Beaumont, California

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A postcard of an early Beaumont luxury hotel sitting within local plantlife typical of the area .

Beaumont is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 11,384 at the 2000 census.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 History
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Beaumont is located at 33°55′27″N, 116°58′25″W (33.924093, -116.973734)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 70.4 km² (27.2 mi²). 70.4 km² (27.2 mi²) of it is land and 0.04% is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 11,384 people, 3,881 households, and 2,782 families residing in the city. The population density was 161.8/km² (418.9/mi²). There were 4,258 housing units at an average density of 60.5/km² (156.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 68.09% White, 2.91% Black or African American, 2.33% Native American, 1.66% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 20.33% from other races, and 4.62% from two or more races. 36.21% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Beaumont has a history of immigration and each of the groups' descendants contribute to the city and the local farming industry. A mishmash of different cultural elements can be observed in downtown shops, restaurants, grocery stores, and the Highland Springs shopping center.

The city's population has many ethnic groups and ancestries (for example): English, Irish, Scottish, German, Italian, Swiss, Polish, Greek, Mexican, Central American, Argentine, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Armenian, Arab, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Southeast Asian.^{[citation needed]}

There were 3,881 households out of which 42.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.3% were married couples living together, 17.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.3% were non-families. 22.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.89 and the average family size was 3.39.

In the city the population was spread out with 33.0% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 29.1% from 25 to 44, 17.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 91.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.1 males. Beaumont is a renowned retirement haven, especially in recent years with new housing tracts and golf courses, most are active adult communities, like Sun Lakes country club are reserved for persons over the age of 55.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,721, and the median income for a family was $37,403. Males had a median income of $30,829 versus $20,613 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,141. About 17.8% of families and 20.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.9% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] History

During the early 1850's many surverying parties passed through the vicinity of present-day Beaumont in search of a pass that would connect the east to the Pacific Ocean. The San Gorgonio Pass was discovered in 1853 by a surverying expedition under Lieutenant R.S. Williamson, who was sent by the United States government. Its discovery enthralled many who now saw connecting to the ocean a feasible measure and led to plans for connecting a railway from the Missouri River to the Pacific. By the early 1860s the Union Pacific Railroad had erected tracks through the modern-day location of Beaumont. At the summit of the pass, a site was founded and named Edgar Station after a physician from one of the pass' original expedition parties. Edgar Station served as a rest stop for railway travellers from the Mojave Desert on their way to the Los Angeles vicinity. Soon Edgar Station changed its name to San Gorgonio, named by a real estate developing company, and it soon became a populated city.

The sleepy town of San Gorgonio became recognized as an incorporated California city on November 18, 1912 and adopted its current name of Beaumont (French for "beautiful mountain"). As of 1927 the town boasted a small population of 857 with five churches, a public library, a bank, a high school, two local newspapers, several lumber yards, commercial packing houses, and a dehydrating plant. The city was dubbed "the land of the big red apple" by local residents in its early years, being one of Riverside County's largest apple growers. Apple plantation in and around the town expanded largely to around a $200,000 annual worth of the fruit by 1930. Beaumont saw a rise in visitors and residents as the nearby little-known nearby city of Palm Springs to the east grew to become a highly popular resort spot in the 1930s and beyond; thus Beaumont followed suit and attempted to capitalize on the tourism by establishing guest ranches. According to an early 1930s/1940s postcard, the Highland Springs Guest Ranch of Beaumont offered its patrons horseback riding, tennis, archery, horseshoes, swimming, shuffle-board, ping pong, baseball, ballroom dancing, massage, basketball, as well as a place to spend the night.

During the Cold War, a Lockheed rocket test site was established just to the south, outside of the town, until it was sold in January of 2004. The site's use of toxic chemicals has contaminated the water of local streams, hurting efforts to establish a wildlife preserve of nearby scenic canyons. Recent urban sprawl and intense residential and commercial development of south Riverside County has some developers looking towards the rural San Gorgonio towns of Beaumont and Banning as future projects. This has concerned many local residents who feel that the over-populated booms in nearby Lake Elsinore, Murrieta, and Temecula to the southeast, will inevitably sprawl into Beaumont. The 1995 featured-length movie "How to Make an American Quilt" filmed many of its driving scenes through Beaumont. Local wildlife in the surrounding vicinity include quails, coyotes, and foxes. Today the town is home to many antique store establishments, which have dated back for several decades including the Nettie and Alice Museum of Hobbies and the modern-day Beaumont Antique Mall.