Title supplied by cataloger. Hemet is a city in Riverside County that was founded in 1887 and incorporated on January 20, 1910 with 992 people. Members of the Cahuilla Indian tribe first inhabited the area. During the early 1800s, it became a cattle ranch for Mission San Luis Rey, which named the area Rancho San Jacinto. In 1895, the Hemet Dam was completed on the San Jacinto River creating Lake Hemet and providing a reliable water supply to the San Jacinto Valley. Despite a severe drought in 1898-1900 and a major Christmas Day earthquake in 1899, the town of Hemet continued to prosper. Every year since 1923 one of the city's claims to fame has been "The Ramona Pageant", an outdoor play based on Helen Hunt Jackson's novel "Ramona". In 1950, Hemet was home to 10,000 people; as of January 2007, the city had a population of 70,288 according to the California Department of Finance. The Mayberry Hotel, located on the southwest corner of Florida and Harvard, is practically hidden behind numerous palm trees, except for the thrid floor. Built in 1894, the Mayberry Hotel was sold in 1901 to W.F. Whittier who changed the name to Hotel Hemet. In 1917 fire destroyed the upper story, but before it could be repaired, the April 18, 1918 earthquake destroyed the brick structure. It was the only hotel in Riverside County with its own water generated electric power. In 1928, the Alessandro Hotel was built on the old foundation, but was removed in 1954 to make way for the new Security Pacific National Bank. A "Hemet and Idyllwild Mountain" horse-drawn stagecoach can be seen parked on the yet-unpaved road at the main entrance; the driver, identified as Ray Fobes, sits along with seven passengers.
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Image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;21 x 26 cm. Photographic prints
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