Roundup: April 10, 2013

Almansor Court – 700 S. Almansor, Alhambra, CA
Social Hour: 5:00PM
Dinner: 6:00PM

Speaker: Steve Lech
Subject: “ The Formation of Riverside County”

Riverside County is the fourth largest county in California, and one of the last ones to be created. Stretching from Orange County to the Arizona border, Riverside County took most of its territory from San Diego County and the rest from San Bernardino County. As is true of much local history, what was understood to be the reasons behind Riverside County’s formation had been copied and recopied from one source, most of which was not true. Long thought to be the outcome of dissatisfaction over the construction of a new courthouse in San Bernardino, the reasons behind Riverside County’s beginnings were numerous. Steve Lech spent more than 4 years researching the development of Riverside County, resulting in the book “Along the Old Roads.” In his presentation, Mr. Lech uncovers many of the reasons, and the back-room dealings, that brought about the formation of California’s fourth largest county in 1893.

Steve Lech is a native Riversider and fellow Westerner as well as our new Branding Iron editor. He has been interested in the local history of Riverside County for more than 35 years and has written eight books on various subjects of Riverside County history, including Along the Old Roads – A History of the Portion of Southern California That Became Riverside County, 1772-1893, considered to be the definitive history of Riverside County. He co-authors the weekly “Back in the Day” column for the Press-Enterprise newspaper in which he explores many aspects of local history throughout western Riverside County. He has been a docent at the historic Mission Inn hotel for more than 23 years, and is currently the president of the Riverside Historical Society.

Larry L. Boerio
Deputy Sheriff