Editing Pomona, California (section)

==History==
===Beginnings to 1880===
[[File:Adobe de Palomares.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Ygnacio Palomares Adobe|Adobe de Palomares]], built in 1855 by [[Ygnacio Palomares]], is the oldest building in Pomona.]]
[[File:ViewFromPomonaPark1904.jpg|thumb|left|250px|View to the west-southwest down [[San Jose Creek]] from [[Ganesha Park|Pomona Park]] (now Ganesha Park) in 1904. [[Elephant Hill (California)|Elephant Hill]] is in the center distance.]]
The [[Tongva]] were the first inhabitants of the area.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Pomona-California|title=Pomona &#124; Britannica|date=November 20, 2023|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=December 20, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=About Pomona | website=Pomona, CA | date=December 31, 2006 | url=https://www.pomonaca.gov/our-city/about-pomona#:~:text=In%20the%20early%201800s%2C%20Pomona,of%20fruit%20and%20fruit%20trees | access-date=December 20, 2023}}</ref>

The city is named after [[Pomona (mythology)|Pomona]], the ancient Roman goddess of fruit.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=10716|title= Profile for Pomona, California, CA|publisher= ePodunk|access-date= September 14, 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130201223234/http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=10716|archive-date= February 1, 2013|url-status= dead}}</ref> For [[horticulturist]] Solomon Gates, "Pomona" was the winning entry in a contest to name the city in 1875, before anyone had ever planted a fruit tree there.<ref name="History">{{Cite web|url=http://route66ca.org/traveler/towns/25pomona/history.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127115850/http://route66ca.org/traveler/towns/25pomona/history.html|url-status=dead|title=A Brief History of Pomona|archive-date=November 27, 2010}}</ref> The city was first settled by Ricardo Véjar and Ygnacio Palomares in the 1830s when California and much of the now-American Southwest were part of Mexico.

The first Anglo-Americans arrived prior to 1848 when the signing of the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]] resulted in California becoming part of the United States.<ref name="collier">{{cite encyclopedia |editor=William D. Halsey |encyclopedia=Collier's Encyclopedia |title=Pomona |year=1976 |publisher=Macmillan Educational Corporation |volume=19 |page=232 }}</ref>  In 1864, the widow of [[Ygnacio Palomares]] of [[Rancho San Jose|Rancho San José]] sold {{convert|12000|acre|sqm sqkm}} to [[Louis Phillips (rancher)|Louis Phillips]], a [[Jewish Germans|Jewish]] [[Prussia|Prussian]] immigrant, who would shortly be known as "the richest man in Los Angeles County." He built the largest commercial building in [[Central Business District, Los Angeles (1880s-1890s)|Los Angeles central business district]] at the time, the [[Phillips Block]], which would eventually house [[Hamburger's]], the then-largest department store in the Western United States.

===Spadra===
[[File:Spadra California Stagecoach Stop Hotel Tavern.jpg|thumb|Rubottom's Hotel and stagecoach station at Spadra, 1867]]
[[File:Phillips Mansion, Pomona 1.jpg|thumb|[[Louis Phillips (rancher)|Louis Phillips]]'s 1875 [[Second Empire architecture|Second Empire-style]] mansion at the site of the town of Spadra]]

Phillips sold a parcel of his land to William "Uncle Billy" Rubottom, in 1866 who founded a new town there and named it Spadra after his hometown, now part of [[Clarksville, Arkansas]]. The site of Spadra is {{convert|3|mi|km}} west of the Pomona Station along Pomona Blvd. just east of the [[California State Route 57|57 (Orange) Freeway]]. Spadra became a stagecoach stop, Rubottom built the Spadra Hotel and Tavern to serve travelers, and by 1870, Spadra had 400–500 residents, three stores, a school, and a post office. In 1873, Phillips convinced the [[Southern Pacific Railroad]] to build a line to Spadra. Phillips thought Spadra would become a great town, and built his [[Phillips Mansion]] there in 1875, which together with the [[Spadra Cemetery]] are the only two remnants of the town that still exist today. [[Fullerton, California|Fullerton]]'s Main north–south road was named Spadra Road for its first 75 years, as long before the 57 Freeway it was the road through [[Brea Canyon]] to Spadra, and was later renamed [[Harbor Boulevard]]. The Southern Pacific Railroad had a terminus at Spadra, but the line was extended east to [[Colton, California|Colton]], and Spadra lost momentum. In 1964, the area was annexed by Pomona.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.ocregister.com/spadra-road-a-lot-of-history-in-a-name|publisher=Orange County Register|title=Spadra Road: a lot of history in a name| last=Jerome| first=David| date=February 14, 2019}}</ref><ref>[https://la.curbed.com/2017/4/6/15171016/phillips-mansion-spadra-pomona-valley-history Hadley Meares, "Phillips Mansion: The deserted hub of a lost California town: The grand brick estate was home to one of the founding fathers of the rough-and-tumble pueblo of Spadra"], ''L. A. [[Curbed]]'', April 6, 2017</ref>

===1880–present===
By the 1880s, the arrival of [[Coachella Valley]] water, together with railroad access, made it the western anchor of the [[citrus]]-growing region. Pomona was officially incorporated on January 6, 1888.<ref name="collier"/>

In the 1920s Pomona was known as the "Queen of the Citrus Belt", with one of the highest per-capita levels of income in the United States.  In the 1940s it was used as a movie-previewing location for major motion picture studios to see how their films would play to modally middle-class audiences around the country (for which Pomona was at that time viewed as an idealized example).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.route66ca.org/pomona/|title=Pomona&nbsp;– California Historic Route 66 Association&nbsp;– Helping you get your kicks in California!|accessdate=December 20, 2023}}</ref>

Religious institutions are deeply embedded in the history of Pomona. There are now more than 120 churches, representing most religions in today's society. The historical architectural styles of these churches provide glimpses of European church design and architecture from other eras.<ref name="History"/>

[[Pomona Mall]] was a downtown pedestrian mall, recognized by the [[Los Angeles Conservancy]] as an outstanding example of [[Mid-century modern]] and [[modern architecture]] and design. It was completed in 1962, one element in a larger plan of civic improvements covering the whole city.<ref name="lac">{{cite web |title=Pomona Mall |url=https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/pomona-mall |publisher=Los Angeles Conservancy |access-date=May 6, 2019}}</ref> The eastern end is now part of the [[Western University of Health Sciences]] campus, while the western end now houses numerous art galleries, art studios and restaurants.<ref>{{cite news |last1=López |first1=Ricardo |title=Booming medical school brings life to downtown Pomona |url=https://www.latimes.com/business/la-xpm-2012-apr-06-la-fi-western-osteopathy-20120406-story.html |access-date=May 6, 2019 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=April 6, 2012}}</ref><ref name=lac/>

In 2005, Pomona citizens elected [[Norma Torres]], the first woman of Guatemalan heritage to be elected to a mayoral post outside of [[Guatemala]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.citymayors.com/mayors/pomona-mayor.html |title=Norma Torres&nbsp;– Mayor of Pomona, California |publisher=City Mayors |date=March 10, 2008 |access-date=August 21, 2012}}</ref> Later, she would become a U.S. congresswoman representing [[California's 35th congressional district]] in 2015.