Biohazard Cleanup Near May Riverside, CA

Riverside was founded in 1870 by John W. North and a group of Easterners who wanted to establish a colony dedicated to furthering education and culture, and it was named for its location beside the Santa Ana River.

Riverside became the county seat when Riverside County was established in 1893.

Riverside has about 315,000 residents, according to the 2020 census, living in roughly 95,200 households that average about 3.2 people each.

In 1873, Eliza Tibbets planted two Brazilian navel orange trees sent to her by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, launching California's navel orange industry; one of those parent trees still survives at the corner of Magnolia and Arlington avenues as a California state landmark.

By 1882 there were more than half a million citrus trees in California and almost half of them were in Riverside, and by 1895 citrus wealth had made Riverside the wealthiest city per capita in the United States.

The world-famous Mission Inn Hotel and Spa grew out of the Miller family's Glenwood Tavern into a sprawling landmark favored by presidents, royalty and movie stars, and Riverside is considered the birthplace of California's Mission Revival style.

California Citrus State Historic Park preserves the groves, packing houses and exhibits that tell the story of Riverside's citrus era.

The University of California, Riverside grew out of the UC Citrus Experiment Station, established on February 14, 1907 on the east slope of Mount Rubidoux, and its undergraduate campus opened in 1954.

The Gage Canal, an engineering feat that brought irrigation water to the groves, helped turn Riverside's citrus colony into an agricultural empire.

Mount Rubidoux Park is a popular hiking spot with panoramic views over the city and the Santa Ana River.