The bronze statue of Jedediah Strong Smith, the first American explorer to lead a party overland to the valley, in 1826, sits on the southeast corner of the City Hall property, proclaiming it to be "A Welcome Sight."

At this time, the area was known as "Mud Springs" and was part of the Rancho San Jose, the last Spanish land grant. It was a swamp, several acres in size, and a regular stopping place for early Indians, as well as later explorers. The Santa Fe Railroad came through in 1887, and the San Jose Land Co. was formed. The company chose to call the new town San Dimas, which was then the name of the canyon to the north.

Every little town from South Pasadena to San Bernardino built a hotel for the expected rush of settlers. Ours is the only hotel surviving, due to the fact that when the land boom collapsed in 1889, it was purchased by the J.W Walker family from Kentucky and it was lived in by six generations of their family. Now known as the Walker House, it is located just north of the intersection of Bonita Avenue and San Dimas Avenue.


After trying different crops, the San Dimas area was found to be especially favorable to lemon and orange groves, and to lesser extent, avocados. Water was available from both the old Mud Springs swamp and from San Dimas Canyon. For many years, San Dimas boasted a "frost-free" climate, and R.M. Teague established his citrus nursery, which became the world's largest. The San Dimas Lemon Association was said to be the largest packing plant in the world and was responsible for many innovations. At one time, four citrus packing houses were located in San Dimas, as well as a marmalade factory. The San Dimas Feed Company, established in 1897, is the oldest business in town.

In the 1950s, burgeoning housing tracts, coupled with a disastrous disease affecting the citrus trees, changed the town and the surrounding area. From the early years of this century, there were attempts made to incorporate, but the Board of Trade could not get the residents to agree. However, when the surrounding cities began to annex areas in San Dimas' "sphere-of-influence," our citizens became sufficiently alarmed to vote in favor of incorporation in 1960.

In the early 1970s, the "Western Village" concept for the downtown core area was developed. Now, at about 36,000 residents, our community stretches from Interstate 10 Freeway in the south to the foothills in the north.


For many years, it was commonly accepted that the name "San Dimas" was given to the canyon by Don Ignacio Palomares because of the practice of horse thieves hiding their booty there. It was said that, in exasperation, the Don made reference to St. Dismas, the crucified, repentant thief on the Cross, and wished that the horse thieves would also repent and stop the depredations of his livestock.
However, in researching his book, San Dimas, Preserving the Western Spirit, Dr. Nicholas Polos discovered that Don Palomares had come from the little town of San Dimas in northern Mexico. Although it is not as romantic a legend, local historians now feel that the probability is that the Don named his new home after his old one in Mexico.

The canyon, now called Horsethief Canyon, lies to the west of San Dimas Canyon and was formerly known as Sycamore Canyon for the multitude of sycamore trees planted there. The name Horsethief Canyon has no historical basis except for the Palomares legend.

Beginning in the fall of 1998, the new Horsethief Canyon Park became the permanent home for the annual San Dimas Rodeo, held in conjunction with Western Days during the first week-end of October.


Up
 
Down