La Verne, California

History

The area was home to Native Americans.

The European history of the area dates back to the 1830s when Ygnacio Palomares and Ricardo Véjar received the 15000 acre Rancho San Jose land grant from Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado in 1837. The land included the present day cities Pomona, Claremont, San Dimas, Glendora, and La Verne. The adobe that Palomares built in 1837 is still preserved in Pomona as La Casa Primera de Rancho San Jose (The First House). Palomares soon moved a mile or so northeast and constructed the Ygnacio Palomares Adobe. He ensured that a nephew, Jose Dolores Palomares, secured a tract of land a mile west.

In the mid-1880s, entrepreneur Isaac W. Lord purchased a tract of Jose Palomares' land and convinced the Santa Fe Railroad company to run its line across towards Los Angeles. Lord had the land surveyed for building lots and in 1887 had a large land sale, naming the new town 'Lordsburg' after himself. He also had a large Lordsburg Hotel constructed, but the land boom was over when it was completed. It sat empty for several years until sold to four members of the German Baptist Brethren Church, who persuaded others of that denomination that it would be an excellent site for a new institution of higher learning. Lordsburg College was founded in 1891.

In 1906 the town was incorporated as "La Verne." Residents grew field crops, and then began planting citrus trees, which flourished. Lordsburg became known as the "Heart of the Orange Empire." The city of La Verne flourished as a center of the citrus industry until after World War II, when the citrus industry slowly faded away. Two orange groves are on the grounds of the La Verne Heritage Foundation.

Geography

La Verne is a suburb 30 mi east of Los Angeles, located in the Pomona Valley below the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains part of the Angeles National Forest, a habitat known to support black bears. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.533 sqmi. It is to the east of San Dimas and to the west of Claremont. The city of Pomona lies to the south. California State Route 210 bisects La Verne in an east–west direction, and Historic U.S. Route 66 also passes through the city.

Climate

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, La Verne has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.

Demographics

|align-fn=center 1860–1870 1880–1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

La Verne first appeared as a city in the 1910 U.S. census as part of the now defunct San Jose Township (pop 7,696 in 1900). It became part of the larger East San Gabriel Valley Division in the 1960 U.S. census and since 2000, as the East San Gabriel Valley Census County Division (CCD).

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that La Verne had a population of 31,334. The population density was 3,720.5 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of La Verne was 55.3% White, 3.1% African American, 1.1% Native American, 11.2% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 11.9% from other races, and 17.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 35.7% of the population.

The census reported that 99.4% of the population lived in households, 0.4% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.2% were institutionalized.

There were 11,844 households, out of which 29.1% included children under the age of 18, 53.5% were married-couple households, 4.2% were cohabiting couple households, 28.7% had a female householder with no partner present, and 13.7% had a male householder with no partner present. 24.0% of households were one person, and 14.7% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.63.

The age distribution was 19.2% under the age of 18, 8.0% aged 18 to 24, 21.8% aged 25 to 44, 27.5% aged 45 to 64, and 23.5% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 45.9years. For every 100 females, there were 90.0 males.

There were 12,218 housing units at an average density of 1,450.7 /mi2, of which 11,844 (96.9%) were occupied. Of these, 71.1% were owner-occupied, and 28.9% were occupied by renters.

In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $104,565, and the per capita income was $50,951. About 6.3% of families and 8.2% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010

At the 2010 census La Verne had a population of 31,063. The population density was 3,628.0 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of La Verne was 23,057 (74.2%) White (55.4% Non-Hispanic White), 1,065 (3.4%) African American, 265 (0.9%) Native American, 2,381 (7.7%) Asian, 61 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 2,822 (9.1%) from other races, and 1,412 (4.5%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9,635 persons (31.0%).

The census reported that 30,387 people (97.8% of the population) lived in households, 501 (1.6%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 175 (0.6%) were institutionalized.

There were 11,261 households, 3,582 (31.8%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 6,286 (55.8%) were married couples living together, 1,438 (12.8%) had a female householder with no husband present, 489 (4.3%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 420 (3.7%) unmarried couples living together, and 74 (0.7%) homosexual partners living together. 2,517 households (22.4%) had one person and 1,429 (12.7%) had someone who was 65 or older living alone. The average household size was 2.70. There were 8,213 families (72.9% of households); the average family size was 3.16.

The age distribution was 6,605 people (21.3%) under the age of 18, 3,106 people (10.0%) aged 18 to 24, 6,678 people (21.5%) aged 25 to 44, 9,417 people (30.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 5,257 people (16.9%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 42.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.2 males.

There were 11,686 housing units at an average density of 1,364.9 per square mile, of the occupied units 8,388 (74.5%) were owner-occupied and 2,873 (25.5%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.4%. 22,995 people (74.0% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 7,392 people (23.8%) lived in rental housing units.

During 2009–2013, La Verne had a median household income of $77,040, with 7.9% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

2000

Mapping L.A. reported that in 2000, Mexican (17.7%) and German (12.2%) were the most common ancestries. Mexico (22.3%) and the Philippines (11.8%) were the most common foreign places of birth.

Government

La Verne is located in the 5th district of Los Angeles County, and is represented by supervisor Kathryn Barger.

In the state legislature, La Verne is in the 22nd Senate District, represented by Democrat Susan Rubio. and in .

In the United States House of Representatives, La Verne is in the 31st District represented by Democrat Gil Cisneros

In the United States Senate, California is represented by Alex Padilla (D) and Adam B. Schiff (D).

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services operates the Pomona Health Centre in Pomona, serving La Verne.

Public safety

The La Verne Police Department provides law enforcement services for the city of La Verne.

In 2018, the La Verne Police Department appointed its first woman captain, Colleen Flores.

Samuel Gonzalez is the current chief of police.

The La Verne Fire Department provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of La Verne.

Education

The University of La Verne is located on 3rd Street in La Verne.

The Bonita Unified School District serves the city. Bonita High School is located on D Street.

Lutheran High School was located on Fruit Street and closed in 2024. Damien High School is a Catholic boys' school located at the intersection of Damien and Bonita Avenues. Calvary Baptist Schools is located at the intersection of Damien Avenue and Forestdale Street.

Transportation

Regional train service is provided by Metrolink at the Pomona–North station, while local bus service is provided to the Pomona–Downtown station by Foothill Transit. A shuttle operates to Cal Poly Pomona. The Los Angeles Metro Rail A Line has been extended east from its current terminus in Azusa to Pomona. Light rail service at La Verne/Fairplex station, located between the University of La Verne and the Pomona Fairplex, commenced on September 19, 2025.

In popular culture

In the 1967 film The Graduate, the finale wedding scene was shot in La Verne (not Santa Barbara as presented in the movie) at the United Methodist Church of La Verne.

The wedding scene in Wayne's World 2 was also filmed at the United Methodist Church of La Verne.

In 1998, actor Christian Slater was sentenced to 90 days in the La Verne jail for domestic assault

Notable people

• Ewell Blackwell - Major League Baseball pitcher, Bonita High School alumnus
• Noah Clarke - professional hockey player
• Glenn Davis - American football player, Heisman Trophy winner, Bonita High School alumnus, class of 1943
• Jason David Frank - MMA fighter, Bonita High School alumnus
• Jeffrey Garcia - comedian, voice actor, radio DJ, had a house in La Verne
• Erin Gruwell - author of The Freedom Writers Diary, Bonita High School alumnus
• Sugar Shane Mosley - professional boxer, lives in La Verne
• Paula Jean Myers-Pope - diver, four-time Olympic medalist
• Ryan Stonehouse - American football player

References

References

1. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau.
2. {{Cite GNIS. 1660868. La Verne
3. "2020 Census Data". United States Census Bureau.
4. "USPS - ZIP Code Lookup - Find a ZIP+ 4 Code By City Results".
5. "Number Administration System - NPA and City/Town Search Results".
6. "History of La Verne {{!}} La Verne, CA".
7. Schlepp, Travis. (August 1, 2022). "Bear seen roaming residential neighborhood in east L.A. County". KTLA.
8. "La Verne, California Köppen Climate Classification (Weatherbase)".
9. "Decennial Census by Decade".
10. "1870 Census of Population - Population of Civil Divisions less than Counties - California - Almeda County to Sutter County".
11. "1870 Census of Population - Population of Civil Divisions less than Counties - California - Tehama County to Yuba County".
12. "1890 Census of Population - Population of California by Minor Civil Divisions".
13. "1900 Census of Population - Population of California by Counties and Minor Civil Divisions".
14. "1910 Census of Population - Supplement for California".
15. "1920 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - California".
16. "1930 Census of Population - Number and Distribution of Inhabitants - California".
17. "1940 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - California".
18. "1950 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - California".
19. "1960 Census of Population - General population Characteristics - California".
20. "1960 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - California".
21. "1970 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - California".
22. "1980 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - California".
23. "1990 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - California".
24. "2000 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - California".
25. "2010 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - California".
26. "ca 1980 census".
27. "ca 1990 census".
28. "P004: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – La Verne city, California".
29. "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – La Verne city, California".
30. "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – La Verne city, California".
31. "La Verne city, California; DP1: Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics - 2020 Census of Population and Housing".
32. "La Verne city, California; P16: Household Type - 2020 Census of Population and Housing".
33. "La Verne city, California; DP03: Selected Economic Characteristics - 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates Comparison Profiles".
34. "Census data".
35. "2010 Census Interactive Population Search: CA - La Verne city". U.S. Census Bureau.
36. "La Verne".
37. "Find Your California Representatives".
38. (2025-02-14). "Official Website".
39. "Final Maps {{!}} California Citizens Redistricting Commission".
40. "Representative Gil Cisneros {{!}}".
41. "U.S. Senate: States in the Senate {{!}} California".
42. "[http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/phn/docs/HealthCenter/pomona.pdf Pomona Health Centre]." [[Los Angeles County Department of Health Services]]. Retrieved on March 27, 2010.
43. "City of La Verne - Police".
44. Shepherd, Christian. (March 9, 2018). "LVPD appoints first woman captain {{!}} Campus Times".
45. "City of LaVerne Police Department - La Verne Police Department".
46. (2025-02-08). "Lutheran High School (Closed 2024) - La Verne, CA".
47. "Pomona - North Train Station {{!}} Metrolink".
48. (September 19, 2025). "LA Metro’s long-awaited Pomona extension welcomes first riders". [[Nexstar Media Group]].
49. "Famous movie locations from The Graduate".
50. "Christian Slater Reports to Jail".
51. (June 13, 1995). "Paula Jean Myers Pope; Olympic Medalist". Los Angeles Times.