Editing Hesperia, California (section)

==History==
The first inhabitants of the area were the [[Serrano people|Desert Serrano]] ([[Vanyume]]). The village of [[Wá’peat]], among several other villages that were located along the [[Mojave River]], were within the vicinity of what is now Hesperia. These villages were occupied into the early 1800s and had deep ties with one another. An acorn-gathering festival was held at Wá’peat that involved villagers from across the Mojave River area.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Sutton |first1=Mark Q. |url=https://www.pcas.org/documents/5323DesertSerrano.pdf |title=The Desert Serrano of the Mojave River |last2=Earle |first2=David D. |publisher=Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly |pages=8 |archive-date=December 17, 2022 |access-date=December 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221217052119/https://www.pcas.org/documents/5323DesertSerrano.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Weekly List 20201030 - National Register of Historic Places (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/weekly-list-20201030.htm |access-date=December 17, 2022 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en |archive-date=December 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221217052118/https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/weekly-list-20201030.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Hesperia began as a Spanish land grant: ''Rancho San Felipe, Las Flores y el Paso del Cajon'', founded in 1781. The land was sparsely inhabited desert during [[Spanish California|Spanish]]-Mexican rule in the 19th century. The U.S. annexed the region along with Southern California after the [[Mexican–American War|Mexican-American War]] in 1848.

In 1869, Max Stobel purchased {{convert|35,000|acre}} from the [[Bureau of Land Management|United States Government Land Office]] for $40,000. While several attempts were made to subdivide and encourage colonization, the land was primarily used for agricultural purposes, with [[Raisin|raisin grapes]] the primary product.<ref name=SBSun1988 />

The town site was laid out in 1891 by railroad company land developers of the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway|Santa Fe Railroad]], which was completed that year. Hesperia was named for [[Hesperus]], the [[Greek pantheon|Greek god]] of the West. The railroad land developers published pamphlets distributed across the country with [[boosterism]] of Hesperia, California, as a potential metropolis, to become "the Omaha of the West" or projections to have over 100,000 people by 1900, but only 1,000 moved in.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TR9uDaHqm34C&q=hesperia+images+of+america|title=Hesperia|year=2010|author=Gary Drylie|publisher=Arcadia |isbn=9780738581071 }}</ref>

Hesperia grew relatively slowly until the completion of US [[U.S. Route 66|Routes 66]], [[California State Route 91|91]], and [[U.S. Route 395 in California|395]] in the 1940s, followed by [[Interstate 15]] in the late 1960s. About {{convert|30|sqmi|km2}} of land were laid out for possible residential development.

In the early 1950s, land developer [[M. Penn Phillips]] and his silent financial partner, boxer [[Jack Dempsey]], financed the building of roads and land subdivisions, promoting lots sales on television. They built the Hesperia Inn and golf course, which attracted a variety of Hollywood celebrities. The Hesperia Inn also housed the Jack Dempsey Museum.

The main wave of newcomers, though, arrived at Hesperia in the 1980s. Suburban growth transformed the small town of 5,000 people in 1970 to a moderate-sized city with a population over 60,000 by 2000, and an estimated population over 95,000 as of July 1, 2018.<ref name="USCensusEst2018">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/data/tables.2018.html|title=Population and Housing Unit Estimates|access-date=June 2, 2019|archive-date=May 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180504181213/https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/data/tables.2017.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Logan, Tim (June 27, 2014)[http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-0628-high-desert-rebound-20140628-story.html "Housing market recovering in High Desert town"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140628081232/http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-0628-high-desert-rebound-20140628-story.html |date=June 28, 2014 }} ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''</ref>

[[File:Hesperia and the California Aqueduct from the air.jpg|thumb|right|Hesperia from the air, looking southwest, towards the San Gabriel mountains.]]