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Indio, California

Indio (Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies 23 mi east of Palm Springs, 75 mi east of Riverside, 127 mi east of Los Angeles, 148 mi northeast of San Diego, 250 mi west of Phoenix, and 102 miles (164 km) north of Mexicali, Mexico.

The population was 89,137 in the 2020 United States Census, up from 76,036 at the 2010 census, an increase of 17%. Indio is the most populous city in the Coachella Valley, and was formerly referred to as the Hub of the Valley after a Chamber of Commerce slogan used in the 1970s. Indio is now nicknamed the City of Festivals, a reference to the numerous cultural events held in the city, most notably the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

Indio is the principal city of an urban area defined by the United States Census Bureau that is located in the Coachella Valley: the Indio–Palm Desert–Palm Springs CA urban area had a population of 361,075 as of the 2020 census, making it the 114th largest in the United States.

History
Indio is within the ancestral lands of the Desert Cahuilla Indians whose headquarters are in nearby Thermal, California.

Railroad line construction east out of Los Angeles began in 1873. Trains were operated to Colton on July 16, 1875, and to Indio (then known as Indian Wells) on May 29, 1876. Moving on eastward from Indio, the railroad reached the west bank of the Colorado River opposite Yuma on May 23, 1877. Back then, Yuma was a village known as Arizona City prior to 1873. There was a delay in getting military authority to lay tracks across the Yuma Indian reservation, and it was September that year before the bridge was completed so trains could operate into Yuma. The Southern Pacific Railroad was to have joined those of the Texas & Pacific, one of several railroads then holding, or seeking, federal authority to build lines from various sections of the country west to the Pacific Coast. But the rail-head of the T & P was at a standstill far off in Texas, so Southern Pacific continued building eastward.

The City of Indio came about because of the need for a halfway point for the Southern Pacific Railroad between Yuma, Arizona and Los Angeles, since the engines needed to be refilled with water. Since other areas had the name Indian Wells, Indio (after a Spanish variation of the word "Indian") was chosen instead. After the railroad's arrival in 1876, Indio began to grow. The first permanent building was the craftsman-style Southern Pacific Depot station and hotel. Southern Pacific tried to make life as comfortable as it could for their workers to keep them from leaving such a difficult area to live in at the time. The depot was at the center of all social life in the desert with a fancy dining room and hosting dances on Friday nights.

While Indio started as a railroad town, it soon became an agricultural center. Onions, cotton, grapes, citrus and dates thrived in the arid climate due to the ingenuity of farmers finding various means of attaining water, first through artesian wells and later through the valley's branch of the All-American Canal. However, water also was a major problem for Indio and the city was flooded several times until the storm water canals were created throughout the Coachella Valley.

Businessmen and women found this last frontier land of the continental United States as an ideal place to start fresh. Dr. Harry Smiley and his wife Nell were early residents and stayed in Indio after their car broke down on the way to Los Angeles and became people of influence and helped shape the area. A. G. Tingman was an early store owner and first Postmaster of Indio, but also well known for taking advantage of miners as they headed to the mountains, selling at rather high prices. Later Dr. June Robertson McCarroll became a leading philanthropist and successful doctor in Indio. She was responsible along with the Indio Woman's Club for pressuring California into adopting the placing of white lines down the streets after she was nearly hit one too many times by passing vehicles. Even though these early founders of the city are considered pioneers, they still partook in the lifestyles of their friends living in such areas as Los Angeles.

By the turn of the 20th century, Indio continued to grow. Schools were built, the La Casita hospital provided medical services, and families established roots. By 1920, about one to two thousand year-round residents lived in Indio, while it ballooned from 2,500 to 5,000 during the winter months and was advertised as a health resort for senior citizens and those with respiratory diseases and ailments in the rest of the 20th century.

Indio also served as the home of the USDA's Date Station, a place where leading scientific research was taking place on the fruit that would become a major part of the culture of Indio. The station started in 1907 and was responsible for the ability of local farmers to better understand this unique crop and make the Coachella Valley a leader in American date crops. This also created a tie to the Middle East that led to the theme for the County Fair with the Middle Eastern flair known as the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival.

Before the early 20th century both Coachella and Thermal were larger than Indio, but Indio remained the "Hub of the Valley", as it was then called. With a fire burning much of Thermal and the decline of Coachella, Indio grew again. By 1930, Indio was a thriving area and incorporated. On September 6, 1930, storekeeper Fred Kohler received the first business license in Indio.

During the Second World War, Indio was also aided by the visiting soldiers from Patton's training grounds in Chiriaco Summit located 30 miles to the east.

From the middle to second half of the 20th century, much of the Coachella valley's population began to move west towards newer cities such as Palm Desert and La Quinta. However, there is now a reversal in this trend. Indio, along with the rest of the region experienced a population boom in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, with the population doubling twice over

Geography

Indio is located at 33.72°N, -116.23194°W (33.719871, −116.231889). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 75.6 km2, 99.97% of which is land and 0.03% is water.

The telephone area code is 760. The city's ZIP codes are 92201 and 92203 north of Interstate 10. About 3 mi north and east of Indio is the San Andreas Fault, a major tectonic plate boundary of the Pacific and North American plates.

Indio is home of Riverside County's eastern administration offices. Palm Springs had more people from 1955 to 1992, when the US census announced that Indio surpassed Palm Springs and that title was returned to them. The official elevation of Indio is below sea level; the city hall is 14 ft below sea level, as the eastern half of the Coachella Valley drops as low as 150 ft below sea level (the lakeshore of the Salton Sea is 15 mi south of Indio).

Climate
The climate of the Coachella Valley is influenced by the surrounding geography. High mountain ranges on three sides contribute to its unique and year-round warm climate, with some of warmest winters west of the Rocky Mountains. Indio has a warm winter/hot summer desert climate (Köppen: BWh): Its average annual high temperature is 89.5 °F and average annual low is 62.1 °F but summer highs above 108 °F are common and sometimes exceed 120 °F, while summer night lows often stay above 82 °F. Monsoon related thunderstorms can occur in the summer months. In September 1939, a thunderstorm from the remains of a tropical storm, brought more than 6" of rain in less than 24 hours. Winters are warm with daytime highs often between 68 - 86 °F. Under 4 in of annual precipitation are average, with over 348 days of sunshine per year. The hottest temperature ever recorded there was 125 °F on July 6, 1905. The mean annual temperature is 75.8 °F.

Nature and wildlife
Indio is in the Colorado Desert region of the Sonoran Desert. It is adjacent to the geologic Salton Sink and within the site of historic Lake Cahuilla of the Lower Colorado River Valley. Indio is an official National Bird Sanctuary, because of the seasonal bird migration flight routes that cross the town en route to the Salton Sea.
 * Geography of the Colorado Desert
 * Fauna of the Colorado Desert
 * Sonoran Desert wildflowers

2020
The 2020 United States Census reported that Indio had a population of 89,137 people, and 34,458 households in the city. The population density was 2,682.7 people per square mile. The racial makeup of Indio was 48.5% White, 3.3% African American, 0.5% Native American, 1.9% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, and 17.5% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 66.6% of the population.

2010
The 2010 United States Census reported that Indio had a population of 76,036. The population density was 2,604.9 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Indio was 46,735 (61.5%) White (27.0% Non-Hispanic White), 1,805 (2.4%) African American, 741 (1.0%) Native American, 1,693 (2.2%) Asian, 55 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 22,394 (29.5%) from other races, and 2,613 (3.4%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 51,540 persons (67.8%).

There were 23,378 households, out of which 10,522 (45.0%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 13,149 (56.2%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 3,578 (15.3%) had a female householder with no husband present, 1,512 (6.5%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 1,654 (7.1%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 232 (1.0%) same-sex married couples or partnerships; 3,859 households (16.5%) were made up of individuals, and 1,777 (7.6%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.21. There were 18,239 families (78.0% of all households); the average family size was 3.60.

The population was spread out, with 22,879 people (30.1%) under the age of 18, 7,247 people (9.5%) aged 18 to 24, 20,705 people (27.2%) aged 25 to 44, 15,793 people (20.8%) aged 45 to 64, and 9,412 people (12.4%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.5 males.

There were 28,971 housing units at an average density of 992.5 /sqmi, of which 15,274 (65.3%) were owner-occupied, and 8,104 (34.7%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 5.0%; the rental vacancy rate was 12.5%, while 46,780 people (61.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 28,307 people (37.2%) lived in rental housing units.

During 2009–2013, Indio had a median household income of $50,068, with 21.9% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

2000
As of the census of 2000, there were 49,116 people, 13,871 households, and 11,069 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,840.3 PD/sqmi. There were 16,909 housing units at an average density of 633.6 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 44.4% White, 2.8% Black, 1.0% Native American, 1.5% Asian American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 42.0% from other races, and 3.9% from two or more races. 65.7% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 13,871 households, out of which 48.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.9% were married couples living together, 16.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.2% were non-families. Of all households 16.0% were made up of individuals, and 7.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.5 and the average family size was 3.9.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 35.3% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 15.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $34,624, and the median income for a family was $35,564. Males had a median income of $25,651 versus $21,093 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,525. About 16.8% of families and 21.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.2% of those under age 18 and 12.0% of those age 65 or over.

Population growth
Beginning in the 1980s and to today, Indio grew many times its previous size. Along with the rest of the surrounding area, Indio became a choice for thousands of new residents per year. In 2018, Indio was ranked the 30th fastest-growing city in America and 8th fastest-growing city in California.

The 2010 United States Census recorded the city's population to be about 76,000 residents, though this did not account for seasonal residents. According to the Demographic Research Unit (DRU) of the California Department of Finance, the provisional population estimate for the City of Indio as of January 1, 2019, was 89,406.

Economy
Two major contributions to the local economy are year-round agriculture and tourism, although the majority of tourist activity is seasonal, between October and May.

Agriculture

Indio has been one of Southern California's most important agricultural regions, once responsible for a large percentage of the nation's date crop; however, due to increasing residential and recreational development, the date groves are now more limited to the south and southeast of Indio. Even the grove of date palm trees at the Riverside County Fair and national Date Festival grounds have been removed by the county.

One can visit Shields Date Gardens, a date grower that maintains a large retail store along State Highway 111. There are citrus groves and vegetable fields surrounding the city limits, but rapid development of new housing tracts and golf courses in the "East Valley" in the 1990s and 2000s has displaced most of the agricultural space.

Employment and job growth
Indio has increasingly served as a magnet of job opportunities for immigrants and newcomers from parts of California and across the nation. Jobs in fields such as agriculture, construction, hospitality, maintenance, and retail and housekeeping are highly sought after in the area.

Construction and government are among the largest employment sectors in Indio, with a higher proportion of workers in these industries in Indio than the rest of the Coachella Valley.

In addition to construction and government, a 2019 study revealed that the top five employment industries in Indio are educational services, entertainment services, wholesale/retail, agriculture/mining/construction, and waste services. Between 2007 and 2015, the percentage of retail trade jobs in Indio increased by 4.4 percent and the percentage of education jobs increased from 15.2 to 20.5 percent.

As the secondary seat of government for Riverside County, California, Indio has many county offices and employs more than a thousand county employees. The California Superior Court's Larson Justice Center, Riverside County's Law Library and District Attorney's office, numerous law firms along Highway 111, and the California Desert Trial Academy (CDTA) College of Law (the only law school in Riverside County), located at 45290 Fargo Street, have made Downtown Indio the center for law and legal studies in the Coachella Valley.

The average salary for a job in Indio increased from $28,224 in 2003 to $35,532 in 2015. The City of Indio is constantly expanding to see the number of jobs and average salaries rise. It is currently in the process of a 2040 general plan to increase the number of developments in Indio. For example, the city opened a 120-room Fairfield Inn and Suites in February 2019 and broke ground on a 93-room Hampton Inn and Suites that is expected to open January 2020. A new movie theater and the continual development of retail stores at the Indio Towne Center, The Showcase at Indio, and The Palms shopping centers is also anticipated to create an abundance of jobs.

Light industry is not new to Indio. Between the 1960s and the early 1980s, the Bank of America-owned Giannini Research Institute, Kaiser Inc. and Cabazon Firearms had contracts with both NASA and the US Armed Forces that produced ammunition, computer parts, moon rover parts for the Apollo landing program, and train engines for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Indio sought more corporate businesses and office professions, including fruit packing and shipping firms. Locally based United States Filter Corporation, Guy Evans Inc., Dimare Fruit Co., West Coast Turf and Japanese-owned Sun World Inc.; and move-in companies such as Borden, Coca-Cola, Ernie Ball, Ernst and Young, Ferguson, Fulton Distributors, Guthy-Renker, Pulte Homes, Sunrise Company, SunScape Tech and Tala Industries choose Indio for the location of transport routes, low economic costs, and growth potential.

Indio is home to Buzz Box Premium Cocktails, Ring Power Corporation, Triangle Distributing Company (formerly Heimark), The Forager Project, and Purus International. Other companies in Indio include Pepsi Cola Distributing, RDO Equipment, Sepulveda Building Materials, Fortun Foods, Arctic Glacier, A.C. Houston Lumber Company, and Commercial Lighting Industry.

Top employers
According to the city's 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

Native American gaming
Two Native American owned casinos in and near Indio are the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, owned by the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, and the Spotlight 29 Casino, owned by the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians. Spotlight 29 formerly was "Trump 29" when it was partly owned by then-businessman Donald Trump for a brief period of time in the 2000s.

Annual events

Because of the numerous festivals and special events held annually in Indio, the Chamber of Commerce deemed Indio's official nickname to be "The City of Festivals". Indio is considered the second County seat, the Riverside County Fairgrounds is a facility that hosts various events year round such as music concerts, 4x4 monster truck rallies, rodeos, and other special events.

Two major annual festivals are the Indio International Tamale Festival and the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival and are held each February at the Riverside County Fairgrounds, located on Highway 111 in the heart of Indio. Since 1947, this festival has celebrated the date fruit crop of the Coachella Valley. The Tamale Festival is held each December on the streets of Old Town Indio and holds one Guinness World Record as the largest tamale festival (120,000 in attendance, Dec. 2–3, 2000) and once held the record for the world's largest tamale, [over 1 ft in diameter and 40 ft in length], created by Chef John Sedlar, but that record has since been surpassed.

In 1993, Paul Tollett, president of Goldenvoice, booked a Pearl Jam concert at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, and six years later, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was born. Since 2001, Coachella has been an annual event that has brought notable music acts to the desert, including: AC/DC, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Guns N' Roses, Prince, Paul McCartney, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Kanye West, Radiohead, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Pixies, The Cure, The White Stripes, Jay-Z, Tool, Beastie Boys, Jane's Addiction, Roger Waters and several others. Coachella extended the festival to three days in 2007. Organizers eliminated single-day tickets in 2010 and went to three-day passes only. The festival continues to draw large numbers of concertgoers to Indio and the Empire Polo Club, a venue that Rolling Stone said possessed a "lush beauty... that made the desert seem very far away."

In May 2007, Goldenvoice, promoters of Coachella, started Stagecoach, a three-day country music festival held the weekend following Coachella. Performers have included George Strait, Kenny Chesney, the Eagles, Sugarland, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, and Kid Rock.

In 2013, OC Weekly's Dave Barton described the arts scene in Indio with "seems to consist of Johnny Cash tributes, chalk art, camel and ostrich races, and Neil Simon revivals."

In 2016, Goldenvoice brought together The Rolling Stones, The Who, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Roger Waters, and Neil Young for a 3-day mega concert known as Desert Trip. Desert Trip took place at the same venue as the Coachella Music Festival, over two three-day weekends, on October 7–9 and 14–16, 2016. Despite Desert Trip becoming the highest-grossing music festival in history, Goldenvoice founder Paul Tollett has not announced any plans for a second Desert Trip, stating that it's not necessary for it to "turn into another franchise festival".

Indio is also the site of many other annual arts, culture, and entertainment festivals and events. Among these include:

 * The Southwest Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club
 * The Cabazon Indian National Pow wow at Fantasy Springs Resort and Casino
 * The Palm Springs Kennel Club's Annual Dog Show and Rhythm at the Empire Polo Club
 * The Heritage/Living History Festival at the Coachella Valley History Museum
 * The Family Motor Coach Association's Annual Western Region RV Rally at the Riverside County Fairgrounds
 * The Sand Storm Lacrosse Festival at the Empire Polo Club
 * Arbor Day Celebration
 * Indio Tree Lighting Ceremony
 * Dia de Los Muertos Celebration at the Coachella Valley History Museum
 * Taste of Indio at Jackalope Ranch
 * The California BBQ State Championship & Festival

Points of interest

The Coachella Valley History Museum Home, on Miles Avenue, has a two-acre campus, which currently includes the Smiley-Tyler House, built in 1926, the 1909 Schoolhouse, and the Date Museum dedicated to the history and development of the fruit (the only date museum in the world), plus gardens and archives preserving historical artifacts of the Coachella Valley. It also has the historic M.H. Whittier Ranch Tower, which is used for the only light art projection system in the Coachella Valley.

The Indio Performing Arts Center, known as IPAC, is located at the heart of downtown Indio at 45–175 Fargo Street to promote arts and entertainment for the community. IPAC has hosted live concerts, theater productions, dinner theater events and sing-alongs, movie nights, fashion shows, arts and crafts fairs, music video productions, and other special events. IPAC is a 23,000 sq. ft. facility with a main hall, the Expo Hall; three separate theaters that are approximately 2,200 sq. ft. each: Village Theatre, Cabaret Theatre, and the Old Towne Playhouse. Desert TheatreWorks occupies the facility, which has produced more than 50 plays and musicals, 8 children's musicals and more than 20 special events, making them one of the Coachella Valley's leading producers of theatre and educational programming for the performing arts. The College of the Desert also has a film class in the Village Theatre during the school year.

The Coachella Valley Art Center is located at 45140 Towne Street in downtown Indio. It hosts a variety of art exhibits, workshops, and special events throughout the year and includes a main gallery, project spaces, classrooms, a glass studio, performance space, and artist studios. The center has hosted local and international artists, and been a venue for art events and live performances.

From January to March each year, polo season is in full effect at the Eldorado Polo Club and the Empire Polo Club. Tailgating, food vendors, picnics, and great polo games are a common sight at these family-friendly Sunday events.

Golfing is another main attraction that brings people from far and wide to Indio and surrounding cities, with the Coachella Valley housing approximately 28 percent of all California's golf courses. Golf course development in the desert became a huge phenomenon in the 1950s, with a golf course opening approximately every 100 days. During the winter months, country clubs with golf courses attract dozens of vacationers each year. Today, there are more than 13 golf courses located in Indio and 124 golf courses in the entire Coachella Valley. The City of Indio, in particular, owns the only night-lighted golf course in the Coachella Valley – the Lights at Indio Golf Course.

Casinos are also a point of interest in Indio that draw a large crowd. Fantasy Springs Resort Casino is owned by the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, whose tribal headquarters are also located in Indio. The casino opened in 2004 and includes a hotel, bowling center, golf course, and special events center that acts as a concert venue. The Fantasy Springs special events center has hosted musicians as big as The Beach Boys, John Legend, Snoop Dogg, Stevie Nicks, and Kelly Clarkson.

Old Town Historic Mural Program
In the fall of 1996, the Indio Chamber of Commerce formed a committee to develop a Historic Mural Project to help revitalize the local economy at the time of the statewide economic recession. Several communities have benefited from similar programs, such as Chemainus, Canada; El Paso, Texas; and Eureka, Bishop, Needles, & 29 Palms in California, as well the famous Chicano Park mural to commemorate Hispanic-American life in Barrio Logan, San Diego in the late 1970s.

It began with a suggestion to start a mural project first brought to the city by David Hernandez, a former Indio city council member, after he visited Chemainus. Very little happened with this concept until 1996, when the Riverside County National Date Festival's executive director Bruce Latta and commissioned artist Bill Weber of San Francisco to paint a mural of the Taj Mahal on the Taj Mahal (Garden of Allah) building at the fairgrounds. At the same time, local businessman Bruce Clark, who was instrumental in promoting Historic U.S. Route 99 (Indio Blvd.) to its former status as the Main Street of California. He maintains a website on Historic Route 99. He brought the mural idea forward again after seeing the success of a similar local program in 29 Palms. When Clark presented the idea to the chamber board of directors, the idea was immediately recognized as something that could help the city's economy by encouraging tourism. Indio now has ten murals about the city on the sides of various buildings in Old Town and on a water reservoir tank on Monroe Street.

Politics
In the California State Legislature, Indio is in, and in.

In the United States House of Representatives, Indio is in.

The city operates under a City Council-City Manager form of government with five elected members of the City Council served by a City Manager and staff and City Attorney. The five councilmembers are elected by district for four-year terms. Each year the Council selects the Mayor on a rotational basis and determines assignments for the external commissions and committees at its first meeting of December. The City Council is the legislative body for the city, Public Financing Authority and Redevelopment Agency. Its responsibilities include establishing City policies, adopting of ordinances and resolutions as well as the budget, holding public hearings, authorizing expenditures, and the appointment of the City Manager, City Attorney and the member of City commissions and committees.
 * Mayor – Waymond Fermon
 * Mayor Pro Tem – Oscar Ortiz
 * Councilmember – Elaine Holmes
 * Councilmember – Lupe Ramos Amith
 * Councilmember – Glenn Miller

Education
Indio is served by two public school districts: Desert Sands Unified and on the city's southeastern corner, Coachella Valley Unified. Desert Sands' headquarters is located in La Quinta.

Indio's six elementary and two middle schools are highly rated under the California Distinguished Schools program. Because of Indio's growing population and above-average number of young people with families, the two school districts are expanding, with plans on building more schools, along with remodeling the older ones with new buildings and designs.

Schools in or near Indio:

Desert Sands Unified
 * Elementary (grades K–5): Carrillo Ranch, Dr. Reynaldo J. Carreon Jr. Academy, Amelia Earhart (International studies), John Adams (STEM school) near Benjamin Franklin in La Quinta, Richard Oliphant, Herbert Hoover, Andrew Jackson, Lyndon B. Johnson, John F. Kennedy, James Madison, James Monroe (in Bermuda Dunes), Theodore Roosevelt, Martin Van Buren, and Horizon Elementary (independent studies) in La Quinta
 * Middle/junior high schools (grades 6–8): Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle School (in La Quinta), La Quinta Middle, Desert Ridge Academy; Thomas Jefferson; Indio Middle School (Charter); John Glenn Middle School of International Studies (California Distinguished School); and Horizon Middle (independent studies) in La Quinta
 * High schools (grades 9–12): Indio High; La Quinta High in La Quinta; Shadow Hills; Amistad High, a continuation high school in former site of Woodrow Wilson Middle School; and Horizon High (independent studies) in La Quinta
 * Adult school: Courses include: GED Test preparation, ESL Beg/Int/Adv classes, Citizenship classes, a RossettaStone Language lab, and more.
 * Special studies: Eisenhower Community Education Center.

Coachella Valley Unified schools
 * Elementary (grades K–6): Mountain Vista Elementary
 * Middle/junior high schools (grades 7–8): Cahuilla Desert Academy
 * High schools (grades 9–12): Coachella Valley High and Desert Mirage High School, both in Thermal

Private schools

Grace Academy (K–8), Indio Christian Center (1–12), River Springs Charter School (K–12), Our Lady of Perpetual Help (PK–8), Trinity Lutheran Child Development Center (PK, K) and Christian School of the Desert (PK–12), located in nearby Bermuda Dunes

Higher education

College of the Desert, commonly referred to by its initials (C.O.D), is the Coachella Valley's community college. C.O.D opened a campus facility in 2002 in the Riverside County Employment Developmental Center located on Monroe Street. And their Indio campus on Oasis street. They expanded their classes to an "East Valley" educational center in Mecca.

Riverside County has a Regional Occupational Program facility in Indio that provides vocational educational courses in the Coachella Valley's job market.

The California Desert Trial Academy College of Law was approved by the California State Bar as an unaccredited fixed facility law school in Indio and is currently holding classes in the County Law Library in Indio. Meanwhile, plans are moving forward on the school constructing its own campus buildings in downtown Indio.

Media
The Indio Date Palm was an early paper established in 1912 by John Winfield (J. Win) Wilson.

Print news in Indio is most notably provided by The Desert Sun, a daily newspaper part of the USA Today Network with a circulation of 14,685 in Indio in 2017. Providing news coverage of the Coachella Valley and distributing to eight cities, The Desert Sun had the largest newspaper circulation in the desert in 2017.

The Coachella Valley also receives news coverage from the Press-Enterprise, a Riverside-based daily newspaper, and Desert Star Weekly, a Riverside County adjudicated newspaper. There are many other independently or Self Published daily newspapers and weeklies covering Indio, such as the Coachella Valley Independent and Tidbits of the Coachella Valley.

Newspapers aimed at a Latino readership are also essential in Indio, due to the high number of Spanish-speaking Hispanics/Latinos in the area. El Informador del Valle is printed in Spanish then distributed to homes and a range of meat markets, gas stations, Hispanic restaurants, and more locally owned businesses throughout Indio. La Prensa Hispana is another such newspaper that is aimed toward Indio's Latino community, but uniquely merges English and Spanish together to provide a bilingual newspaper. The newspaper has received recognition from the Hispanic Chamber of commerce-Coachella Valley for its value and impact on the community.

There are also several online news sources that cover Indio, such as the Coachella Valley Weekly, Cactus Hugs, Coachella Magazine, KESQ, and Los Angeles Times. Entertainment and lifestyle magazines and publications include the Desert Entertainer, Coachella Magazine, and Desert Magazine, among others.

Indio has ten local television stations serving the Coachella Valley and six Spanish-language networks (local or regional affiliates like KUNA-LD and KVER-CD), some of which are over-air signals from Mexico. Eight Los Angeles television stations are available on cable and satellite service.

Four out of 20 Palm Springs area's radio stations are licensed to Indio: KESQ 1400 AM (in Spanish) owned by KESQ-TV/KDFX-CD, KKUU 92.7 FM (Urban/Hip-hop/R&B) owned by Morris Communications, KHCV 104.3, and classic rock KRHQ 102.3 FM owned by RM Broadcasting. However, none of the stations have their offices or studios in Indio. KHCV and KESQ are located in Palm Desert; both KKUU and KRHQ are located in Palm Springs.

Public safety
Indio operates its own police department. In 2016, the Indio Police Department was one among 15 law enforcement agencies chosen to participate in President Barack Obama's 21st Century Policing Task Force. Recognized for its achievements in community engagement, the Indio Police Department was charged with implementing the Task Force's recommendations for policing in a year-long study. During Coachella Fest, Indio Police is able to handle a large number of 911 and non-emergency calls due to its six-position public safety answering point (PSAP).

In addition to the Indio Police Department, the city also contracts with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department for some law enforcement services. The Riverside County Coroner's branch office is located in Indio.

The city of Indio contracts for fire and paramedic services with the Riverside County Fire Department through a cooperative agreement with CAL FIRE. Indio has four fire stations in its city limits, and a full-time staff of 56 people.

The City of Indio also has a Fire Services Prevention Office, and, through the Riverside County, participates in the Volunteer Reserve Firefighter Program.

One of the eleven U.S. Customs and Border Protection stations is located in Indio. Created in 1936, the station was originally an auxiliary for the El Centro Sector station. Now, the border patrol agents stationed in Indio are tasked with patrolling the northern portion of Imperial County.

Indio is also the site of a California Highway Patrol Border Division office. The division patrols Interstate 10, State Routes 62, 86, and 177, which encompasses cities such as Desert Hot Springs, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, La Quinta, Indio, and Coachella.

Transportation
Bermuda Dunes Airport (FAA designator: UDD) is on the north-western border of Indio, along I-10 just west of Jefferson Street. It has a 5000 ft runway and serves small private planes, air carriers and commuter jets. The Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport in Thermal just a few minutes from Indio, is named for the famous 1920s pilot and Indio resident and used for cargo planes to ship agricultural products, also on the four-lane California State Route 86 expressway or the "NAFTA highway" (in reference to the North American Free Trade Agreement) for international traffic. The closest airport with regularly-scheduled commercial passenger service is Palm Springs International Airport, about 20 miles away.

Greyhound and Amtrak Thruway inter-city passenger buses stop at Indio station with regular services to stops in Southern California, Arizona, and the Mexican border. The city is served by the local bus line SunLine Transit Agency ("SunBus"), which services much of the Coachella Valley. The Amtrak rail station is expected to be reactivated in April 2021 for that year's Coachella Valley Music Festival. the city and the Riverside County Transportation Commission are planning a passenger rail service that will run to Los Angeles from Indio.

Interstate 10 is the primary highway in the city, running roughly on the north side. Highway 111 runs through the city which connects the northern end with I-10 in Whitewater to the southern end in Calexico.

Health care
The city has a major hospital providing general acute care, known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital. JFK Memorial Hospital provides a range of services, from 24/7 emergency care to surgical services. One of three hospitals in the Coachella Valley, JFK hospital expanded and opened a new maternity center as part of a 2002 hospital expansion plan for more surgical rooms, intensive care units and a new concrete emergency heliport. The Indio (renamed John F. Kennedy) hospital opened in a new location in 1983 on land donated by hospital co-founder Dr. Reynaldo J. Carreon.

In 2017, JFK Memorial Hospital, Desert Regional Medical Center, and Hi-Desert Medical Center, along with several affiliated outpatient clinics and centers, came together to form the Desert Care Network. According to Desert Care Network CEO Michelle Finney, the main purpose of the Desert Care Network is to "help improve care coordination between our hospitals and our affiliated entities for the more than 125,000 patients we treat every year."

Indio and the rest of the Coachella Valley recognize the need for free or affordable health care services for its residents. Coachella Valley Volunteers in Medicine, a branch of Volunteers in Medicine, is the Coachella Valley's only no-cost clinic providing chronic, acute, preventive, and mental health care to adult residents. Located in Indio, the clinic had a total of 3,154 visits in 2018.

In addition, California Care Force, a non-profit organization that sets up temporary no-cost clinics across California, provides free medical, dental, and vision services for residents at the Riverside County Fairgrounds in Indio each year. In its seventh annual free clinic in 2019, California Care Force served 1,818 Coachella Valley uninsured and underinsured residents.

In 2018, Loma Linda University Children's Health – Indio opened its doors to serve approximately 150 children per week on a range of pediatric services such as general pediatric care, neurological care, and behavioral health counseling. The clinic's large scope of health care services and weekly number of patients is largely due to its 13000 sqft size – making it the largest pediatric center in the Coachella Valley.

Parks and recreation
The city of Indio operates a variety of public parks, including a municipal golf course, a community recreation center, a senior center one block from the Indio teen center located across from Indio High school, and the Desert Park Wildlife Refuge north of 40th and 42nd Avenues.

 * Burr Park – Located at 42811 Burr Street
 * Cahuilla Park – formerly called Indio Terrace Park. Located at 83787 Hopi Avenue
 * Davis Field – baseball/softball fields. Located at 83100 Date Street
 * Dominguez Park – named after Al Dominguez, the city's first Mexican-American councilman in the 1950s/1960s. Located at 81967 Crown Way
 * Doug York Plaza – a gazebo and benches. Located at 82985 Indio Boulevard
 * Dr.Carreon Park – park-playground with water tower arts mural of local history. Located at 82200 Dr. Carreon Boulevard
 * George S. Patton Park – park-playground with basketball and tennis courts. Located at 83700 Avenue 43
 * Hjorth Park – Located at 81253 Avenue 48
 * Indio Community Center – includes a gymnasium and the Indio Community Park, operated by the Desert Recreation District. Located at 45871 Clinton St
 * Miles Avenue Park – Located near the Coachella Valley History Museum at 82540 Miles Avenue
 * Mulligan Dog Park – Located at 45355 Van Buren Street
 * North Jackson Park – play-playground with basketball courts, tennis courts, softball fields. Located at 43200 Towne Street
 * Shields Park – Located at 80500 Avenue 46
 * South Jackson Park – near a Pawley Pool facility, a soccer field, a little league baseball stadium (Davis Sports Complex) and a YMCA/Boys & Girls club. Located at 46480 Jackson Street
 * South Jackson Soccer Park – Located at 83318 Date Street
 * Station 87 Dog Park – Located at 42900 1/2 Golf Center Parkway
 * The Lights at Indio Golf Course – Located at 83040 Avenue 42
 * Yucca Park – Located at 43605 Yucca Street

Notable people
• Al Adamson – writer, producer, director and actor

• Judith 'Judie' Brown – 1979 co-founder of American Life League

• Timothy Bradley Jr. – professional boxer

• Abi Carter - winner of American Idol season 22

• Jacqueline Cochran – notable female pilot

• Cameron Crowe – writer and director

• Debi Derryberry – cartoon voice actor

• Jeremiah Estrada – San Diego Padres pitcher

• Merv Griffin – television personality, singer, actor, producer

• Stephan Jenkins – writer, lead vocalist for Third Eye Blind

• Anthony Kim – golfer

• Oscar Loya – singer and Broadway musical theatre performer

• Oscar Lua – USC college football player

• Vanessa Marcil – actress

• June Hill Robertson McCarroll – physician, invented painted lines on highways

• Alan O'Day – musician

• Jenna Ortega – actress

• Tony Reagins – general manager of Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 2007–2011

• Marco Sanchez – actor

• Bill Snyder – former football head coach of Kansas State University Wildcats; head coach at Indio High School in 1960s and 1970s

• Cub Swanson – UFC fighter

• Stan Van Gundy – president of basketball operations and head coach of NBA's Detroit Pistons, born in Indio

• Ed White – San Diego Chargers and Minnesota Vikings lineman; played for Indio High School; the school's football stadium was named for him.

Sister cities
Indio had city-to-city economic exchange programs with San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, Mexico, in the Sister Cities International (SCI) program. There are similar inter-city exchange agreements with Lynwood, California; Farmington, Minnesota; and American Fork, Utah, in the US, and officials from the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games visited the 2010 National Date Festival to promote the Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, area.

title: Indio, California


text:
La Quinta, California

La Quinta (a Spanish idiom meaning "the country villa") is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States. Located between Indian Wells and Indio, it is one of the nine cities of the Coachella Valley. The population was 37,467 at the 2010 census, up from 23,694 at the 2000 census.

Golf courses include La Quinta Resort and Club, a resort dating to 1926, where director Frank Capra wrote the screenplay for Lost Horizon, and SilverRock Golf Resort, a host golf courses for the annual Bob Hope Chrysler Classic PGA golf tournament.

History
The Cahuilla Indians were the first inhabitants of La Quinta.

In 1926, Walter Morgan established the La Quinta Resort at the northern section of Marshall Cove as a type of secluded hideaway for nearby Hollywood's celebrities and socialites. The Resort was the site for the Coachella Valley's first golf course, coinciding with the construction and pavement of State Route 111 in the 1930s. Further expansion of Washington Street in the 1950s and 1960s connected La Quinta with US Highways 60 and 99 (became Interstate 10 in the 1970s).

As nearby desert cities grew to capacity, La Quinta's growth rose dramatically by the mid-1980s, which led to its incorporation as a city in Riverside County in 1982. In the 1980 census, La Quinta had 4,200 residents, then increased to 11,215 by 1990 in the city's early phases of residential area growth. It was predominantly a part-time community until around that time.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.6 sqmi, of which 35.1 sqmi is land and 0.4 sqmi  (1.22%) is water. The city's elevation is 56 feet (20 m) above sea level.

La Quinta is located on the floor of the Coachella Valley, and is surrounded on three sides by the Santa Rosa Mountains. As the floor of the valley sank, it was covered by the Pacific Ocean. Silt deposits from the flow of the Colorado River into the Gulf of California caused the basin to be cut off from the ocean. Five hundred years ago, the Colorado River changed its course and the eastern Coachella Valley flooded, leading to the creation of Lake Cahuilla, which was fresh water.

Climate
The climate of the Coachella Valley is influenced by the surrounding geography. High mountain ranges on three sides contribute to its unique and year-round warm climate, with some of the warmest winters west of the Rocky Mountains. La Quinta has a warm winter/hot summer climate: Its average annual high temperature is 89.5 °F and average annual low is 62.1 °F but summer highs above 108 °F are common and sometimes exceed 120 °F, while summer night lows often stay above 82 °F. Winters are warm with daytime highs often between 68 and 86 °F. Under 4 in of annual precipitation are average, with over 348 days of sunshine per year. The hottest temperature ever recorded there was 125 °F on July 6, 1905. The mean annual temperature is 75.8 °F.

2020
In the 2020 U.S. decennial census, La Quinta's official population was 37,558.

2012
As of January 1, 2012, the California Department of Finance Demographic Research Unit estimated the City of La Quinta's population to be 38,075.

2010
The 2010 United States Census reported that La Quinta had a population of 37,467. The population density was 1,053.9 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of La Quinta was 29,489 (78.7%) White (63.1% Non-Hispanic White), 713 (1.9%) African American, 230 (0.6%) Native American, 1,176 (3.1%) Asian, 41 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 4,595 (12.3%) from other races, and 1,223 (3.3%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11,339 persons (30.3%).

The Census reported that 37,410 people (99.8% of the population) lived in households, 50 (0.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 7 (0%) were institutionalized.

There were 14,820 households, out of which 4,329 (29.2%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 8,672 (58.5%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1,442 (9.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, 595 (4.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 787 (5.3%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 182 (1.2%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 3,164 households (21.3%) were made up of individuals, and 1,522 (10.3%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52. There were 10,709 families (72.3% of all households); the average family size was 2.93.

The population was spread out, with 8,208 people (21.9%) under the age of 18, 2,509 people (6.7%) aged 18 to 24, 7,696 people (20.5%) aged 25 to 44, 11,238 people (30.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 7,816 people (20.9%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.3 males.

There were 23,489 housing units at an average density of 660.7 /sqmi, of which 11,152 (75.2%) were owner-occupied, and 3,668 (24.8%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 6.5%; the rental vacancy rate was 16.5%. 27,386 people (73.1% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 10,024 people (26.8%) lived in rental housing units.

According to the 2010 United States Census, La Quinta had a median household income of $72,099, with 8.0% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

2000
As of the census of 2000, there were 23,694 people, 8,445 households, and 6,553 families residing in the city. The population density was 746.2 PD/sqmi. There were 11,812 housing units at an average density of 372.0 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 78.5% White, 1.4% African American, 0.7% Native American, 1.9% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 13.9% from other races, and 3.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 32.0% of the population.

There were 8,445 households, out of which 38.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.6% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.4% were non-families. 17.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.8 and the average family size was 3.2, above national average of 2.4 according to the 2000 United States Census.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 29.1% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $54,552, and the median income for a family was $56,848 (these figures had risen to $72,452 and $82,168 respectively as of a 2007 estimate ). Males had a median income of $40,553 versus $31,627 for females. The per capita income for the city was $27,284. About 5.0% of families and 7.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.1% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.

Other demographic data
La Quinta has developed a culturally diverse community, as large ancestry groups include Mexicans (the largest) and Mexican Americans who frequently came to the Palm Springs area/Coachella Valley to find available employment in the 1990s and 2000s. Others, in alphabetical order, include: Armenians, Bosnians, British, French, Germans, Italians, Poles and Jews of multiple nationalities.

Temporary population known as "snowbird" from Coastal California urban areas, the Pacific Northwest and/or Canada increase the local population by 50–90% in the winter months from November to April. A large percentage of seasonal residents are senior citizens and RV or mobile home parks are scattered throughout "East Valley" – the eastern half of the Coachella Valley.

Like the rest of the "East Valley" including nearby communities of Indio, Coachella, and unincorporated communities of Bermuda Dunes and Vista Santa Rosa, there is a burgeoning Latino (especially Mexican-American and Central American nationalities) as well an enlargened African American and Asian American (i.e. east Asians) population belonging to the middle and upper-middle class.

According to the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, estimates placed Latinos at half (about 50% to 60%) of the local population, Blacks at near or over 10% and Asians at 10–15% of the city population as of the year 2010. Most of the minorities are recently moved-in families sought starter homes and/or relocated from urban centers of Southern California during the 1990s and 2000s, and from families of two or more races (to represent multiracial identity).

Service industries
La Quinta is the site of the first Wal-Mart Supercenter in California. Many residents work for the tourist industries in hotels, resorts, golf courses, and nearby casinos. Service industry jobs relate to the construction, hotel, landscaping, and retail industries. La Quinta has sought to attract professional businesses, and has benefited from neighboring cities' growth. The city's downtown commercial district is officially known as The Village. The Village District includes private commercial developments such as Old Town and Plaza Calle Tampico, and contain professional offices, the city museum, small tourist-oriented shops and boutiques, and restaurants. Old Town La Quinta is a commercial real estate development of 30 cafes, shops, boutiques, salons, services, and offices.

Top employers
According to La Quinta's 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city were:

Arts and culture
The city opened a public library that commenced operations in 2005. La Quinta annually plays host to a four-day event known as the "La Quinta Art Celebration" at the scenic La Quinta Civic Center Park. A certified local farmers market is hosted at Old Town La Quinta. Old Town also hosts "Art on Main Street".

Parks and recreation
La Quinta has 20 parks. Lake Cahuilla Regional Park is a Riverside County park.

Government
In the California State Legislature, La Quinta is in, and in.

In the United States House of Representatives, La Quinta is in.

Education
The Desert Sands Unified School District serves the western half of La Quinta, while the Coachella Valley Unified School District serves the eastern half.

Schools include:
 * Harry S. Truman Elementary School
 * Benjamin Franklin Elementary School
 * La Quinta Middle School
 * Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle School
 * La Quinta High School, an IB World School

STEM schools

 * John Adams Early Childhood Education Center.
 * George Washington Carver Elementary School

Alternative schools

 * Summit High School
 * Horizon High School and Horizon Middle School

Public safety
Police services are provided under contract with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department through the Thermal Station, which also serves the city of Coachella and unincorporated areas of the eastern Coachella Valley.

The city of La Quinta contracts for fire and paramedic services with the Riverside County Fire Department through a cooperative agreement with CAL FIRE.

American Medical Response provides ambulance services to La Quinta.

Transportation
California State Route 111 passes through La Quinta.

The city is part of the SunBus line, which serves the Coachella Valley.

Notable people
The city has been home to a number of celebrity residents, including the late Merv Griffin. Griffin was the driving force behind the annual La Quinta Arts Festival, one of the country's leading plein air art shows, and was instrumental in the development of Griffin Ranch, La Quinta's first equestrian-oriented resort residential neighborhood.

Additionally, the musician/actor Tyler Hilton, professional golfer Anthony Kim, and singer/dancer Aubrey O'Day of Danity Kane were also former residents of La Quinta, and all three attended La Quinta High School.

Tommy John, longtime MLB left-handed pitcher, is a permanent resident.

Scott Burcham, a baseball player in the Colorado Rockies' organization, was born and grew up in La Quinta.

The band Yawning Man formed here.

Singer and TV personality Andy Williams resided in La Quinta with his second wife Debbie in addition to owning a house in Branson, Missouri, where his Moon River theatre was located.

Olympic ice figure skater Dorothy Hamill lived in La Quinta.

Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard lived in secret on a ranch in La Quinta from 1978 to the early 1980s.

The singer Jack Jones lives in La Quinta.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: La Quinta, California


text:
Lake Elsinore, California

Lake Elsinore is a city in western Riverside County, California, United States. Established as a city in 1888, it is on the shore of Lake Elsinore, a natural freshwater lake about 3,000 acres in size. The city has grown from a small resort town in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to a suburban city with over 70,000 residents.

History
Native Americans have long lived in the Elsinore Valley. The Luiseño people were the earliest known inhabitants. Their pictographs can be found on rocks on the Santa Ana Mountains and in Temescal Valley, and artifacts have been found all around Lake Elsinore and in the local canyons and hills.

Overlooked by the expedition of Juan Bautista de Anza, the largest natural lake in Southern California was first seen by the Spanish Franciscan padre Juan Santiago, exploring eastward from the Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1797. In 1810, the water level of the Laguna Grande was first described by a traveler as being little more than a swamp about a mile long. Later in the early 19th century, the lake grew larger, providing a spot to camp and water their animals for Mexican rancheros, American trappers, the expedition of John C. Frémont, and the immigrants during the California Gold Rush as they traveled along the southern shore of the lake on what later became the Southern Emigrant Trail and the route of the Butterfield Overland Mail.

On January 7, 1844, Julian Manriquez acquired the land grant to Rancho La Laguna, a tract of almost 20000 acre which included the lake and an adobe being built near the lake on its south shore at its western corner that was described by Benjamin Ignatius Hayes, who stayed there overnight January 27, 1850.

In 1851, Abel Stearns acquired the rancho and sold it in 1858 to Augustin Machado. Augustin Machado built a seven-room adobe ranch house and an outbuilding on the southwest side of the lake. Soon after, Rancho La Laguna became a regular stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail route between Temecula 20 mi to the southeast and the Temescal station 10 mi to the northwest. The old Manriquez adobe was used as the station house. Over the years, a framed addition and a second story were added, and it was used as a post office for the small settlement of Willard from 1898 until September 30, 1902. The building stood until it was razed in 1964, at what is now 32912 Macy Street. Today, three palm trees still grow in front of the site along Macy Street in front of the property.

As a result of the Great Flood of 1862, the level of the lake was very high, so the Union Army created a post at the lake to graze and water their horses. In the great 1862–65 drought, most of the cattle in Southern California died and the lake level fell, especially during 1866 and 1867, when practically no rain fell. However, the lake was full again in 1872, when it overflowed down its outlet through Temescal Canyon.

While most of the old California families lost their ranches during the great drought, the La Laguna Rancho remained in the hands of the Machado family until 1873, when most of it was sold to Englishman Charles A. Sumner. Juan Machado retained 500 acre on the northwest corner of the lake, where his adobe still stands near the lake at 15410 Grand Avenue.

After 1872, the lake again evaporated to a very low level, but the great rains in the winter of 1883–84 filled it to overflowing in three weeks. Descriptions of the lake at this time say that large willow trees surrounding the former low-water shore line stood 20 ft or more below the high-water level and were of such size that they must have been 30 or more years old. This indicated the high water of the 1860s and 1870s must have been of a very short duration.

On October 5, 1883, Franklin H. Heald and his partners Donald Graham and William Collier bought the remaining rancho, intending to start a new town. In 1884, the California Southern Railroad built a line from Colton through the Cañon de Rio San Jacinto (now Railroad Canyon) to link with San Diego, and a rail station La Laguna appeared near the corner of what is now Mission Trail and Diamond Drive. On April 9, 1888, Elsinore became the 73rd city to be incorporated in California, just 38 years after California became a state. Originally, Elsinore was in San Diego County, but the city became part of Riverside County upon its creation in 1893. It was named Elsinore after the Danish city, Helsingør, which is featured in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. In fact, Helsingør is now a sister city of Lake Elsinore, California. Another source maintains Elsinore is a corruption of "el señor", Spanish for "the gentleman", because the city site had been owned by a don.

The rainfall until 1893 was greater than normal, and the lake remained high and overflowed naturally on three or four occasions during that time. The lake water was purchased by the Temescal Water Company for the irrigation of land in Corona. Its outlet channel was deepened, permitting gravity flow down the natural channel of Temescal Canyon to Corona for a year or more after the water level sank below the natural elevation of its outlet. As the lake surface continued to recede, a pumping plant was installed and pumping was continued a few seasons, but the concentration of salts in the lake, due to the evaporation and lack of rainfall, soon made the water unfit for irrigation and the project was abandoned by the company.

From the beginning, the mineral springs near the lake attracted visitors seeking therapeutic treatments. In 1887, the Crescent Bath House, now known as "The Chimes", was built; it still stands in historic downtown and is a registered national historic site. By 1888, the economy was supported by coal and clay mining at what became the town of Terra Cotta, gold mining in the Pinacate Mining District, ranching, and the agriculture of fruit and nuts. After 1893, the lake's water level sank almost continuously for nearly 10 years, with a slight rise every winter. Heavier precipitation, beginning in 1903, gradually filled the lake to about half the depth above its minimum level since 1883. Then, in January 1916, a flood rapidly raised the level to overflowing.

Lake Elsinore was a popular destination in the first half of the 1900s for celebrities to escape the urban Hollywood scene. Many of their homes still stand on the hills surrounding the lake, including Aimee's Castle, a unique Moorish-style house built by Aimee Semple McPherson. Also, actor Bela Lugosi, known for his lead role in Universal Pictures' film, Dracula, built a home that still exists in the city's Country Club Heights district.

The Riverside Daily Press published this description in December 1919:

 * The city of Elsinore nestles snuggly on the west side of the lake, while it is backed by stately foothills through which traverses one of the famous state highways leading to Riverside and Los Angeles to the west and to San Diego to the southwest.

 * Its elevation of 1300 feet makes its climate delightful, especially in the cold months of winter. It has school facilities for a city twice its population, including a modern high school, grammar school and kindergarten.

 * It is one of few cities of its size in the state that has its own sewer system. It has an ornamental lighting system and five blocks of the city’s business section are paved from curb to curb with concrete. There are yet two and one-half miles of this kind of street to be laid on the streets entering the city from the south and west, connecting up with the inland highway system to San Diego and Riverside and Los Angeles.

 * Elsinore has three churches, the Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, while the Episcopal and Christian Scientists hold regular services in leased property.

 * The health record of the city is perhaps one of its greatest features. During the recent epidemic of Spanish influenza, which swept the country and the world, Elsinore escaped with but a few cases. Only three deaths were attributed to the disease.

In 1933, the Elsinore Naval and Military School was established, though it would later close it doors in 1977. The lake also hosted teams for Olympic training and high-speed boat racing in the 1920s. The lake went dry in the mid-1930s, but refilled by 1938.

During World War II, the lake was used to test seaplanes, and a Douglas Aircraft plant making wing assemblies for Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers was located in the city. The lake ran dry during most of the 1950s and was refilled in the early 1960s.

Despite its relatively small African American population, it has the distinction of electing the first black city councilman in California, Thomas R. Yarborough, in 1948. Yarborough went on to become one of three African American mayors elected in California in 1966.

In 1972, citizens of the city voted to rename it Lake Elsinore. More than a week of heavy rains in 1980 flooded the lake, destroying surrounding homes and businesses. Since then, a multimillion-dollar project has been put into place to maintain the water supply at a consistent level, allowing for homes to be built close to the lake. Overflow water in the Lake spills out via Alberhill Creek, a tributary of Temescal Creek. In 2007, an aeration system was added to help with the lake's ecosystem.

The city was ranked as the 12th fastest growing city in California between 2000 and 2008. Now, over 70,000 residents as of the 2020 census live there, and formerly open hillsides have been converted into housing tracts.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 108.0 km2 of which 93.8 km2 of it is land and 14.2 km2, or 13.14%, is covered by water.

Lake Elsinore, originally Laguna Grande, is the largest natural freshwater lake in Southern California and is situated at the lowest point within the 750 sqmi San Jacinto River watershed at the terminus of the San Jacinto River, where its headwaters are found on the western slopes of San Jacinto Peak with its North Fork, and Lake Hemet with its South Fork. Lake levels are healthy at 1,244 ft above sea level with a volume of 30000 acre.ft that often fluctuate, although much has been done recently to prevent the lake from drying up, flooding, or becoming stagnant. At 1255 ft, the lake would spill into the outflow channel on its northeastern shore, known properly as Temescal Wash, flowing northwest along I-15, which feeds Temescal Creek, which dumps into the Santa Ana River just northwest of the City of Corona. It then flows to Orange County, out to the Pacific Ocean just south of Huntington State Beach.

Lake Elsinore is bordered by the Elsinore Mountains to the west, which are a part of the larger Santa Ana Mountain Range, and receive a few inches of snowfall a few days each year. Included in the Santa Ana Mountains is the Cleveland National Forest and the community of El Cariso. Lake Elsinore is northwest of Wildomar and the northern portion is part of the Temescal Canyon. To the east of the lake are the much older and more eroded slopes of the Temescal Mountains.

Districts
Lake Elsinore is a city which encompasses a large geographical area. To better distinguish the wide range of neighborhoods, the city is organized into 11 districts. Each district beholds its own unique geography, culture, age, and history which together make Lake Elsinore a very diverse and culturally rich city. They are the Alberhill, Ballpark, Business, Country Club Heights, East Lake, Historic, Lake Edge, Lake Elsinore Hills, Lake View, North Peak, and Riverview Districts.

Alberhill
The Alberhill District is characterized by rolling terrain, vacant land, and the newly constructed Alberhill Ranch neighborhood. Much of the topography in the central areas, east and west of Lake Street, has been substantially altered as a result of the Alberhill District's long history of extractive/mining activities. Mining operations in the Alberhill District began at Terra Cotta roughly the same time the region's first railroad, the California Southern Railroad, was completed in the 1880s. A spur of the railroad originally built to Terra Cotta was extended into the central portion of the Alberhill District. The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad built a line up from Corona through Alberhill to Elsinore after the line through Railroad Canyon was washed out in the 1920s. These events helped shape the growth of the District. Mining operations for coal and especially clay have continued to exist since the late 19th century, and occupy a significant portion of the Alberhill District. Through the years, Pacific Clay Products Company has purchased the local mines and has become the sole operating clay mine in the region.

Ballpark
The Ballpark District takes its name from the Lake Elsinore Diamond Stadium, a first-class minor league baseball stadium constructed in 1994. It is home to the Lake Elsinore Storm professional baseball team, an affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The area was once the site of the first train depot in Lake Elsinore, but no train tracks or structures from that era remain.

Business
The developed area within the Business District, in Warm Springs Valley, is relatively new and has the strongest concentration of industrial and commercial uses within the city. In addition, it hosts several big-box retailers, the Lake Elsinore Outlets, the lake's outlet channel, Temescal Creek, and marshlands. It is bordered by Country Club Heights to the west and Interstate 15 to the east, with a small portion extending to the east side of I-15. Sections of the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railroads that passed through the Business District during the 1800s have been removed. In addition, a historic ranching and homesteading site with previous ranching and homesteading activities is located nearby the route where the railroad once existed.

Country Club Heights
The Country Club Heights District is distinctly marked by the steep hillsides of the Clevelin Hills, views of the lake and the city, and is a key part of Lake Elsinore's history. The issues mentioned above have presented development constraints for Country Club Heights since its historic beginnings dating back to 1912. The area was the target of an elaborate land scheme promoted in Los Angeles. The Mutual Benefit and Loan Society of Los Angeles acquired two pieces of dry, "hill-land" within a few miles north of "town-land" that the Press claimed was not worth ten cents an acre. The Mutual Benefit and Loan Society offered to give a 25 x lot to anyone who asked; however, the person receiving the lot had to pay ten dollars for a membership in the club, and one dollar per month dues for five years. In 1924, the Clevelin Realty Corporation, headed by Abe Corlin (President) and Henry Schultz (Treasurer-Secretary), began selling additional lots in Country Club Heights and launched a real estate sales promotion in the area. The Clevelin Hills took their name from this company.

Noteworthy sites in the Country Club Heights District include: the Schultz Mansion (now Bredlau Castle) and the Corlin Mansion, both built by the Corporation on the Clevelin Hills in 1926 for Henry Schultz and Abe Corlin, respectively, who had originated the Clevelin Realty development. The Bredlau castle is over 9000 sqft, and includes a hidden room with a sliding bookcase door that was used during Prohibition. These stately homes overlooking the lake were the site for many social gatherings. The winding roads of Country Club Heights are adorned with historic Marbelite lampposts, designed by Henry Barkschat. In 2007, the City of Lake Elsinore restored the historic lampposts along Lakeshore Drive.

In October 1928, Aimee Semple McPherson, a renowned evangelist, commissioned Architect Edwin Dickman to design for her a palatial home in Country Club Heights, which has since won fame as "Aimee's Castle". This is said to be a house born of Hollywood, inspired by Moorish architectural design. This home served as the evangelist's part-time home until 1939, when it passed to new ownership. After changing hands many times, in 2005, International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, the modern incarnation of McPherson's Foursquare Gospel, purchased and restored the property after years of neglect.

The Clevelin Country Club (later known as the Lake Elsinore Country Club, The Spa Club and the Casino Del Elsinore) was built to be the main attraction of the Country Club Heights subdivision. Prominent members of the club included Mrs. Wallace Reid, Marie Prevost, Reginald Denny, Jack Dempsey, Bert Lytell, Damon Runyon and Joe Stecher, for whom the streets are so named This Spanish-Mediterranean Moorish accented architectural masterpiece had over 20,000 square feet of floor space and included a ballroom, banquet hall, sleeping quarters, and a tunnel system to hidden rooms. The Country Club closed during the depression, but reopened in 1951. It has closed again before 1981, at which point restoration work was being undertaken, but by 1990 the property was vacant and derelict. The Country Club succumbed to arson in 2001.

East Lake
The East Lake District is partially developed and contains the newly constructed Summerly neighborhood. It is a generally flat area that does not contain any registered historic structures. However, portions of the East Lake District were used during prehistoric times by Native American Indians as flaking and grinding stations. In addition, a historic ranching and homesteading site is located just outside the East Lake District along the border with Lakeland Village to the southwest. More recently, the East Lake District has also been home to popular motocross, skydiving, glider plane, and hang gliding activities. Throughout the city's history, Lake Elsinore has alternated between severe floods and droughts. Most of the East Lake District lies within a 100-year floodplain adjacent to and southeast of the lake. As a result, the district has been significantly affected during wet seasons and high water levels in the lake. Major floods occurred in 1884 and in 1916. In 1969, 7 in of rain fell in 11 days and severely flooded the lake's shores. The East Lake District's proximity to the lake and flood storage is a key consideration in all planned development and several projects have been implemented to prevent the lake from flooding again.

Historic District
The Historic District has been the focal point of the city since its incorporation in 1888.

In 1925, W.R. Covington and Associates of Santa Monica purchased 650 ft of lake frontage and three blocks of slightly improved land across Poe Street from Warm Springs Park. A clubhouse, swimming pool, and other facilities projected to cost $200,000 (or $ million today) were built on this property. No records have been found to provide the date when a fire destroyed the clubhouse, but remnants of the burned structure and surrounding trees examined in 1942 indicate the fire must have occurred soon after the building was constructed. The Covington resort was built in the Town of Elsinore.

Today, several unregistered historic buildings exist, including the Crescent Bath House, also known as "The Chimes"; The Chamber of Commerce (Santa Fe Train Station); The Cultural Center (The Methodist Church); Armory Hall; The Ambassador Hotel (Elsinore Consolidated Bank); Jean Hayman House; and Elsinore City Park The neighborhoods in this area are the oldest in the city, and its commercial strip along Main Street is considered to be downtown.

Lake Edge District
The Lake Edge District area has had a long and eventful history, with the lake as a focal point for the Native Americans, Europeans, Mexicans, early founders of the city, and the multitude of visitors and locals who continue to come to its shores for entertainment and recreation. Many developments occurred along or within proximity of the lake's edge during the second half of the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries.

The Lake Edge District encompasses the ruins of the city's oldest standing structure, the Machado Adobe House, Rancho La Laguna This site was the location of the Laguna Grande Butterfield Stage Station. This structure succumbed to arson in 2017.

A structure of historical interest is Meyer & Holler designed Southern California Athletic and Country Club, former Elsinore Naval and Military School building, located along Grand Avenue near the intersection of Ortega Highway.

A newly constructed campground, marina, and boat launch is located on the northwest side of the lake.

Lake Elsinore Hills
The Lake Elsinore Hills District encompasses a large and varied terrain including broad plains, rolling hills, steep slopes, sensitive habitats, and watercourses, with elevations ranging from 1,300 to 2,170 ft above the sea level. Many areas of the Lake Elsinore Hills District are not readily accessible or able to be developed, so have remained vacant. Two large bodies of water located within close proximity of the Lake Elsinore Hills District are the city's lake to the southwest and Canyon Lake to the east, which is located within the city of Canyon Lake. Some of the higher elevations offer panoramic views of the city's lake and the Santa Ana Mountains. The neighborhoods in this district include Tuscany Hills, Canyon Hills, and Rosetta Canyon.

Lake View
The northwestern areas of the Lake View District offer beautiful views of the lake and the neighboring mountains, and are characterized by high elevations, steep slopes, and a series of canyons. The remaining areas of the Lake View District are relatively flat in the lower elevations. Historically, the northern portion of the Lake View District has remained mostly undeveloped, with the exception of the La Laguna Estates neighborhood above McVicker Canyon Park. Similar to the areas further north, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad and abundant mining opportunities extant in the late 19th century brought both residents and visitors to the area. Historic ranching and homesteading, including Torn Ranch, were generally located to the northwest of Machado Street, which was an important roadway lined with beautiful deodar trees. Most of the lower-lying areas of the Lake View District to the north have been recently developed and primarily include single-family homes. Other neighborhoods in this area include Northshore and Lake Terrace, which were both formerly orange groves. Another area in this district at the intersection of Riverside and Lakeshore Drives has long been to referred to as "Four Corners" by local residents.

Riverview
The Riverview District is a combination of steep terrain and flat areas nestled between a knoll with steep slopes, a major watercourse, and the lake. Higher elevations and steep slopes are located in the northwest areas of the Riverview District, which function as a physical border with most of the adjacent Historic District. The San Jacinto River floodway, located within the Riverview District along the eastern and southern areas, is the city's major watercourse. The river flows southwest from Canyon Lake through the Lake Elsinore Hills District and the Riverview District, then ultimately empties into the lake.

Climate
Lake Elsinore has a mild semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSk/BSh), with hot, almost rainless summers and mild, wetter winters. While too dry for this classification, its thermal regime and precipitation distribution resembles that of a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa), which is present in many surrounding areas. On average, the hottest month is July, and the coolest month is December. The highest recorded temperature was 118 F, first recorded on August 12, 1933, and the lowest recorded temperature was 10 F on December 30, 1974. The maximum average precipitation occurs in February, and the minimum average precipitation in June, although less than half of all Junes, Julies, Augusts, and Septembers record any precipitation whatsoever. The greatest amount of precipitation ever received in one day was 5.28 in, on February 15, 1927.

2010
The 2010 United States Census reported Lake Elsinore to have a population of 51,821. The population density was 1,243.1 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Lake Elsinore was 31,067 (60.0%) White (37.8% Non-Hispanic White), 2,738 (5.3%) African American, 483 (0.9%) Native American, 2,996 (5.8%) Asian, 174 (0.3%) Pacific Islander, 11,174 (21.6%) from other races, and 3,189 (6.2%) from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 25,073 persons (48.4%).

The census reported 51,389 people (99.2% of the population) lived in households, 224 (0.4%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 208 (0.4%) were institutionalized.

Of the 14,788 households, 8,026 (54.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 8,735 (59.1%) were married couples living together, and 2,071 (14.0%) had a female householder with no husband present, 1,155 (7.8%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 1,165 (7.9%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 143 (1.0%) same-sex partnerships. Some 1,952 households (13.2%) were made up of individuals, and 521 (3.5%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.48. There were 11,961 families (80.9% of all households); the average family size was 3.79.

The population was distributed as 16,990 people (32.8%) under the age of 18, 5,261 people (10.2%) aged 18 to 24, 15,731 people (30.4%) aged 25 to 44, 10,874 people (21.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 2,965 people (5.7%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.5 males.

The 16,253 housing units averaged a density of 389.9 /mi2, of which 9,761 (66.0%) were owner-occupied, and 5,027 (34.0%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 4.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.8%. About 32,891 people (63.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 18,498 people (35.7%) lived in rental housing units.

According to the 2010 United States Census, Lake Elsinore had a median household income of $62,436, with 13.2% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

Economy
One of the first outlet centers in California was established in northwestern Lake Elsinore in the late 1990s on Collier Avenue at Nichols Road, just off Interstate 15. The center, known as the Outlets at Lake Elsinore, has a wide variety of retailers, encompassing clothing and shoe stores, eateries, bookstores, perfumeries, home and garden boutiques, and electronics stores.

Pacific Clay is among the companies based in Lake Elsinore.

Top employers
According to the city's 2023 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

Government
In the California State Legislature, Lake Elsinore is in, and in.

In the United States House of Representatives, Lake Elsinore is in.

Public safety
The Riverside County Sheriff's Department serves the entire Lake Elsinore Valley (including the nearby community of Lakeland Village and the City of Wildomar) from its regional station in downtown Lake Elsinore. The city once had its own police department, but it was disbanded in 1970 for budgetary reasons.

The city of Lake Elsinore contracts for fire and paramedic services with the Riverside County Fire Department through a cooperative agreement with CAL FIRE. Lake Elsinore currently has three paramedic engines and one paramedic truck company operating from its four stations.

Fire Station 10 is located downtown next to the post office, which also has two CAL FIRE engines for supplemental protection. Fire Station 85 is located at McVicker Park and Fire Station 94 is located on the east side of the city off of Railroad Canyon Road. Rosetta Canyon Fire Station 97 is located on the northeast side of the city covering the Highway 74 corridor.

Education
Public education within most of the city of Lake Elsinore and the surrounding areas is provided by the Lake Elsinore Unified School District, which serves a student population of about 21,500. The school district has 15 elementary schools, five middle schools, three high schools, and three alternative schools.

Lakeside, Temescal Canyon, and Elsinore are the three main high schools of the Lake Elsinore Unified School District. A very small portion of northeastern Lake Elsinore in the Canyon Hills subdivision is located in the Menifee Union School District for grades K-8, and Perris Union High School District for grades 9–12.

Additionally, three private schools are within the city of Lake Elsinore, including a K–12 preparatory academy.

Libraries and post office
There are two libraries located in the city: the Lake Elsinore Library at 600 W. Graham Avenue and the Lakeside Library at 32593 Riverside Drive. Both library branches are owned and operated by the Riverside County Library System.

The United States Postal Service operates a post office at 500 W. Graham Avenue in Lake Elsinore.

Cemetery
The Elsinore Valley Cemetery District maintains a public cemetery in the city. The cemetery was established in 1891 by Peter Wall. The Jewish Home of Peace Cemetery, a.k.a. Mt. Sinai Memorial Park of Elsinore, is part of the cemetery.

The Manker Family Cemetery is an historical cemetery located on the family property. Three known burials are from 1887 to 1902, with evidence of at least one other burial. The four wooden tombstones were burned in a fire.

Roads and highways
Lake Elsinore is served by Interstate 15, which connects the city to points south such as Temecula and San Diego, and to points north such as Corona, Ontario and Las Vegas. Construction is expected to begin around 2025 on a set of toll lanes in the median of Interstate 15 that would extend south from Corona to the northern part of Lake Elsinore. Lake Elsinore is also served by State Route 74, which connects the city with Orange County to the west as well as points east including Perris, the San Jacinto Valley, and the Coachella Valley. Long-range plans include redirecting State Route 74 onto a newer, more direct expressway alignment known as the Ethanac Expressway.

In addition to highways, many of Lake Elsinore's primary streets connect the city with other cities nearby. Grand Avenue and Mission Trail both connect Lake Elsinore with the neighboring city of Wildomar, and to the east Railroad Canyon Road connects Lake Elsinore with the cities of Canyon Lake and Menifee. Temescal Canyon Road continues from the northwestern part of the city and passes through the unincorporated community of Temescal Valley before reaching the city of Corona.

Public transportation
Riverside Transit Agency has several local and express bus routes serving the city of Lake Elsinore, including Routes 8, 9, 40, 205, and 206.

Lake Elsinore Diamond
Lake Elsinore Diamond serves as a site for the Single A baseball team Lake Elsinore Storm, which is a farm team for the San Diego Padres, and was formerly a farm team for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Also, it held now-disbanded semipro football teams: The Riverside-Elsinore Dolphins of the Western States Football League was active in 1996–98. The stadium hosted the Banning-Elsinore Eagles of the California Football Association, a minor American football league. It used to host the Elsinore-Murrieta Bandits, a semipro soccer team in the 2010s. In 2020, neither football or soccer is played at "the Diamond", but special events, such as concerts with stars such as Willie Nelson and ZZ Top, are held there.

Cross monument lawsuit
In 2012, the city council voted to approve $50,000 for a memorial to veterans that would be placed in front of the stadium. The design of the memorial included a soldier kneeling in front of a Christian cross. After repeated warnings to the city council from the city attorney and others that endorsing religion using public funds is unconstitutional, the city council unanimously voted to include a Star of David, as well as more Christian crosses. In 2013, the American Humanist Association filed suit to prevent the building of the monument. The Pacific Justice Institute provided free legal representation to the city in the suit. A federal court issued a preliminary injunction in July 2013 halting the project, and in February 2014 ruled that the design "violates both the U.S. Constitution's Establishment Clause and the Establishment and No Preference Clauses of the California Constitution." The City Council declined to appeal the decision, and agreed to pay plaintiffs $200,000 in attorneys' fees and to develop a revised design for the memorial. At a meeting in June 2014, the council approved an amended design. The 3,600 lb memorial, absent of religious symbols, was finally installed and commemorated in November 2014.

Elsinore Grand Prix
The Elsinore Grand Prix is a dirt-bike race that takes place in and around the Lake Elsinore area. The annual race is usually held in mid-November. The popularity of the event hit its apex in the late 1960s and early 1970s, drawing the likes of dirt-bike greats such as Malcolm Smith and Steve McQueen, to name a few. The race has always been set as an "open" format, meaning anyone can ride; usually only about 200 or so take this event seriously, whereas the rest use it as an opportunity to have fun. In 1971, the documentary movie On Any Sunday by Bruce Brown included scenes from the grand prix.

In the mid-1970s the Elsinore Grand Prix hit a snag, none of the big riders were participating, and the event was drawing the wrong crowd, mostly violent motorcycle gangs. The race was cancelled indefinitely soon afterwards. In 1996, several dirt-bike riders, with a hint of nostalgia, decided to lobby the city of Lake Elsinore to revive the Grand Prix. Promising that the violent motorcycle gang crowd drawn to the Grand Prix in the 1970s had gone and that dirt-bike motorcycle riding was more of a family event, the city allowed the event to resume on a provisional basis.

In 1973, Honda named its CR250M Elsinore—the first motorcycle designed by Honda for the dirt rather than a modified street bike—after the Elsinore GP race venue.

Lake Elsinore is also a popular destination for motorcyclists riding east from San Juan Capistrano along the 33 mi long Ortega Highway.

Skateparks
Lake Elsinore offers two skateparks in both north and south of the areas. McVicker Canyon Park was the first city-owned skatepark to be built in Lake Elsinore located between Grand Avenue and McVicker Canyon Park Road. Serenity Park was built in June 2015 and is located on Palomar Road. The city hired Spohn Ranch Skateparks, an internationally renowned firm in Los Angeles, for about $400,000 to design and build the state-of-the-art 8,500-square-foot, open-air plaza that features a peanut-shaped bowl, hip ramps, step-up and quarter-pipes. It is the second city-owned skatepark.

Notable people

 * Ally Beardsley, actor, comedian, and writer

title: Lake Elsinore, California


text:
Lakeview, California

Lakeview is a census-designated place (CDP) in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 2,104 at the 2010 census, up from 1,619 at the 2000 census. The community is named for nearby Mystic Lake.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 3.3 sqmi, all of it land.

2010
At the 2010 census Lakeview had a population of 2,104. The population density was 645.4 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Lakeview was 1,117 (53.1%) White, 15 (0.7%) African American, 48 (2.3%) Native American, 7 (0.3%) Asian, 2 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 842 (40.0%) from other races, and 73 (3.5%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1,350 persons (64.2%).

The census reported that 2,089 people (99.3% of the population) lived in households, 15 (0.7%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized.

There were 538 households, 285 (53.0%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 347 (64.5%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 63 (11.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, 40 (7.4%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 31 (5.8%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 4 (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 67 households (12.5%) were one person and 31 (5.8%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 3.88. There were 450 families (83.6% of households); the average family size was 4.12.

The age distribution was 681 people (32.4%) under the age of 18, 220 people (10.5%) aged 18 to 24, 523 people (24.9%) aged 25 to 44, 494 people (23.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 186 people (8.8%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 30.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.3 males.

There were 599 housing units at an average density of 183.8 per square mile, of the occupied units 390 (72.5%) were owner-occupied and 148 (27.5%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.0%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.5%. 1,475 people (70.1% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 614 people (29.2%) lived in rental housing units.

2000
At the 2000 census there were 1,619 people, 476 households, and 392 families in the CDP. The population density was 499.8 PD/sqmi. There were 528 housing units at an average density of 163.0 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the CDP was 67.5% White, 0.9% African American, 2.7% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 23.4% from other races, and 5.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 43.7%.

Of the 476 households 40.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.1% were married couples living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.6% were non-families. 12.6% of households were one person and 4.2% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.4 and the average family size was 3.7.

The age distribution was 32.7% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 9.6% 65 or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.5 males

The median household income was $46,141, the median family income was $46,941. Males had a median income of $39,355 versus $27,813 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $13,591. About 12.4% of families and 16.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.1% of those under age 18 and 16.8% of those age 65 or over.

Government
In the California State Legislature, Lakeview is in, and.

In the United States House of Representatives, Lakeview is in.

title: Lakeview, California