Tovaangar (-1771)

Ontario was inhabited by the Tongva people for over 1000 years.^[10] Their country is now known as Tovaangar. The Ontario area was connected to the village of Cucamonga, whose location is not now precisely known.

The Spanish Empire's New Spain Portolá expedition found and named the Santa Ana River in 1769. They also explored the Cucamonga area.^[11]

Spanish Empire (1771-1822)

In 1771, Franciscans from New Spain settled in the area, and established the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, founding what is today San Gabriel. They enslaved the Tongva people. The area was now part of the New Spain Province of Las Californias.

Juan Bautista de Anza is said to have passed through the area on his 1774 expedition. A city park and a middle school now bear his name.

In 1804, the northern part of Las Califonias became the new province of Alta California.

In 1810, the San Gabriel Franciscans took over the nearby Tongva village of Kaawchama, replacing it with the Guachama rancheria. This included a chapel devoted to San Bernadino (beginning the association of the saint with the area). The rancheria was destroyed by the Serrano in 1812.

In 1819, the San Gabriel Franciscans built the San Bernardino de Sena estancia near the earlier Guachama site.

Mexico (1822-1847)

In 1822, word of the Mexican triumph in the Mexican War of Independence reached the inland area, and the lands previously controlled by the Spanish Empire passed to the custody of the Mexican government.

In 1826, Jedediah Smith passed through what is now Upland on the first known overland journey from the east coast to the west coast of North America. He used Native American trails that he helped establish as the California Trail. (This later became the National Old Trails Road, and today's Foothill Boulevard.)^[12]

Use of the San Gabriel mission's Rancho Cucamonga was in 1839 granted to Tiburcio Tapia by Mexican governor Juan Bautista Alvarado as part of the secularization of California land holdings.^[13] This emancipated the Tongva enslaved there.

In 1845, the rancho was inherited by Tapia's daughter, Maria Prudhomme, and her husband Leon Prudhomme.

United States (1847-)

In January 1847, the area became controlled by the United States following the conquest of California as part of the Mexican-American War. This was formalised by the Treaty of Cahuenga that month. Under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, the United States recognised the existing land tenure, and took formal control of the land. It ruled it under a military administration until a new civilian body was established in December 1849, which became the state of California in September 1850. In February 1850, the interim California government established Los Angeles County. (The earlier Los Angeles municipal government did not cover today's Ontario.)^[14]

The new Californian administration soon began a war of extermination against the Tongva, which came to be known as being part of the California genocide. 1850's Act for the Government and Protection of Indians ensured that slavery of the people it covered remained legal.^[15]

San Bernadino County was founded in 1853, following the establishment of a new Mormon settlement.

Rancho Cucamonga was sold in 1858 to John Rains.

Slavery of Native Americans became illegal in California in 1865.^[16]

John Rain's heirs sold Rancho Cucamonga in 1870 to an Isaias Hellman-led syndicate,^[17] the "Cucamonga Company".^[18] 20 years after the initial application, the California government formally converted the title of the rancho to freehold in 1872.^[13][19]

In 1881, the Chaffey brothers, George and William, purchased a parcel of Hellman's Rancho Cucamonga land and the water rights to it. The land was sometimes referred to the "San Antonio lands", as they included half the water rights to Mount San Antonio^[20] (colloquially known as "Mount Baldy"). They engineered a drainage system channelling water from the foothills of the mountain down to the flatter lands below that performed the dual functions of allowing farmers to water their crops and preventing the floods that periodically afflict them.

They also created the main thoroughfare of Euclid Avenue (California Highway 83), with its distinctive wide lanes and grassy median. The new "Model Colony" (called so because it offered the perfect balance between agriculture and the urban comforts of schools, churches, and commerce) was originally conceived as a dry town, early deeds containing clauses forbidding the manufacture or sale of alcoholic beverages within the town. The two named the town "Ontario" in honor of the province of Ontario in Canada, where they were from.^[21]

Ontario attracted farmers (primarily growing citrus) and ailing Easterners seeking a drier climate (often to treat tuberculosis). To impress visitors and potential settlers with the "abundance" of water in Ontario, a fountain was placed at the Southern Pacific railway station. It was turned on when passenger trains were approaching and frugally turned off again after their departure. The original "Chaffey fountain", a simple spigot surrounded by a ring of white stones, was later replaced by the more ornate "Frankish Fountain", an art nouveau creation now located outside the Ontario Museum of History and Art.^[22]

In 1885, the Chaffey brothers opened a campus of the University of Southern California. This included a secondary school.

Agriculture was vital to the early economy, and many street names recall this legacy. The Sunkist plant remains as a living vestige of the citrus era. The Chaffey brothers left in 1886 to found the Australian irrigation settlements of Mildura and Renmark, selling their Ontario assets to the Ontario Land & Improvement Company. Its president was Charles Frankish.^[23] He founded the Ontario State Bank in 1887, the settlement's first bank.^[24]

A mule-drawn tramway was used from 1887 to 1895 for public transportation on the central reservation of Euclid Avenue, operated by the Ontario and San Antonio Heights Railroad Company. Mining engineer John Tays refined its design. The two mules were loaded onto a platform at the rear of the car and allowed to ride, as gravity propelled the trolley back down the avenue to the downtown Ontario terminus. The mule car is commemorated by a replica in an enclosure south of C Street on the Euclid Avenue median.

A new wave of Mexican migrants arrived in the 1880s as railroad workers (see traquero).

Central Ontario was incorporated as a city in 1891. The municipality's territory was later greatly expanded in 1900. North Ontario broke away in 1906, calling itself Upland.^[18]

The San Antonio Electric Light & Power Company was organized in 1891 to provide electricity to Ontario, Pomona and Redlands.^[18] In 1895, the Ontario Electric Company was established by Charles Frankish.^[24] In its first year it took over the mule-cars, and replaced them with electrical powered vehicles.^[24]

Tens of thousands of European immigrants came to work in agriculture. In the early 1900s, the first Filipinos and Japanese farm laborers arrived, and later many came to own plant nurseries.^[25] Another wave of Mexicans arrived after the Mexican Revolution of the 1910s. Mexican Americans at one time resided in the city's poorer central side facing State Route 60 and Chino.

In 1901, the original college closed, and a new Ontario High School replaced it. This soon became Chaffey College, and offered college courses as well as high school education.

In 1903, Ontario was proclaimed a “Model Irrigation Colony” by an act of Congress.

In 1912, the streetcar line became the Upland–Ontario Line of Pacific Electric. It was closed in 1928.

In April 1926, Euclid Ave became part of U.S. Route 66. It became the first fully paved road between the United States' east and west coasts in 1938.

In 1929, the city of Ontario established the Ontario Municipal Airport. This is now the Ontario International Airport, and is the largest employer in the city.

The city of Ontario grew quickly, increasing 10 times in the next half a century. The population of 20,000 in the 1960s grew nearly eight times more by 2007. Ontario was at one time viewed as an "Iowa under palm trees," with a solid Midwestern/Mid-American foundation, and a large German and Swiss community.

In 1960, the higher education part of Chaffey College moved to nearby Rancho Cucamonga.

From 1970 to 1980, the Ontario Motor Speedway hosted motor racing events including the California 500, and music events like California Jam.

The Cardenas supermarket chain began in Ontario in 1981.

An Ontario station of the Metrolink rail service opened in 1993.

Large shopping mall Ontario Mills opened to the public on November 14, 1996, on the old Ontario Motor Speedway parking lot.

On December 13, 1996, AMC Theatres opened AMC Ontario Mills 30 in Ontario, which it billed as the "world's largest theater".^[26] Three months later, Edwards Theaters opened the Edwards Ontario Palace 22 across the street.^[26] Ontario now had 52 screens on the one site, more than any other location in the United States.^[26] The opening of that many screens in the Inland Empire came about as the culmination of a lifelong rivalry between AMC's Stanley Durwood and Edwards Theaters' James Edwards.^[26] Edwards was infuriated when he learned Durwood had beaten him to a deal with Ontario Mills, and later told him, "I had to teach you a lesson".^[26]

In 2008, the Ontario Community Events Center opened. It hosts a number of professional minor-league indoor sports teams.

Climate

The climate of Ontario is influenced by BSh semi-arid conditions, with hot summers and mild winters. Santa Ana Winds hit the area frequently in autumn and winter. Extremes range from 118 °F (48 °C) down to 25 °F (−4 °C). According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Ontario has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps.^[27]

2010

The 2010 United States Census^[32] reported that Ontario had a population of 163,924. The population density was 3,278.1 inhabitants per square mile (1,265.7/km²). The racial makeup of Ontario was 83,683 (51.0%) White (18.2% Non-Hispanic White),^[33] 10,561 (6.4%) African American, 1,686 (1.0%) Native American, 8,453 (5.2%) Asian, 514 (0.3%) Pacific Islander, 51,373 (31.3%) from other races, and 7,654 (4.7%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 113,085 persons (69.0%).

The Census reported that 163,166 people (99.5% of the population) lived in households, 411 (0.3%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 347 (0.2%) were institutionalized.

There were 44,931 households, out of which 23,076 (51.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 23,789 (52.9%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 7,916 (17.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 3,890 (8.7%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 3,470 (7.7%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 384 (0.9%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 6,741 households (15.0%) were made up of individuals, and 2,101 (4.7%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.63. There were 35,595 families (79.2% of all households); the average family size was 3.98.

The population was spread out, with 49,443 people (30.2%) under the age of 18, 19,296 people (11.8%) aged 18 to 24, 49,428 people (30.2%) aged 25 to 44, 34,703 people (21.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 11,054 people (6.7%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.8 males.

There were 47,449 housing units at an average density of 948.9 per square mile (366.4/km²), of which 24,832 (55.3%) were owner-occupied, and 20,099 (44.7%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.0%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.8%. 90,864 people (55.4% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 72,302 people (44.1%) lived in rental housing units.

During 2009–2013, Ontario had a median household income of $54,249, with 18.1% of the population living below the federal poverty line.^[33]

2000

As of the census^[34] of 2000, there were 158,007 people, 43,525 households, and 34,689 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,173.9 inhabitants per square mile (1,225.4/km²). There were 45,182 housing units at an average density of 907.6 per square mile (350.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 47.8% White, 7.5% African American, 1.1% Native American, 3.9% Asian, 0.4% Pacific Islander, 34.1% from other races and 5.3% were from two or more races. 59.9% were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 43,525 households, out of which 49.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.9% were married couples living together, 15.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.3% were non-families. 15.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.6 and the average family size was 4.0.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 34.4% under the age of 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 32.4% from 25 to 44, 16.1% from 45 to 64, and 5.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $42,452, and the median income for a family was $44,031. Males had a median income of $31,664 versus $26,069 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,244. 15.5% of the population and 12.2% of families were below the poverty line. 19.1% of those under the age of 18 and 7.6% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Top employers

According to the city's 2014 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,^[39] the top employers in the city are:

Tourism

The Greater Ontario Convention and Visitors Bureau implemented a tourism marketing district and adopted an aggressive five-year strategic plan focusing on marketing initiatives to bring visitors to the region, build brand and destination awareness while enhancing the local economy.^[41]

Local government

The city is governed by a five-member council.

Ontario City Library in 2006

According to the 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the city's various funds had $399.4 million in revenues, $305.3 million in expenditures, $1,606.0 million in total assets, $317.6 million in total liabilities, and $412.4 million in cash and investments.^[49]

State and federal representation

In the California State Legislature, Ontario is in the 20th Senate District, represented by Democrat Caroline Menjivar, and in the 52nd Assembly District, represented by Democrat Wendy Carrillo.^[50]

In the United States House of Representatives, Ontario is in California's 35th congressional district, represented by Democrat Norma Torres.^[51]

Transportation

The Ontario International Airport provides domestic and international air travel. Because of the many manufacturing companies and warehouses in the city, the airport also serves as a major hub for freight, especially for FedEx and UPS.

Because Ontario is a major hub for passengers and freight, the city is also served by several major freeways. Interstate 10 and the Pomona Freeway (State Route 60) run east–west through the city. Interstate 10 is north of the Ontario airport while the Pomona freeway is south of the airport. Interstate 15 runs in the north–south directions at the eastern side of the city. State Route 83, also known as Euclid Avenue, also runs in the north–south direction at the western side of the city.

The city maintains an Amtrak station which is served by the Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle lines. Ontario also has a Metrolink station off of Haven Avenue. It connects Ontario with much of the Greater Los Angeles area, Orange County and the San Fernando Valley. Public bus transportation is provided by Omnitrans. Additional bus and rail connections to Los Angeles and elsewhere are available at the nearby Montclair station. A bus rapid transit line known as the sbX Purple Line is currently being constructed, which will run through the city.

Cemeteries

The Bellevue Memorial Park is located on West G Street.^[53][54] Spanish–American War Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Frank Fulton Ross is buried there, as is George Chaffey, one of the two founders of the city.^[55]

Shopping

Ontario Mills is a major shopping mall in Ontario, while Cardenas, a supermarket chain specializing in Latin American cuisine, was founded in and is based in Ontario.