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. Crowds of people fill the streets during this 4th of July celebration in downtown Hemet. The large 2-story building on the left is the Farmers and Merchants Bank (opened November 1907) and is located on the north side of Florida and Harvard, the Bank of Hemet is on the right of the photo, and a decorated grandstand as well as a horse-drawn carriage are visible across the street.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;21 x 26 cm. Photographic prints
Fourth of July celebrations--California--Hemet Horse-drawn vehicles--California--Hemet Bank buildings--California--Hemet Crowds--California--Hemet Fourth of July Electric lines--Poles and towers Hemet (Calif.)
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