Editing Corona, California (section)

===Establishment===
[[File:ButterfieldstagestationCorona1860.jpg|thumb|right| [[Temescal Butterfield stage station]] Corona in 1860]]Corona was founded at the height of the Southern California [[citrus]] boom in 1886, and is situated at the upper end of the [[Santa Ana River]] Canyon, a significant pass through the [[Santa Ana Mountains]]. The town of Corona was once the "Lemon Capital of the World". A museum there presents the lemon's former role in the local economy. The city's name means crown in Spanish due to the circular shape of a crown and the circular shape of [[Grand Boulevard (Corona)|Grand Blvd]]. The nickname of Corona is "The Circle City" from the unique layout of its streets, with a standard grid enclosed by the circular Grand Boulevard, {{convert|2.75|mi|km}} in circumference.<ref>{{cite news|title=Corona: 'Circle City' to mark centennial of road races|url=http://www.pe.com/articles/corona-675538-race-city.html|newspaper=[[The Press-Enterprise]]|date=August 16, 2013|quote=…Grand Boulevard seems a quaint oddity. A perfect circle, with a circumference just over 2.75 miles, it's the rationale for Corona's tagline as the 'Circle City'.}}</ref> The street layout was designed by Hiram Clay Kellogg, a civil engineer from [[Anaheim, California|Anaheim]] who was an influential figure in the early development of Orange County.

Corona was established as a town by the [[South Riverside Land and Water Company]]. The company was incorporated in 1886; founding members included ex-Governor of Iowa [[Samuel Merrill (Iowa governor)|Samuel Merrill]], R.B. Taylor, George L. Joy, A.S. Garretson, and Adolph Rimpau.<ref>[http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8z3208k/ Finding aid of South Riverside Land and Water Company records, Online Archive of California] from oac.cdlib.org accessed April 26, 2015.</ref> Originally a citrus growers' organization, it purchased the lands of [[Rancho La Sierra (Yorba)|Rancho La Sierra]] of Bernardo Yorba, and the [[Rancho Temescal (Serrano)|Rancho Temescal]] grant and the colony of South Riverside was laid out. They also secured the water rights to [[Temescal Creek (Riverside County)|Temescal Creek]], its tributaries and Lee Lake. Dams and pipelines were built to carry the water to the colony. In 1889, the Temescal Water Company was incorporated, to supply water for the new colony. This company purchased all the water-bearing lands in the Temescal valley and began drilling artesian wells.<ref>Ellerbe, ''History of Temescal Valley'', pp. 18–19</ref>

Originally located in [[San Bernardino County, California|San Bernardino County]], the city was named "South Riverside" and received its post office in that name on either May 27<ref name=PO>{{cite book |last1=Salley |first1=Harold E. |date=1977 |title= History of California Post Offices, 1849-1976|publisher= The Depot|isbn=0-9601558-1-3}}</ref> or August 11, 1887<ref>Frickstad, Walter N., ''A Century of California Post Offices 1848-1954'', Philatelic Research Society, Oakland, CA. 1955, pp.135-147</ref> with Charles H. Cornell as the town's first [[postmaster]].<ref name=PO/> In 1893, South Riverside became part of the new Riverside County. In 1896, the city was renamed "Corona" for its circular Grand Boulevard, where three international automobile races were held in 1913, 1914 and 1916.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hoover|first=Mildred B.|author2=Hero Rensch|author3=Ethel Rensch|author4=William N. Abeloe|title=Historic Spots in California|year=1966|publisher=Stanford University Press|url=https://archive.org/details/historicspotsinc00rens|url-access=registration|isbn=978-0-8047-4482-9}}</ref>