Want to own a piece of Riverside history? Here’s your chance! In cooperation with Habitat for Humanity Riverside, the Old Riverside Foundation is selling recently donated items salvaged from the historic Riverside Fox Theater. The items — doors, windows and power switches — were saved during the theater’s 3-year, $32 million renovation that was completed…
Beginning near Arlington Avenue in Riverside and stretching eight miles southwest along Magnolia Avenue into the Home Gardens community near Corona, 17 streets placed at half-mile intervals honor the nation’s first presidents. Laid out in 1876 by the Riverside Land & Irrigation Company, the streets — with one notable exception and two later changes —…
From the eclectic Mission Inn and magnificent County Courthouse to the modern City Hall and mid-century public library, downtown Riverside is rich in architectural history and variety. Fortunately, many of these gems are within walking distance down a few adjoining streets. As such, we’ve created a few short circular, self-guided tours — Mission Inn Avenue,…
Pictured is a B&W photo form 1926 of the then newly-built Potter Hotel located on the southeast corner of Market Street at Ninth Street in downtown Riverside. The photo comes to us courtesy of Peter Weber, son of Peter J. Weber who was the chief designer for the Riverside architectural firm of G. Stanley Wilson….
What does one find upon entering a building that’s been out of public use for much of the past 40 years? A few weeks back, we were lucky enough to find out as we ventured along with fellow Old Riverside Foundation members into the long-shuttered Franzen’s/Westbrook’s/Imperial hardware building located on the pedestrian mall at 3750…
Hurkey Creek, Crestmore Manor, Lake Skinner, Idyllwild Park, Box Springs Mountain and Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Preserve — six of the 20 varied parks, museums, recreational and nature centers of Riverside County covered in a new book by local historian Steve Lech. The 150-page, hardcover book — “More Than A Place To Pitch A Tent”…
Photo Gallery: Riverside’s Citrus Legacy Two weeks back, we featured an item on the recent unveiling of a downtown statue honoring Riverside citrus pioneer Eliza L. Tibbets. In the early 1870s, Eliza secured two small navel orange trees from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for test planting in Riverside. Originating as a mutation in Bahia,…
2011Downtown pedestrian mall 2011Eliza Lovell Tibbets 2011Dedication plaque 2011Pedestal(Patricia P. Ortlieb isEliza’s great-great granddaughter) Eliza and Luther Tibbets 2001State Historic Landmark 2008Parent Navel(w/ Eliza’s historical marker) 2008Eliza’s marker 2009Original location of trees(w/ Luther’s historical marker) 2009Luther’s marker 2011Riverside orange grove After 14 years of planning, a long-awaited statue honoring Riverside citrus pioneer Eliza Tibbets was…
One of downtown Riverside’s oldest buildings dating from the late 1800s will soon disappear as a plan for an arts school for Riverside Community College District moves forward. Located at the southwest corner of Market Street and University Avenue, the building in question was originally built as a sanitarium by Dr. Clark Whittier, a wealthy…
Late 1950sTop: Carnegie Library and Riverside County CourthouseBottom: Municipal Auditorium and U.S. Post Office We thought we’d start the new year off with an old postcard showing a few of downtown Riverside’s civic buildings. Dating from the late 1950s / early 1960s, the images show the 1903 Carnegie Library, the 1903 Riverside County Courthouse, the…
