La Verne, CA

A hotel built to launch a railroad town apparently never received a paying guest, yet it became La Verne's most durable institution. Isaac Wilson Lord persuaded the Santa Fe Railway to cross his land in 1887 and drew over 2,500 attendees to an opening sale for the new town of Lordsburg. Speculators completed a hotel with over 60 rooms just as the regional land boom collapsed. Church of the Brethren promoters later bought the empty hotel and 100 lots for $15,000, opening Lordsburg College in 1891. Residents changed the city's name to La Verne in 1917, the college adopted the same name, and it became the University of La Verne in 1977. The campus now occupies the center of Old Town, giving an unsuccessful resort scheme a continuing role in education, employment, and street life.

ATTRPhu "Son" Nguyen from CA, USA / CC BY 2.0

Education still leads the city's institutional economy. In 2025, the University of La Verne employed an estimated 1,895 people and Bonita Unified School District 1,089. Gilead Sciences, the Metropolitan Water District, Brethren Hillcrest Homes, city government, grocery stores, and large retailers represented biotechnology, regional water operations, senior living, public service, and daily commerce. The mix connects current work to several parts of local history: the Brethren-founded college remains the largest listed organization, water continues to matter in a dry foothill city, and biotechnology work now sits alongside education and services. Old Town has a smaller-grained commercial role, with restaurants, specialty shops, housing, campus buildings, and recurring events sharing a few compact blocks. The town's earlier working landscape was citrus.

ATTRLos Angeles / CC BY-SA 3.0

Foothill ranchers overcame dry summers by digging deep wells, and experimental orchards planted around 1890 expanded into a townwide industry. By 1919, growers shipped over 1,000 carloads of oranges, lemons, and grapefruit each year. Picking, packing, irrigation, and rail shipment shaped work as well as the surrounding landscape. A disease called quick decline began damaging trees in the 1940s, and postwar housing demand removed many remaining groves. The present city is largely residential, but its old agricultural geography survives in the foothill setting, street names, local history, and citrus references. Foothill Boulevard also carries historic Route 66 across northern La Verne, creating an east-west commercial corridor distinct from the university and older blocks around D and Third Streets. Rail altered access again on September 19, 2025, when Metro opened the nine-mile A Line extension to Pomona.

ATTRUnknown author Unknown author / Public domain

La Verne/Fairplex Station stands across Arrow Highway from Fairplex and next to the university and Old Town; Foothill Transit routes also serve the stop. At D and Third, Old Town's recurring car shows and wine walks overlap with restaurant and shop traffic. In summer 2026, a Route 66 Passport Program sends participants among Foothill Boulevard businesses. The passport route follows Foothill Boulevard farther north, while the new station restores rail to the city's central story. A rider leaving the platform can head toward Fairplex in one direction and the campus in the other. The latter grew from the empty hotel that Santa Fe promoters once expected travelers to fill.