Calimesa (

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of ''California'' and ''Mesa'',

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

for "

table Table may refer to: * Table (database), how the table data arrangement is used within the databases * Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs * Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and column ...

") is a city in

Riverside County, California Riverside County is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most ...

, United States. Located in the

Greater Los Angeles Greater Los Angeles is the most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. state of California, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County in the eas ...

area, the population was 10,026 at the 2020 census, up from 7,879 at the 2010 census. It is situated in the

San Gorgonio Pass The San Gorgonio Pass, or Banning Pass, is a elevation Gap (landform), gap on the rim of the Great Basin between the San Bernardino Mountains to the north and the San Jacinto Mountains to the south. The pass was formed by the San Andreas Faul ...

History

Etymology

Historically, Calimesa began as a small rural town with mostly single-family homes and ranches. With completion of U.S. Route 99 (now I-10), businesses opened and Calimesa began to take on a separate identity from the larger neighboring town of Yucaipa. In June 1929, nearly 100 residents attended a meeting and decided to apply for their own post office and to start a "name contest" in which the winner was paid $10. Calimesa was chosen from 107 names submitted, and is said to come from "cali" (referring to California) and "mesa" from the Spanish word meaning "table" or "table-lands." The first post office was the grocery store at Calimesa Boulevard and Avenue K.

Beginnings

The

Serrano people The Serrano are an Indigenous people of California. Their autonyms are Taaqtam meaning "people", Maarrênga'yam meaning "people from Morongo", and Yuhaaviatam meaning "people of the pines." Today the Maarrênga'yam are enrolled in the Moron ...

and the

Cahuilla people The Cahuilla, also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a Native American people of the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the inland areas of southern California.Spanish missions in

Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...

in 1769. The need for a land route to these missions inspired Captain Juan Bautista de Anza to lead a party through the area in 1774. As early as 1820, reference can be found to the messenger footpath for the missions in Arizona to the San Gabriel Mission. The Assistencia in Redlands (which has been rebuilt), and Rancho San Gorgonio, were part of the San Gabriel Mission located near today's Los Angeles. The San Gorgonio ''rancheria'' covered most of the San Gorgonio Pass area. A site within the rancheria, the location of the present Highland Springs Ranch & Inn, along with Whitewater, and a house at the east end of present-day Singleton Road in Calimesa, all became stage stops along this path. The post office reinforced the residents' feeling of a community separate from the town of Yucaipa. In 1939 or 1940, the Calimesa Improvement Association, Inc. was formed. According to the constitution of the association, "The object and purpose of the association shall be the development and improvement of Calimesa and The Community". Volunteers built a community center at the corner of Bryant and Avenue H, which had been designated a park site by the Redlands-Yucaipa Land Company. The "South Mesa Water Company" purchased the land for a well site and allowed the association to use it for community events. In 1962, the Calimesa Improvement Association became the Calimesa Chamber of Commerce. The Improvement Association and the Chamber have operated as a mix of promoting Calimesa, providing community service, and being a sounding board for residents’ problems. Prior to 1949, the fire protection for the valley was provided by the California Department of Forestry at the Avenue A station, which today is the office of County Service Area 63 in Yucaipa. Calimesa community members felt the need for more protection on the south side of the wash, so in 1949 they formed the Volunteer Fire Department.

Incorporation

The City of Calimesa was incorporated on December 1, 1990, soon after the incorporation of its northern neighbor, the City of Yucaipa. Prior to its incorporation, the City of Calimesa existed as an unincorporated census designated town that straddled the Riverside–San Bernardino County line at the location where Interstate 10 climbs the San Gorgonio Pass going eastward from

Redlands, California Redlands ( ) is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 73,168, up from 68,747 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The city is located a ...

Future

The previous decade saw several planned communities approved for development within the city, including the JP Ranch Development (approximately 750 total homes), Calimesa Springs Development (approximately 270 homes), Summerwind Ranch at Oak Valley (3,841 homes, 260 acres of mixed-use commercial), and Mesa Verde (3,500 homes, and 64 acres of mixed-use commercial space). The number of approved units currently outnumbers the total population within the city. However, development of these large tracts have been slow to move forward until the demand increases.

Sandalwood Fire

The fire burned for five days.

Transportation

The city is accessible from

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the origina ...

, which geographically traverses the city from north to south. Major transportation corridors include County Line Road (which runs east–west from the freeway), Sandalwood Drive (which runs east–west from the freeway), Singleton Road (which runs east–west from the freeway), Cherry Valley Boulevard (which runs east–west from the freeway), Avenue "L" (which runs east–west from the freeway), Myrtlewood Drive (which runs east–west from Calimesa Boulevard to California Street), Calimesa Boulevard (which runs north–south and parallels the freeway from Live Oak Canyon Road in Yucaipa to Cherry Valley Boulevard/Tukwet Canyon Parkway near Beaumont), and Bryant Street (which runs north–south from Highway 38/Mill Creek Road/Mentone Boulevard and connects with Singleton Road). The city has no airports or direct access to railroads.

Geography

The city is located in the northwestern portion of Riverside County, between Yucaipa and Beaumont. It is within the Yucaipa Valley section of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

's Inland Valley, and at the western edge of the

between

San Bernardino San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

and

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

. Calimesa is located in the region known as the

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...

, which covers San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. Situated within the foothills of the

San Bernardino Mountains The San Bernardino Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in Southern California in the United States. Situated north and northeast of San Bernardino and spanning two California counties, the range tops out at at San Gorgonio Mountain ...

, the city's elevation ranges between above sea level. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , all of it land.

City limits

Historically, Calimesa is divided from the City of Yucaipa by the Wildwood Canyon Wash; politically, "County Line Road" divides the two towns. Much of what was originally known as "Calimesa" actually lies within the city boundaries of Yucaipa, including "I-Street" (Calimesa) Park and Calimesa Elementary School. Because State of California law prohibits the incorporation or annexation of cities over county lines, the city was unable to adjoin what was considered the town of Calimesa when it finally incorporated. When Yucaipa incorporated, it included the area outside of the Yucaipa Valley on the "hilltop" or "mesa" that was traditionally known as Calimesa within its city boundaries, so as not to leave a gap of unincorporated area between the two towns. Although the two cities are in separate counties, both Yucaipa and Calimesa share the same basic street grid system and addressing, including many named and alphabetical streets which extend from Yucaipa well into Calimesa. The general boundary between the two cities is County Line Road, which does not follow the exact county line in some places due to the alignment of Calimesa Creek, which meanders in and out of both Yucaipa and Calimesa. The city limits of Calimesa also extend south to the City of

Beaumont, California Beaumont is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, located at the summit of the San Gorgonio Pass, between the San Bernardino Mountains and Mount San Gorgonio to the north, and the San Jacinto Mountains to the south. Around 18 ...

. Although much less refined, the boundaries between Beaumont and Calimesa fall generally along the Southern California Edison (SCE) right-of-way that extends from the El Casco electrical sub-station facility near

Moreno Valley, California Moreno Valley is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and is part of the Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario metropolitan area. It is the second-largest city in Riverside County by population and one of the Inland Empire's pop ...

, eastward. Near

, Champions Drive is the common boundary between the two cities.

Demographics

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Calimesa had a population of 10,026. The population density was . The racial makeup of Calimesa was 68.9%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.7%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.2% Native American, 2.9% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 11.7% from other races, and 13.4% from two or more races.

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While many use the terms interchangeably, for example, the United States Census Bureau ...

of any race were 28.9% of the population. The census reported that 99.6% of the population lived in households, 0.3% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.1% were institutionalized. There were 3,922 households, out of which 27.6% included children under the age of 18, 51.9% were married-couple households, 5.4% were

cohabiting Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become incr ...

couple households, 26.6% had a female householder with no partner present, and 16.1% had a male householder with no partner present. 25.0% of households were one person, and 15.7% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.55. There were 2,699

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

(68.8% of all households). The age distribution was 20.0% under the age of 18, 6.2% aged 18 to 24, 22.6% aged 25 to 44, 26.3% aged 45 to 64, and 24.9% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 45.9years. For every 100 females, there were 95.1 males. There were 4,161 housing units at an average density of , of which 3,922 (94.3%) were occupied. Of these, 84.0% were owner-occupied, and 16.0% were occupied by renters. In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $90,313, and the

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

was $39,738. About 3.7% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010

At the 2010 census Calimesa had a population of 7,879. The population density was . The racial makeup of Calimesa was 6,777 (86.0%) White (72.7% Non-Hispanic White), 88 (1.1%) African American, 99 (1.3%) Native American, 100 (1.3%) Asian, 10 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 565 (7.2%) from other races, and 240 (3.0%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1,762 persons (22.4%). The census reported that 7,828 people (99.4% of the population) lived in households, 42 (0.5%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 9 (0.1%) were institutionalized. There were 3,314 households, 773 (23.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,609 (48.6%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 334 (10.1%) had a female householder with no husband present, 157 (4.7%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 162 (4.9%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 22 (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,024 households (30.9%) were one person and 609 (18.4%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.36. There were 2,100 families (63.4% of households); the average family size was 2.94. The age distribution was 1,414 people (17.9%) under the age of 18, 602 people (7.6%) aged 18 to 24, 1,513 people (19.2%) aged 25 to 44, 2,310 people (29.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 2,040 people (25.9%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 48.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.8 males. There were 3,687 housing units at an average density of 248.3 per square mile, of the occupied units 2,674 (80.7%) were owner-occupied and 640 (19.3%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 5.9%; the rental vacancy rate was 10.3%. 6,059 people (76.9% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 1,769 people (22.5%) lived in rental housing units. According to the 2010 United States Census, Calimesa had a median household income of $44,817, with 14.5% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

Government

In the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...

, Calimesa is in , and in . In the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, Calimesa is in . Calimesa was one of a few cities in California to elect a

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

mayor, by the name of Jeff Hewitt, serving from December 2015 to December 2018.

2009 Voter Registration Information

*Total Registered Voters = 4,301 :*Democrats - 1,373 or 32% :*Republican - 2,121 or 49% :*Other - 180 or 4% :*Decline to State - 627 or 15%

Voting History

Education

Public education for most Calimesa children is provided by the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District, with the remaining southernmost area now served by the neighboring

Beaumont Unified School District Beaumont Unified School District is located in central Riverside County, California. The district services the vast majority of Beaumont, California, as well as portions of Banning, and most of Calimesa and the census-designated place of Cher ...

.
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Schools

The City of Calimesa is within two school districts; the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District serves the western portion of the city, while the southeastern end of the city is served by the Beaumont Unified School District. There is currently only one public school in Calimesa, Mesa View Middle School, which opened in late August 2009. Mesa View was built to be the school district's second high school. However, due to a slowdown in home construction, the district is facing declining enrollment. As a result, Mesa View will remain a middle school until growth requires a change. In November 2017, a 13-year-old student at Mesa View Middle School who was frequently bullied committed suicide, increasing global awareness about bullying and suicide among young adults. Calimesa Elementary School is actually located within the City of Yucaipa, and high school students attend Yucaipa High School. Calimesa's only currently-operating elementary school—and only currently operating high school—is Mesa Grande Academy, a private K-12 school owned by the

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sa ...

. The nearest community college is

Crafton Hills College Crafton Hills College (CHC) is a public community college in Yucaipa, California. CHC is part of the California Community College system. It offers associate degrees and career and technical certificates. Since its opening in 1972, more than 20 ...

in Yucaipa.

Public safety

Police services in Calimesa are provided by the

Riverside County Sheriff's Department The Riverside County Sheriff's Department, also known as the Riverside Sheriff's Office (RSO), is a law enforcement agency in Riverside County, in the U.S. state of California. Overseen by an elected Sheriffs in the United States, sheriff-corone ...

via the Cabazon regional station. The city of Calimesa is served by the Calimesa Fire Department. Although there are several clinics in Calimesa, the nearest medical facilities are in Yucaipa, Redlands, Banning and Beaumont.

References

External links

* {{authority control Cities in Riverside County, California Incorporated cities and towns in California Yucaipa, California Populated places established in 1990 1990 establishments in California