Hesperia, CA
| Hesperia, California | |
|---|---|
| City | |
Hesperia City Hall
|
|
 Location in San Bernardino County and the state of California |
|
 Hesperia, California
|
|
| Coordinates: 34°24′46″N 117°18′22″W / 34.41278°N 117.30611°WCoordinates: 34°24′46″N 117°18′22″W / 34.41278°N 117.30611°W | |
| Country |
 United States
|
| State |
 California
|
| County | San Bernardino |
| Incorporated | July 1, 1988 |
| Government | |
| • Type |
General Law City Council-Manager |
| • City council | Paul Russ (Mayor) Russ Blewett (Pro tempore) Larry Bird Bill Holland Rebekah Swanson |
| • City Manager | Nils Bentsen |
| • City Treasurer | Vacant |
| Area | |
| • Total | 73.209 sq mi (189.610 km2) |
| • Land | 73.096 sq mi (189.316 km2) |
| • Water | 0.113 sq mi (0.294 km2) 0.15% |
| Elevation | 3,186 ft (971 m) |
| Population (April 1, 2010) | |
| • Total | 90,173 |
| • Estimate (2015) | 92,755 |
| • Density | 1,200/sq mi (480/km2) |
| Time zone | PST (UTC-8) |
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) |
| ZIP codes | 92340, 92344, 92345 |
| Area codes | 442/760 |
| FIPS code | 06-33434 |
| GNIS feature IDs | 1652720, 2410751 |
| Website | cityofhesperia |
Hesperia is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States 35 miles (56 km) north of San Bernardino in Victor Valley. This portion of the Mojave Desert is referred to as the High Desert due to the unique and moderate weather patterns. 2015 census estimates report that the City has a total population of 92,755.
Hesperia's origins began as a Spanish land grant: Rancho San Felipe, Las Flores y el Paso del Cajon, founded in 1781. The first inhabitants were Serrano Indians. They lived in the normally dormant Mojave River bed, but the land was sparsely inhabited desert during Spanish-Mexican rule in the 19th century. The U.S. annexed the region along with Southern California after the Mexican-American war in 1848.
The town site was laid out in 1891 by railroad company land developers of the US & Santa Fe Railroad completed that year. Hesperia was named for "Hesperus", the Greek god of the west. The railroad land developers published pamphlets distributed across the country with boosterism of Hesperia, California, as a potential metropolis: to become "the Omaha of the West" or projections to have over 100,000 people by the year 1900, but only 1,000 moved in.
Hesperia grew relatively slowly until the completion of US Routes 66, 91 and 395 in the 1940s followed by Interstate 15 in the late 1960s. A total of 30 square miles (78 km2) of land was laid out for possible residential development. In the early 1950s, land developer M. Penn Phillips and his silent financial partner, the famous boxer Jack Dempsey, financed the building of roads and land subdivisions, promoting lots sales on television. They built the Hesperia Inn and golf course which attracted a variety of Hollywood celebrities. The Hesperia Inn also housed the Jack Dempsey Museum. But the main wave of newcomers arrived at Hesperia in the 1980s. Suburban growth transformed the small town of 5,000 people in 1970 to a moderate-sized community of over 60,000 by the year 2000.
...
Wikipedia