Editing Hemet, California (section)

===Mexican period===
[[File:José_Antonio_Estudillo.jpg|thumb|left|Hemet was part of [[Rancho San Jacinto Viejo]], granted in 1842 to [[Californio]] politician Don [[José Antonio Estudillo]].]]
Following [[Mexico]] gaining independence from Spain, in 1842, settler [[José Antonio Estudillo]] received the [[Rancho San Jacinto Viejo]] [[Ranchos of California|Mexican land grant]].{{r|Hemet City}}

In 1848, the United States annexed the California territory after defeating Mexico in the [[Mexican–American War]]. In 1887, during the first major Southern California land boom, Anglo-Americans W.F. Whittier and E.L. Mayberry founded the [[Lake Hemet]] Water Company, and the Lake Hemet Land Company, for speculative development. They had plans to dam the San Jacinto River to provide irrigation water to the valley.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 23, 1887 |title=Incorporate |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64206641/incorporation-of-the-lake-hemet-water/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209134921/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64206641/incorporation-of-the-lake-hemet-water/ |archive-date=December 9, 2020 |access-date=November 29, 2020 |work=The Los Angeles Times |publisher=The Times-Mirror Company |location=Los Angeles, California |page=2 |volume=XI |issue=44}}</ref> They named the town Hemet in November 1893.

In 1895, they completed [[Hemet Dam]] as a private project on the [[San Jacinto River (California)|San Jacinto River]], creating Lake Hemet and providing a reliable water supply to the San Jacinto Valley. This water system, for irrigation in an arid region, was integral to the valley's development as an agricultural area.<ref name="Hemet City">{{Cite web |title=History of Hemet |url=https://www.hemetca.gov/120/History-of-Hemet |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204211358/https://www.hemetca.gov/120/History-of-Hemet |archive-date=February 4, 2020 |access-date=March 28, 2020 |publisher=City of Hemet}}</ref>

By 1894, settlers had established a newspaper, the ''[[Hemet News]]'', and "several general stores", the largest being Heffelfinger & Co, which occupied an entire block. Other businesses included "a drug store, an excellent barber shop, two blacksmith shops, harness shop, shoe repairing houses, two real estate offices and two lumber yards." "The most pretentious building" was the two-story Hotel Mayberry, "supplied with all the modern conveniences usually found in first-class hostelries, including stationary water, baths, etc., and a complete electric light system, the power for which is furnished by the company's private plant."<ref name="HemetA">{{Cite news |date=November 17, 1894 |title="Hemet: A Glimpse at Its Improvements and News of the Enterprises," ''Los Angeles Herald,'' November 17, 1894 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78439656/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404222129/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78439656/los-angeles-herald/ |archive-date=April 4, 2022 |access-date=May 27, 2021 |work=Los Angeles Herald |page=8}}</ref> Also noted was the Hemet flour mill, owned by John McCool and built at a cost of $20,000. It was the only such mill in this area, and was housed in a brick building. It could produce 50 barrels of flour per day.<ref name="HemetA" />