Editing Palmdale, California (section)

===Palmenthal, 1886–1913===
"Palmenthal", the first permanent settlement within the limits of Palmdale, was established as a village on April 20, 1886, by westward Lutheran travelers from the American [[Midwest]], mostly of [[German Americans|German]] and [[Swiss Americans|Swiss]] descent. According to area folklore, the travelers had been told they would know they were close to the ocean when they saw [[Arecaceae|palm trees]]. They took the local [[Yucca brevifolia|Joshua tree]]s for palms and named their settlement after them. (''Palmenthal'' is German for ''Palm Valley.'')<ref name=Durham>{{cite book|last=Durham |first=David L.|title=California's Geographic Names – A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State |year=1998 |page=1320|isbn=978-1-884995-14-9|publisher=Quill Driver Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://get.palmdalelibrary.org/?menu=1&section=1&page=6|title=Palmdalelibrary.org|date=December 9, 2014|access-date=November 6, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141209200815/http://get.palmdalelibrary.org/?menu=1&section=1&page=6|archive-date=December 9, 2014}}</ref> According to David L. Durham, Joshua trees were sometimes called yucca palms at the time, which was the reason for the name.<ref name=Durham/> The village was officially established upon the arrival of a post office on June 17, 1888.

By the 1890s (soon after the last of the indigenous [[Pronghorn|antelope]]s, which the valley was named after, had been hunted to extinction), farming families continued to migrate to Palmenthal and nearby ''[[Alpine, Los Angeles County, California|Harold]]'' to grow grain and fruit. Most of these settlers were unfamiliar with farming in a desert climate, so when the drought years occurred, most abandoned their [[Human settlement|settlement]].

By 1899, only one family was left in the original village. The rest of the settlers, along with the post office, moved closer to the ''[[Southern Pacific Railroad|Southern Pacific]]'' [[railroad]] tracks. This new community was renamed Palmdale and was located where the present-day [[civic center]] is. A railroad station was built along the tracks there. This railroad was operated by [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company|Southern Pacific]] and traveled between [[Los Angeles]] and [[San Francisco]]. The ''[[Wells Fargo]]'' stagecoach line that ran between San Francisco and [[New Orleans]] stopped there as well.<ref name="Los Angeles County Public Library">{{cite web|url=http://www.colapublib.org/history/antelopevalley/faq.html#q8|title=Antelope Valley: Frequently Asked Questions – County of Los Angeles Public Library|website=Colapublib.org|access-date=November 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107061244/http://www.colapublib.org/history/antelopevalley/faq.html#q8|archive-date=November 7, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The only remaining pieces of evidence of the original settlements of Palmenthal and Harold are the old Palmdale Pioneer cemetery located on the northeast corner of Avenue S and 20th Street East, acquired and restored by the city as part of a future historical park, and the old schoolhouse, now relocated to ''McAdam Park''.

Palmdale's modern development commenced in the mid-1800s due to the influence of the gold rush, cattle ranching, the introduction of stagecoaches, and the establishment of the Southern Pacific Railroad line in 1876. Significant population expansion only took place after the completion of the California aqueduct in 1913, drawing in a considerable influx of farmers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://palmdale2045gp.org/history-and-profile/|title=History and Profile}}</ref>