As with many Southern California communities, Diamond Bar's recorded history began with a Mexican land grant. On March 30, 1840, Governor Juan Alvarado deeded 4,340 acres, which included Brea Canyon and the eastern Walnut Valley, to Jose de la Luz Linares, who founded Rancho Los Nogales, or Ranch of the Walnut Trees. Linares died in 1847, and his widow sold a choice portion of the ranch to Ricardo Vejar for $100 in merchandise, 100 calves, and the assumption of her late husband's debts. Vejar already owned the Rancho San Jose to the east (now Pomona), and by acquiring the rest of Rancho Los Nogales over the next ten years, became the fifth wealthiest landowner in Los Angeles County, with over 10,000 acres.
Unfortunately, Vejar's luck did not last. When the United States government took over California and resurveyed the old land grants, he ended up with only 464 acres. Then the great drought of the 1860's forced most of the area ranchers to borrow money to feed their cattle. Vejar had been trading with two Los Angeles merchants, Isaac Schlesinger and Hyman Tischler, and they loaned him $600 for supplies at an interest rate of eight percent per month. When the note, with compounded interest, was finally called in for over $28,000, Vejar couldn't pay, and his property passed to Schlesinger and Tischler in 1864.
The Rancho Los Nogales did not prosper under its new owners, and they were surrounded by hostile neighbors who remained loyal to Vejar. In 1866, they sold the ranch to Louis Phillips for $30,000, bringing his holdings to over 12,000 acres. Phillips sold a portion of the ranch to WiIliam Rubettom, who opened up a tavern and overland stage station for the Butterfield route near where the Orange Freeway (57) now crosses Pomona Boulevard. He called the community "Spadra," after his hometown in Arkansas, and this became the first named settlement in the Diamond Bar area.
In 1873, the Rancho Los Nogales was sold again, this time to Wilson Beach and George Butler. After that, the property became quite fragmented as parcels were sold off to many different owners. But in 1918, Frederich E. Lewis bought up most of the original Rancho Los Nogales again, and he registered the Brand of Diamond Bar with the California Department of Agriculture. Lewis sold the Diamond Bar Ranch to the Bartholome family in 1943, and they continued to raise cattle on it for the next thirteen years.
In 1956, the Diamond Bar Ranch looked much as it did in 1840, with its golden hills peppered by green stands of oak and walnut trees, and grazed by large herds of cattle. The changes of the previous century were nothing, however, compared to the plans that the Transamerica Corporation had for Diamond Bar. In that year, they paid $10,000,000 for 8,000 acres of Brea Canyon, and they master-planned a community that would eventually become home to some 50,000 people. The first model homes were built at the north end of town in 1960, and a development "boom" had begun that continues today.
Located at the junction of the Orange (57) and Pomona (60) freeways, Diamond Bar is central to all of the Los Angeles basin. A twenty-five mile radius encompasses Pasadena, downtown Los Angeles, Long Beach, Irvine and Riverside. Inside that radius, can be found such attractions as Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm, Anaheim and Dodger Stadiums, the theaters of Los Angeles' Civic Center, the Rose Bowl and the Coliseum, the Santa Anita and Los Alamitos race tracks, the Mt. Baldy ski slopes and all of the Orange County beaches. The Ontario International Airport is only twenty-five minutes away, giving Diamond Bar residents an attractive alternative to Los Angeles International Airport. A two-hour drive lands you beside the waters of Lake Arrowhead, or in the snowy mountains of Big Bear. Whether you prefer the hills and canyons in the city, the nearby mountains, the sun on the surf, or the desert, Diamond Bar places you at the center of the active Southern California life-style.
All desired services can be conveniently found in Diamond Bar's shopping and business centers. The Diamond Bar Golf Course has 18 beautiful and challenging holes, and the Los Angeles National Golf Course is just down the road. Diamond Bar's parks offer residents more than 80 acres of recreational facilities. Mt. San Antonio College and California Polytechnic University, Pomona are located at the north edge of town, while California State University, Fullerton is just ten minutes to the south.
Today's Diamond Bar is a young, upscale residential community of about 56,000, situated among the meandering hills and valleys of Brea Canyon. Covering almost 10,000 acres, the town is built among greenbelts of oak and walnut trees. Some things have not changed very much since the days of Linares and Vejar, and cattle can still be seen grazing on the undeveloped hillsides.
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