Beaumont, California

Beaumont is located at 33°55′27″N 116°58′25″W / 33.92417°N 116.97361°W / 33.92417; -116.97361Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (33.924093, -116.973734)Template:GR.

Its neighboring city to the east is Banning and to the west is the city of Calimesa.

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

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 11,384 people, 3,881 households, and 2,782 families residing in the city. The population density was 418.9 people per square mile (161.8/km²). There were 4,258 housing units at an average density of 156.7/sq mi (60.5/km²). 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. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 36.21% of the population.

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

The median income for a household in the city was $40,295 in 2007. 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.

In the state legislature Beaumont is located in the 37th Senate District, represented by Republican John J. Benoit, and in the 65th Assembly District, represented by Republican Paul Cook. Federally, Beaumont is located in California's 41st congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +9^[1] and is represented by Republican Jerry Lewis.

During the early 1850s, many surveying 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 surveying 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 laid 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 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 development company, and it gradually attracted permanent residents.

The sleepy town of San Gorgonio became 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 plantations in and around the town expanded to a $200,000 industry by 1930. Beaumont saw a rise in visitors and residents as the little-known nearby city of Palm Springs to the east grew to become a highly popular resort spot in the 1930s and after; 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 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. With the housing boom in the early decade, the urban sprawl reached the last remaining valleys of the Inland Empire. With Beaumont's close proximity to Los Angeles, various Southern California residents flocked to the San Gorgonio Pass region for its low housing cost, causing a 20% jump in the city's population, making it the fastest growing city in the State^[2]. This has concerned many local residents, who cite increasing student population in schools, rising demand on the water supply and increasing traffic in and out of the city on Interstate 10 in both directions. A recent 2008 study by the Public Policy Institute of California noted that Beaumont and its surrounding communities in the San Jacinto Valley have registered the highest population growth throughout the sprawling Riverside County and the region is projected to increase by 4.5% a year to 310,000 by 2015 ^[3]. The 1995 movie How to Make an American Quilt filmed many of its driving scenes through Beaumont. Local wildlife in the surrounding vicinity include quail, coyotes, and foxes. Today the town is home to many antique store establishments dating back several decades, including the Nettie and Alice Museum of Hobbies and the modern-day Beaumont Antique Mall. New big box stores have recently opened up in town, including a Wal-Mart Supercenter, a Home Depot Home Improvement Center, Staple's, Best Buy, Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Petco, Ross, Applebee's, and a Panda Express.

The City is host to many new master planned communities as the city has grown. Since growth from 2000 the following communities have been built: Oak Valley Greens, Three Rings Ranch, Solera by Del Webb, Sun Dance, Tournament Hills, and Fairway Canyon. All communities operate under strong HOAs which have attracted many people from outside of the area to new quality developments similar to that of Redlands, Rancho Cucamonga and even Orange County suburbs.

The California Highway Patrol has a regional office on the Beaumont side of Highland Springs Avenue (its jurisdiction goes from Calimesa to the west to Desert Hot Springs to the east, as well as Hemet and San Jacinto to the south). Beaumont has its own police department and contracts for fire services with the Riverside County Fire Department through a cooperative agreement with Cal Fire.

Beaumont is the childhood home of current NASA Astronaut and STS-118 crew member Tracy E. Caldwell ^[4]. Author Jessie Terwilliger also resides in Beaumont. Former actor Brion James also used to reside in Beaumont.

The Beaumont Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with Locally Owned Businesses has just launched its Market Night ever Tuesday evening at 6pm. Beaumont is known for being very proud of its local businesses and residents. This Market Night is named appropriately to indicate so: S.L.O.B. Market Night which stands for Support Locally Owned Businesses. More information on the market night can be found at Discover The Pass

San Gorgonio Sports Park is in the Banning-Beaumont city limits on Highland Springs Avenue and Creekside Drive adjacent to Highland Springs country club.

• Official website
• San Gorgonio Pass Historical Society
• Discover The Pass
• Beaumont, California Photo Pool on Flickr

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