Old Fire grew and spread towards the San Bernardino Mountains. The Old Fire grew so big that it merged with another existing fire, the Grand Prix Fire, across the Interstate 15 Freeway. Combined, these fires caused damage that spanned more than 30 miles wide. When this fire hit Devore, the city was still recovering from the Panorama Fire from November 1980 which had damaged 23,800 acres. The destruction caused by The Old Fire further damaged the land from a previous fire, The 1980 Panorama Fire that burned 23,800 acres. The Old Fire resulted in 6 deaths and evacuation of over 70,000 citizens. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Bernardino, California</span> City in California, United States

San Bernardino is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the 18th-largest city in California. San Bernardino is the economic, cultural, and political hub of the San Bernardino Valley and the Inland Empire. The governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico have established the metropolitan area's only consulates in the downtown area of the city. Additionally, San Bernardino serves as an anchor city to the 3rd largest metropolitan area in California and the 13th largest metropolitan area in the United States; the San Bernardino-Riverside MSA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yucaipa, California</span> City in California, United States

Yucaipa is a city located 10 miles (16 km) east of San Bernardino, in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 54,542 at the 2020 census, up from 51,367 at the 2010 census. Yucaipa has the distinction of being the longtime home to a large population of Serrano Native Americans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mojave River</span> River in California, United States

The Mojave River is an intermittent river in the eastern San Bernardino Mountains and the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Most of its flow is underground, while its surface channels remain dry most of the time, except for the headwaters and several bedrock gorges in the lower reaches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cajon Pass</span> Mountain pass in Southern California

Cajon Pass is a mountain pass between the San Bernardino Mountains to the east and the San Gabriel Mountains to the west in Southern California. Created by the movements of the San Andreas Fault, it has an elevation of 3,777 ft (1,151 m). Located in the Mojave Desert, the pass is an important link from the Greater San Bernardino Area to the Victor Valley, and northeast to Las Vegas. The Cajon Pass area is on the Pacific Crest Trail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Spanish Trail (trade route)</span> United States historic place

The Old Spanish Trail is a historical trade route that connected the northern New Mexico settlements of Santa Fe, New Mexico with those of Los Angeles, California and southern California. Approximately 700 mi (1,100 km) long, the trail ran through areas of high mountains, arid deserts, and deep canyons. It is considered one of the most arduous of all trade routes ever established in the United States. Explored, in part, by Spanish explorers as early as the late 16th century, the trail was extensively used by traders with pack trains from about 1830 until the mid-1850s. The area was part of Mexico from Mexican independence in 1821 to the Mexican Cession to the United States in 1848.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Bernardino Valley</span> Valley in California, United States

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lytle Creek (California)</span> River in the United States

Lytle Creek, California, is an approximately 18-mile-long (29 km) stream in southwestern San Bernardino County near the city of San Bernardino. It is a tributary of Warm Creek, a tributary of the Santa Ana River. The Mormon settlers of San Bernardino named the stream "Lytle Creek" after their leader, Captain Andrew Lytle. The Tongva village of Wa’aachnga was located along Lytle Creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Southern Railroad</span> Former railroad in California

The California Southern Railroad was a subsidiary railroad of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in Southern California. It was organized July 10, 1880, and chartered on October 23, 1880, to build a rail connection between what has become the city of Barstow and San Diego, California.

San Bernardino, California, was named in 1810.

Brightline West is a proposed privately run high-speed rail route in the United States linking the Las Vegas Valley and Rancho Cucamonga in the Greater Los Angeles area through the California high desert. The line will connect with existing rail at Rancho Cucamonga station of Metrolink's San Bernardino Line, a commuter rail line in Southern California. The project is intended to provide an alternative to air and automobile travel between Southern California and Las Vegas, a popular leisure destination. Construction on the route is expected to begin in 2023 pending result from a $3.75 billion in grant application from Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which is expected to be announced in October 2023. Revenue service is planned to begin in 2027.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rancho San Juan Cajón de Santa Ana</span>

Rancho San Juan Cajón de Santa Ana was a 35,971-acre (145.57 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Orange County, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glen Helen Amphitheater</span>

The Glen Helen Amphitheater is a 65,000-capacity amphitheater located in the hills of Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Timoteo Canyon</span> Landform in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, California

San Timoteo Canyon is a river valley canyon southeast of Redlands, in the far northwestern foothills of the San Jacinto Mountains in the Inland Empire region of Southern California.

The San Bernardino Forest Reserve was established by the General Land Office in California on February 25, 1893 with 737,280 acres (2,983.7 km2) in the San Bernardino Mountains. After the transfer of federal forests to the U.S. Forest Service in 1905, it became a National Forest on March 4, 1907. On July 1, 1908 the entire forest was combined with San Gabriel National Forest and Santa Barbara National Forest to create Angeles National Forest, and the name was discontinued. On September 30, 1925 San Bernardino National Forest was re-established from parts of Angeles and Cleveland National Forest.

Rancho Muscupiabe was a 30,145-acre (121.99 km2) Mexican land grant in present day San Bernardino County, California given to Michael C. White on April 29, 1843, by Governor Manuel Micheltorena. The name comes from the Serrano word muscupiabit, meaning "place of little pines." The rancho was adjacent to Cajon Pass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest Falls, California</span> Unincorporated community in California, United States

Forest Falls is an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, California, 75 miles (121 km) due east of Los Angeles. The community has a population of 1,102 and contains 712 houses. Forest Falls is best known for the waterfalls on Vivian and Falls creeks and as a point of access for recreation in the San Bernardino National Forest, particularly the San Gorgonio Wilderness Area, which lies directly north of the community.

Rancho San Jacinto y San Gorgonio was a 4,440-acre (18.0 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Riverside County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to James (Santiago) Johnson. At the time of the US Patent, Rancho San Jacinto y San Gorgonio was a part of San Bernardino County. The County of Riverside was created by the California Legislature in 1893 by taking land from both San Bernardino and San Diego Counties. The grant encompassed San Timoteo Canyon.

William Taylor Barnes Sanford (1814–1863) was an American road builder, a landowner and the second postmaster of Los Angeles, California, after it became a part of the United States. He was a member of the Los Angeles Common Council in 1853–54.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glen Helen Regional Park</span> County park in San Bernardino County, California

Glen Helen Regional Park is a county park located in San Bernardino, California, United States adjacent to the Cajon Pass. It was the site of both US Festivals of the early 1980s. It is also home to the Glen Helen Amphitheater, the largest outdoor amphitheater in the United States. The park also hosts several off-road races since 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Cut Fire</span>

The Blue Cut Fire was a wildfire in the Cajon Pass, northeastern San Gabriel Mountains, and Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California. The fire, which began on the Blue Cut hiking trail in the San Bernardino National Forest, was first reported on August 16, 2016 at 10:36 a.m., just west of Interstate 15. A red flag warning was in effect in the area of the fire, with temperatures near 100 °F (38 °C) and winds gusting up to 30 miles per hour (48 km/h).

References

Devore: A Scrapbook, Alice Eby Hall, Editor; Published in 2007 by Hallcienda

  1. "Glen Helen Amphitheater Tickets". Stub Hub. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  2. "Glen Helen Amphitheater Tickets". Stub Hub. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  3. "Glen Helen Amphitheater Tickets". Stub Hub. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  4. "'California Fire Siege of 2003' made history". Sbsun.com. October 28, 2013. Retrieved February 6, 2019.