Victor Valley Regional History
A Historical Overview of Victor Valley (19th–20th Centuries)Early Trails and Settlers (1820s–1860s)
Long before American settlers came to stay, the Victor Valley was home to the Desert Serrano (Vanyume) people, who lived along the Mojave River and used it as a trade route. Spanish missionaries and explorers passed through in the late 1700s, but by the mid-1800s the valley had become a crossroads for westward migration. Thousands of gold seekers, trappers, and Mormon wagon trains made their way across the desert, following the river’s scarce water.In 1858, Aaron G. Lane set up a waystation at “Lane’s Crossing” near today’s Victorville to serve stagecoaches. Ranching soon followed. Cattle and sheep were driven up from the lowlands to graze, and by the late 1860s, pioneers like John Brown Jr. had homesteaded the Rancho Verde. Though the population was tiny, stage stops and scattered ranches hinted at a more permanent future.
Mining Booms and the Railroad (1870s–1880s)
The valley’s first gold discovery came in 1873 at Oro Grande, turning the site into the Mojave’s first real mining camp. Prospectors chased veins of gold and silver, while others tapped into soapstone, asbestos, and marble.In 1885, the railroad changed everything. The California Southern line connected San Bernardino to Barstow through Cajon Pass, and small stops blossomed into towns. Mormon Crossing became “Victor,” later Victorville. Helendale grew out of a stop once called Point of Rocks, and Oro Grande matured from camp to settlement.
The biggest boom of all came with land promotion. In 1886, the Hesperia Land and Water Company laid out a town with the promise of lush orchards and vineyards. Trainloads of buyers arrived to pink lemonade, sales pitches, and even oranges wired onto Joshua trees to make the desert look fertile. Hesperia’s dream collapsed when floods wiped out its water system in 1888, but the railroad towns endured, setting the valley’s foundation.
Building Communities and Economy (1890s–1910s)
By the 1890s, Victor had grown into a small trading post, renamed Victorville in 1901 to avoid confusion with another town. Oro Grande remained a mining hub, and Helendale a ranching stop. Though Hesperia’s grand hotel sat abandoned, miners continued to work new strikes and limestone quarries supplied early cement production.Marble from a quarry northeast of Victorville was prized for its beauty, even used to decorate the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. More importantly, the limestone hills fueled cement plants that would become the backbone of the valley’s economy.
Agriculture also gained ground. In 1912, Dr. F. J. Gobar planted the first alfalfa in what he named Lucerne Valley, and by 1920, Apple Valley had its first orchards. Attempts to find oil fizzled, but farming and ranching kept growing. Adelanto was founded in 1917 as a farming colony, adding another piece to the valley’s patchwork.
Highways, Hollywood, and Hard Times (1920s–1930s)
The 1920s brought fame in an unexpected way: movies. Victorville’s boardwalks and desert scenery became backdrops for silent films and early westerns. Meanwhile, Route 66 was designated through Victorville in 1926, and roadside businesses sprang up to serve the stream of travelers.Apple Valley flourished with its apple harvests, and Lucerne Valley expanded its farms. Guest ranches and resorts gave tourists and city dwellers a taste of desert life. But the Great Depression hit hard. By the 1930s, Apple Valley’s orchards collapsed due to drought, high costs, and falling prices. Still, cement plants, highway travelers, and a few ranches kept the valley alive.
World War II and Postwar Boom (1940s–1950s)
In 1941, the Army Air Corps built Victorville Army Air Field, later renamed George Air Force Base. Thousands of pilots and crew trained there during World War II, and the base became the valley’s economic anchor for the next fifty years.After the war, developers saw new opportunities. Newton T. Bass and Bud Westlund transformed Apple Valley into a resort-style community with the Apple Valley Inn, golf courses, and celebrity visitors like Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Hesperia had its own land rush in the 1950s, led by Penn Phillips and backed by boxer Jack Dempsey.
Highways tied the valley closer to Southern California, and the construction of Interstate 15 in the 1960s made Los Angeles just a short drive away. The high desert was no longer isolated.
Late 20th-Century Growth and Change (1960s–1990s)
Victorville incorporated in 1962, followed by Adelanto in 1970 and both Apple Valley and Hesperia in 1988. Once sleepy desert towns, they grew into bustling communities, fueled by affordable land and the draw of wide-open space. The San Bernardino County Fair found a home in Victorville, and Route 66 nostalgia kept parts of Old Town alive.The biggest blow came in 1992, when George Air Force Base closed after half a century. Thousands of jobs disappeared overnight. Yet the valley adapted, repurposing the base as Southern California Logistics Airport. Cement plants, new housing, and logistics replaced what was lost.
By the end of the 20th century, the Victor Valley had transformed from a remote desert crossing into a permanent home for tens of thousands, its history written in cycles of boom and bust, reinvention and resilience.
Timeline Section
1776 – Spanish explorer Francisco Garcés travels along the Mojave River.1827 – Jedediah Smith reports cattle grazing north of Cajon Pass.
1849–1859 – Thousands of migrants use the Mojave River route.
1858 – Aaron Lane establishes Lane’s Crossing stage stop.
1869 – Max Strobel purchases 35,000 acres in the future Hesperia.
1870 – Stagecoaches regularly stop in Victor Valley.
1873 – Gold discovered at Oro Grande, sparking mining.
1885 – Railroad completed through Cajon Pass; Mormon Crossing renamed Victor.
1886 – Hesperia Land and Water Company launches desert boom town.
1888 – Floods destroy Hesperia’s water system; boom collapses.
1890s – Marble and limestone quarries open; cement industry begins.
1901 – Victor renamed Victorville.
1912 – First alfalfa planted in Lucerne Valley.
1917 – Adelanto founded; cement plants built in Victorville and Oro Grande.
1920 – Apple orchards established in Apple Valley.
1926 – Route 66 runs through Victorville.
1930s – Great Depression ends Apple Valley’s orchards.
1941 – Victorville Army Air Field opens for World War II training.
1948 – Base renamed George Air Force Base.
1946 – Apple Valley Ranchos development begins.
1950s – Hesperia land sales boom under Penn Phillips.
1962 – Victorville incorporates.
1970 – Adelanto incorporates.
1988 – Hesperia and Apple Valley incorporate.
1992 – George Air Force Base closes, later reborn as Southern California Logistics Airport.
References
Rancho Verde
Victorville
Hesperia
Lucerne Valley
Apple Valley
National Old Trails Highway
Victorville
Victor Valley
Mojave River Fish Hatchery
by Gary Stickel and Lois J. Weinman-Roberts
Environmental Research Archaeologists:
A Scientific Consortium Los Angeles with sections by Rainer Berger and Pare Hopa 1980
Fred T. Perris
California Southern