Editing Colton, California (section)

==History==
[[File:Eighth Street, Colton late 1910s.jpg|thumb|Eighth Street, Colton, late 1910s. [[Willets department store]] on the left.]]
[[Image:Colton Area Museum.jpg|thumb|[[Colton Carnegie Library]], now Colton Area Museum]]

===Indigenous peoples===
Before Spanish settlement, the area was inhabited by the [[Tongva]], [[Serrano people|Serrano]], and Cahuilla.<ref name="Colton">{{cite web|url=http://www.ci.colton.ca.us/colton_history_070505.html |title=Colton – History |access-date=December 11, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327202443/http://www.ci.colton.ca.us/Colton_History_070505.html |archive-date=March 27, 2010 }}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite book |last=Gunther |first=Jane Davies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CwwSAQAAIAAJ&q=homhoa+canyon |title=Riverside County, California, Place Names: Their Origins and Their Stories |date=1984 |publisher=J.D. Gunther |pages=240–41 |language=en}}</ref> The Tongva village of [[Homhoangna]] was located in the area that is now Colton, situated near the base of the foothills of [[Reche Canyon]], historically known as Homhoa Canyon, derived from the [[Tongva language]] word ''homhoabit'' or "hilly place."<ref name="auto"/>

===Spanish and Mexican settlement===
During the Mission Era the [[Mission San Gabriel]] established a Spanish settlement [[Politana, California|Politana]] in 1810, just northeast of what is now Colton.<ref>{{cite book|title=History of San Bernardino Valley from the padres to the pioneers, 1810–1851 (1902)|year=1902|publisher=San Bernardino, Cal., Times-index Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofsanbern00caba/page/37 37]–41|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofsanbern00caba}}</ref> By 1840, Colton was part of two private ranchos, Jurupa and San Bernardino Rancho.<ref name=Colton />  From southwest area of modern-day Colton was known as "[[Agua Mansa]]" (Gentle Waters). It had been settled by New Mexico pioneers in 1842.<ref name=Colton />  What is currently known as Cooley Ranch was known as Indian Knolls for nearly 100 years. This is because the Indians living in what is now the San Bernardino Valley found refuge on the knolls of the property during the [[Great Flood of 1862|flood of 1862]].<ref name=Colton />

===American settlement===
The original owner of the property was George Cooley of [[Kent]], England who had moved to Colton in 1853 and who purchased 200 acres at $3.50 an acre along the [[Santa Ana River]] the next year.<ref name=Colton /> Cooley was chairman of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors in [[San Bernardino County]].<ref name=Colton /> By 1873, the property had mushroomed into a 400-acre property. Eventually, when property taxes had increased, the property was sold to Villelli Enterprises of [[La Habra, California|La Habra]].<ref name=Colton />  The city was named after [[David Douty Colton]], who had been a [[brigadier general]] of the [[California State Militia]] in 1855, prior to the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt5d5nf3cs/|title=Finding aid of the Gen. David Douty Colton Papers – C057959|website=www.oac.cdlib.org|access-date=March 23, 2018}}</ref>  He was later the vice president of the [[Southern Pacific Railroad]] Company.<ref name=Colton />

Colton was created in its modern form when the [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company|Southern Pacific Railway]] was built heading east from [[Los Angeles]] in 1875.<ref name=Colton /> It was founded in 1875 and [[municipal corporation|incorporated]] in 1887. Colton was the site of conflict between the [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company]] and the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] at [[Colton Crossing]] when both railroads wanted to cross through the town.

[[Virgil Earp]] lived in Colton at 528 West "H" Street<ref>San Bernardino County Register of Deeds Book (entry dated July 7, 1888)</ref> where he was the town's first marshal.<ref>Colton City News, November 2, 2006</ref> He resided in Colton from 1883 to 1889. [[Morgan Earp]] is buried at Hermosa Cemetery.

===1950s to present===
In 1953, a significant portion of the historic downtown of Colton was bulldozed to make room for the Ramona Freeway, which would later be named the [[San Bernardino Freeway]]. This included the block on the west side of Eighth Street north of J, including the then 70-year-old Helman's Department Store building, originally housing the First National Bank of Colton, on the corner and the [[Willet's Department Store]] building to its north. Both stores moved to locations further north on Eighth.<ref>{{cite news |title=Colton News: Pioneer Business Blocks Slated for Demolition: State to Lease Cleared Area for City Parking Lot |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=55337210&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjQ5NDkwODM1LCJpYXQiOjE1OTQ3MzcyOTMsImV4cCI6MTU5NDgyMzY5M30.ofTbtdJYacSSuaWbgB3v90gV5xvpLv8ElBo5TaUpHms |publisher=San Bernardino Sun-Telegram |date=February 8, 1953}}</ref>