Rancho Cucamonga in San Bernardino County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)

Alta Loma Packing House
⎯⎯⎯
Pacific Electric Railway

Alta Loma Packing House Marker - Side A image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Levi Gonzalez, January 15, 2020

1. Alta Loma Packing House Marker - Side A

Inscription.
Side A:
Alta Loma Packing House
This area was once the site of several large citrus packing houses. The citrus industry was a vital part of the economy of the area for 60 years. The first packing house in Alta Loma, organized in 1913 was the Alta Loma Warehouse Company, which built packing houses on both sides of the tracks. The first fruit was shipped over the unfinished railroad line before Christmas of 1913. The Alta Loma Warehouse Company packing house south of the racks was used for oranges. The Ioamosa Foothill Citrus Association packing house north of the tracks was used for lemons. A merger in 1920 of the Alta Loma Warehouse Company and the Ioamosa Foothill Citrus Association resulted in the Alta Loma Heights Citrus Association, which became a cooperative of Sunkist brand growers. The last remaining packing house, the American Fruit Growers Packing House, still stands today just west of Amethyst Street.

Captain Peter Demens, a Russian nobleman who was a captain in the Imperial Guard, was instrumental in organizing the drive to get the railroad to run through Alta Loma. That was not Captain Demens' first

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railroad. After moving his family to America in 1880 he settled in Florida. He made friends with Collis P. Huntington, the railroad magnate, who helped finance his first railroad that reached the new town in Florida in 1888 that Captain Demens named St. Petersberg after the city in Russia where he had been born.

In 1913, the Pacific Electric Railway was extended northward through Alta Loma to shorten the time from picking the fruit to get to market.

Side B: Pacific Electric Railway The Pacific Electric Railway was once the world's largest interurban railway. Pacific Electric Railway lines once stretched from Santa Monica to Newport Beach on the coast and east to Redlands and Riverside. The San Bernardino Baldwin Park Branch line was the Pacific Electric's longest line. It was unique because it was the company's only 1200-volt electrified line and the line on which the system's highest average speeds were consistently maintained.

The San Bernardino line, with its several branches, did more than any other line to give Pacific Electric the distinction of being classified as a true interurban operator. Construction of the San

Pacific Electric Railway Marker - Side B image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Levi Gonzalez, January 15, 2020

2. Pacific Electric Railway Marker - Side B

Bernardino line began in 1906. On April 11, 1912, a committee was elected to secure right-of-way for the Pacific Electric Railway north to the Ioamosa area (now Alta Loma) to shorten the distance farmers had to haul their citrus. The Chairman of the committee was Captain Peter Demens, a captain in the Imperial Guard of Czar Alexander II. The line was completed through to Etiwanda on January 20, 1914, and to San Bernardino on July 11, 1914.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Industry & Commerce • Railroads & Streetcars.

Location. 34° 7.411′ N, 117° 35.906′ W. Marker is in Rancho Cucamonga, California, in San Bernardino County. It is on Amethyst Avenue 0.2 miles north of Baseline Road, on the right when traveling south. The marker is on the Pacific Electric Trail, a recreational trail that cuts through the city. It is next to a small parking lot utilized for access to trail. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 7166 Amethyst Avenue, Rancho Cucamonga CA 91701, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally,

Alta Loma Packing House Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Craig Baker, June 12, 2020

3. Alta Loma Packing House Marker

this marker is in Greater Los Angeles,

in the Inland Empire,

in the Peninsular Ranges,

and specifically in the Transverse Ranges.

It is also in the American Southwest.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Ring of Fire,

on the Pacific Rim,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: The I.W.Lord Home (approx. 0.6 miles away); Cucamonga Rock Church (approx. 0.7 miles away); Alta Loma Honor Roll (approx. 0.7 miles away); Vietnam Memorial Rose Garden (approx. 0.8 miles away); John Rains House (approx. 1.1 miles away); El Camino Real Bells (approx. 1.2 miles away); City of Rancho Cucamonga Historic Landmark (2009) (approx. 1.2 miles away); Cucamonga Service Station (approx. 1.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Rancho Cucamonga.

Pacific Electric Railway Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Craig Baker, June 12, 2020

4. Pacific Electric Railway Marker

Alta Loma Packing House image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Craig Baker, June 12, 2020

5. Alta Loma Packing House

Located 400 feet southwest of the marker.

Credits. This page was last revised on February 12, 2022. It was originally submitted on May 11, 2020, by Levi Gonzalez of Rancho Cucamonga, California. This page has been viewed 1,409 times since then and 108 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on May 11, 2020, by Levi Gonzalez of Rancho Cucamonga, California. 3, 4, 5. submitted on June 12, 2020, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.

Alta Loma Packing House⎯⎯⎯Pacific Electric Railway

Alta Loma Packing House
⎯⎯⎯
Pacific Electric Railway