Glendora California - History
Among the first of thousands to seek a better life in California were two confederate veterans, John Bender and William Bryant Cullen, who with their families settled here in 1847. Each man purchased 160 acres from the government, cleared the land of cactus and chaparral, and planted a crop of castor beans, the area's first agricultural harvest. During the next decade, as other families guided by the pioneer spirit followed the overland trail to Glendora, local agriculture began to expand and diversify. In 1880 the first small slips of seedling orange trees were planted and the citrus industry was born here. During this era social activities centered in the spacious parlors and shady picnic groves.
Drawn to this area by its verdant setting, fertile soil, and pure well water, George D. Whitcomb, a retired eastern industrialist, envisioned a beautiful city rising from the gently sloping terrain. In 1886 along with others he formed the Glendora Land Company. Whitcomb named Glendora for his wife (Leadora Whitcomb), laid out the present town site, planted some 6,000 tiny pepper trees along the level streets, and subdivision of the land has marked the history of Glendora ever since.
During the gay nineties Glendora achieved its true stature as a leader of the citrus industry in Southern California. Oranges and lemons grew to perfection in verdant groves. At one time the city proudly boasted the largest citrus packing house in the world! As evidence of the premium quality of Glendora's fruit the local growers were proud to relate that they were chosen to provide oranges and lemons for the table of President William Howard Taft during his tenure at the White House. Taft's citrus supply was dispatched monthly from Glendora packed in polished walnut crates with shining brass tack fittings.
Glendora accelerated it's ascent to cityhood in 1907 when the Pacific Electric Railroad Company extended a line from Los Angeles. The following year Michigan Avenue, the main street, was paved and electrical power was brought to town.
Maintaining its character as a prosperous citrus-growing community and the location of many secluded, luxurious, and palatial estates, Glendora remained much the same during the first half of the century. Population stood at just under 4,000. Then after 1950 with the general exodus to California, the phenomenal development of suburbs, and rapid population increase, Glendora evolved from a stable agricultural center into a bustling, growing and beautiful city. Population rose steadily to the present 47,000 figure. Citrus groves gave way to subdivisions. New shops, offices, schools, industries, and churches appeared to serve the even increasing numbers of people who have chosen to live in Glendora, still the "Pride of the Foothills".
- by Culver Heaton
