San Jacinto, California

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This article is about the city. For the mountain, see San Jacinto Peak. For the mountain range, see San Jacinto Mountains. For the river, see San Jacinto River (California).
San Jacinto, California
City of San Jacinto
Panorama along 6th Street to the east.
Panorama along 6th Street to the east.
Location in Riverside County and the state of California
Location in Riverside County and the state of California
San Jacinto is located in the US
San Jacinto
San Jacinto
Location in the United States
Coordinates: 33°47′14″N 116°58′0″W﻿ / ﻿33.78722°N 116.96667°W﻿ / 33.78722; -116.96667Coordinates: 33°47′14″N 116°58′0″W﻿ / ﻿33.78722°N 116.96667°W﻿ / 33.78722; -116.96667
Country  United States
State  California
County Riverside
Incorporated April 20, 1888[1]
 • Type Council-Manager
 • City council[3] Mayor Crystal Ruiz
Mark Bartel
Andrew Kotyuk
Scott Miller
Alonzo Ledezma
 • City manager Tim Hults[2]
 • Total 26.131 sq mi (67.679 km2)
 • Land 25.716 sq mi (66.605 km2)
 • Water 0.415 sq mi (1.074 km2)  1.59%
Elevation[5] 1,565 ft (477 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 44,199
 • Density 1,700/sq mi (650/km2)
Time zone PST (UTC-8)
 • Summer (DST) PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP codes 92581, 92582, 92583
Area code(s) 951
FIPS code 06-67112
GNIS feature IDs 1652787, 2411788

San Jacinto is a city in Riverside County, California. It was named after Saint Hyacinth and is located at the north end of the San Jacinto Valley, with Hemet to its south and Beaumont, California, to its north. The mountains associated with the valley are the San Jacinto Mountains. The population was 44,199 at the 2010 census. The city was founded in 1870 and incorporated on April 20, 1888,[1] making it one of the oldest cities in Riverside County.

The city is home to Mt. San Jacinto College, a community college founded in 1965.[6] San Jacinto will also be home to the eastern end of the Mid County Parkway, a planned route that would eventually connect it to the city of Perris. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, the city became a home to many dairies, and a center for agriculture.



The Luiseño were the original inhabitants of what later would be called the San Jacinto Valley, having many villages with residents.[7] In their own language, these people called themselves Payomkowishum (also spelled "Payomkawichum"), meaning People of the West. They are a Native American people who at the time of the first contacts with the Spanish in the sixteenth century, inhabited the coastal area of southern California, ranging fifty miles from what now is the southern part of Los Angeles County, California to the northern part of contemporary San Diego County, California, and their settlements extended inland for thirty miles.[citation needed]

The tribe was named Luiseño by the Spanish due to their proximity to the Mission San Luís Rey de Francia ("The Mission of Saint Louis King of France," known as the "King of the Missions"), which was founded on June 13, 1798 by Father Fermín Francisco de Lasuén, in what was the First Military District in what now is Oceanside, California, in northern San Diego County.[citation needed]

The Anza Trail, one of the first European overland routes to California, named after Juan Bautista de Anza,4 crossed the valley in the 1770s. Mission padres named the valley, San Jacinto, which is Spanish for Saint Hyacinth, and around 1820 they established an outpost there.[citation needed]

In 1842 José Antonio Estudillo received the Rancho San Jacinto Viejo Mexican land grant. In the 1860s, the Estudillo family began selling off portions of their rancho and through acquisitions, a small American community began to form. In 1868, local residents petitioned to form a school district and by 1870 a store and post office had been established. With these establishments, 1870 is considered the founding date of San Jacinto.[citation needed]

A plan for the community was developed in 1883 and a city government for it was incorporated on April 20, 1888, within San Diego County. San Jacinto is one of the oldest American cities in the region. In May 1893, Riverside County was created by the division of northern San Diego County and part of what now is San Bernardino County, changing the county government over San Jacinto as the new county was created.[citation needed]

In 1883, the San Jacinto Land Association laid out the modern city of San Jacinto at Five Points. The railroad arrived in 1888 and the city government was incorporated that same year. Since local geological records have been kept, the city has been struck by two large earthquakes, one on Christmas Day 1899, and the other on April 21, 1918.[citation needed]

The local economy was built on agriculture for many years and the city also received a boost from the many tourists who visited the nearby hot springs. The city, and its residents, helped to start the Ramona Pageant ( California's official State Outdoor Play), in 1923, and have supported the historic production ever since.[8]

On July 15, 1937, San Jacinto was the end point for the longest uninterrupted airplane flight to that date when Mikhail Gromov's crew of three made the historic 6,262-mile (10,078 km) polar flight from Moscow, USSR in a Tupolev ANT-25. This flight followed another similar historic flight over the pole when Valery Chkalov's crew of three ended up in Vancouver's Pearson Airfield earlier that same year. With these two flights, the USSR earned two major milestones in the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) flight records. In the early 1950s the fraternal group E Clampus Vitus and the Riverside County Department of Transportation commemorated the Gromov flight by erecting a stone marker on Cottonwood Avenue, just west of Sanderson Road in west-central San Jacinto. The landing site is also marked by California State Historical Landmark Number 989.[citation needed]


San Jacinto is located at 33°47′14″N 116°58′0″W﻿ / ﻿33.78722°N 116.96667°W﻿ / 33.78722; -116.96667 (33.787119, -116.966672).[9]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 26.1 square miles (68 km2), of which, 25.7 square miles (67 km2) of it is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km2) of it (1.59%) is water.

The San Jacinto reservoir is an artificial lake used as a basin for the San Diego Aqueduct, a branch of the Colorado River Aqueduct, west of town.


Historical population
Census Pop.
1890 661
1900 583 −11.8%
1910 898 54.0%
1920 945 5.2%
1930 1,346 42.4%
1940 1,356 0.7%
1950 1,778 31.1%
1960 2,553 43.6%
1970 4,385 71.8%
1980 7,098 61.9%
1990 16,210 128.4%
2000 23,779 46.7%
2010 44,199 85.9%
Est. 2015 46,951 [10] 6.2%
U.S. Decennial Census[11]


The 2010 United States Census[12] reported that San Jacinto had a population of 44,199. The population density was 1,691.4 people per square mile (653.1/km²). The racial makeup of San Jacinto was 25,272 (57.2%) White (35.1% Non-Hispanic White),[13] 2,928 (6.6%) African American, 812 (1.8%) Native American, 1,341 (3.0%) Asian, 124 (0.3%) Pacific Islander, 11,208 (25.4%) from other races, and 2,514 (5.7%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 23,109 persons (52.3%).

The Census reported that 43,971 people (99.5% of the population) lived in households, 169 (0.4%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 59 (0.1%) were institutionalized.

There were 13,152 households, out of which 6,460 (49.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 6,954 (52.9%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 2,121 (16.1%) had a female householder with no husband present, 912 (6.9%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 938 (7.1%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 111 (0.8%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 2,459 households (18.7%) were made up of individuals and 1,231 (9.4%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.34. There were 9,987 families (75.9% of all households); the average family size was 3.81.

The population was spread out with 14,487 people (32.8%) under the age of 18, 4,404 people (10.0%) aged 18 to 24, 11,885 people (26.9%) aged 25 to 44, 8,755 people (19.8%) aged 45 to 64, and 4,668 people (10.6%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30.3 years. For every 100 females there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.4 males.

There were 14,977 housing units at an average density of 573.2 per square mile (221.3/km²), of which 8,943 (68.0%) were owner-occupied, and 4,209 (32.0%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 5.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 10.3%. 28,777 people (65.1% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 15,194 people (34.4%) lived in rental housing units.

According to the 2010 United States Census, San Jacinto had a median household income of $47,453, with 18.9% of the population living below the federal poverty line.[13]


As of the census[14] of 2000, there are 23,779 people, 8,314 households, and 5,836 families residing in the city. The population density is 368.6/km² (954.6/mi²). There were 9,476 housing units at an average density of 146.9/km² (380.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 69.3% White, 2.7% African American, 2.3% Native American, 1.1% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 19.5% from other races, and 4.9% from two or more races. 40.3% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 8,314 households out of which 36.1% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.1% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.8% were non-families. 25.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.7% har someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84 and the average family size was 3.41.


The median income for a household in the city was $30,627, and the median income for a family was $34,717. Males had a median income of $31,764 versus $25,392 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,265. 20.3% of the population and 15.2% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 26.6% of those under the age of 18 and 12.2% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.


In the California State Legislature, San Jacinto is in the 23rd Senate District, represented by Republican Mike Morrell, and the 42nd Assembly District, represented by Republican Chad Mayes.[15]

In the United States House of Representatives, San Jacinto is in California's 36th congressional district, represented by Democrat Raul Ruiz.[16]


San Jacinto has a memorial to veterans at Druding Park, a tribute to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Services. In the park, each branch of the military has an equipment artifact used by its members in battle, as a symbol of their services. There is a tank for the Army, a propeller for the Air Force, an anchor for the Navy, a lighthouse for the Coast Guard, and in the near future the city government hopes to add a howitzer for the Marine Corps. Various plaques and memorials also grace the 1-acre (4,000 m2) park.

The city is also home to the Estudillo Mansion, which was home to Francisco Estudillo, who was the city's first postmaster and was elected as the city's second mayor. The mansion also has a twin mansion built by Estudillo's brother, Jose Antonio Estudillo, Jr. The two mansions and the grounds are all that remains of the original 35,000-acre (140 km2) Mexican land grant given to the brother's father, Jose Antonio Estudillo in 1842. The mansion was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and on the California Register of Historic Resources. This is only the third Riverside County site to receive this honor.[17] Francisco lost his mansion to foreclosure in 1901, but even though Jose, his brother, died in the same year, his family retained his mansion and property, including the olive grove, and it was considered the Estudillo Estate, becoming the site of many family events, and a couple of family burials, until it was sold in 1919. Seven years later, Adelaide, Jose's wife died in Riverside.


Public safety[edit]


The city is served by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.


The city of San Jacinto contracts for fire and paramedic services with the Riverside County Fire Department through a cooperative agreement with CAL FIRE. Fire Station 25 is also a CAL FIRE fire station which has a wildland fire engine.[18]


The city is served by the San Jacinto Unified School District, made up of 12 schools.[19] There is one high school, San Jacinto High School (San Jacinto, California), and a continuation high school, Mountain View High School. There are 7 elementary schools, 3 middle schools and one independent studies program on the Mountain View High School campus site. A 6-8 magnet school, San Jacinto Leadership Academy operates on the Clayton A. Record Elementary School campus serving 200 children.

The San Jacinto Valley Academy is a K-12 charter school.[20] This school is IB (International Baccalaureate) accredited.[citation needed]


The San Jacinto Valley Cemetery District[21] maintains the San Jacinto Valley Cemetery[22] in the city.[23][24] Notable burials include Danish cartoonist Henning Dahl Mikkelsen who created the strip Ferd'nand.[25]


The Diamond Valley Arts Council (DVAC) maintains an arts complex called the Esplanade Arts Center (EAC), which features an art gallery, community arts classes, and a performance space home to the Inland Stage Company (ISC).


Mt. San Jacinto College (the Eagles) has a sports stadium for college football and a gymnasium for college basketball, along with a ball park for a collegiate baseball team the Diamond Valley Sabers who also play home games in nearby Hemet.

The So Cal Coyotes minor league football team of the Pacific West Football League plays half their home games in the Soboba Casino Oaks Sports Complex and their home field in Rancho Mirage to open in 2013. The Soboba Casino's sports complex also has an indoor sports facility for boxing events held in the Soboba Indian Reservation.[26]

See also[edit]


  2. ^ "City Manager". City of San Jacinto. Retrieved March 11, 2015. 
  3. ^ "San Jacinto City Council". San Jacinto. Retrieved February 8, 2015. 
  5. ^ "San Jacinto". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved November 2, 2014. 
  6. ^
  7. ^ San Jacinto. 2008. Arcadia Pub. Charleston, SC. J.Warneke, M. Holtzclaw, San Jacinto Valley Museum Association.
  8. ^
  12. ^ "2010 Census Interactive Population Search: CA - San Jacinto city". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved July 12, 2014. 
  15. ^ "Statewide Database". UC Regents. Retrieved January 4, 2015. 
  17. ^
  18. ^
  19. ^ San Jacinto School District
  20. ^ San Jacinto Valley Academy
  21. ^ California Association of Public Cemeteries, Members
  22. ^ San Jacinto Valley Cemetery District
  23. ^ 33°45′34″N 116°57′39″W﻿ / ﻿33.7594644°N 116.9608571°W﻿ / 33.7594644; -116.9608571 USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)
  24. ^ San Jacinto Valley Cemetery Find A Grave
  25. ^ Henning Dahl "Mik" Mikkelsen at Find a Grave
  26. ^

External links[edit]