History Of Hemet | Hemet, CA - Official Website

Despite a severe drought in 1898-1900 and a major 1899 Christmas Day earthquake, the town of Hemet continued to prosper. In 1899 Whittier sued Mayberry for monies owed him, taking control of all of Mayberry's interests in Hemet and in the two companies. Whittier, however, continued to improve the town's position. He started the Bank of Hemet,, built rental cottages and a stock farm with a half-mile race track, established and supplied by the town residents and electricity, a water filter system, and a stage line to Idyllwild.

On November 14, 1909, the San Jacinto Valley Register printed a synopsis of a speech by T.S. Brown, a Hemet real estate agent, in which he urged that the town residents vote for incorporation. On January 11, 1910, residents voted to incorporate as a city, and Brown was elected Hemet's first mayor. The Order of Incorporation was certified by the County of Riverside on January 17, 1910, and filed with the with the State of California on January 20, 1910...."That on the 20th day of January 1910, there was filed in my office a copy of the Order of the Board of Supervisors of Riverside County, in said State, duly certified by the County Clerk of said County, whereby certain territory was declared a municipal corporation of the 6th class under the name and stye CITY OF HEMET." Secretary of State, State of California.

Hemet Trustees Elected January 11, 1910

T.S. Brown

J. M. Clayton

J. M. Frazier

John Isle

P.F. Witter

City Clerk C. G Hamilton

City Marshal E. C. Warner

City Treasurer J. H. Scales

Since 1923, one of the valley's chief claims to fame has been the annual Ramona Pageant. The incident which inspired Helen Hunt Jackson to write Ramona occurred in the valley, and the production of a pageant based on the story was discussed for a number of years as a method of promoting the valley. From 1923 onward, with only brief interruptions during the Depression and during World War II, the people of Hemet and San Jacinto have joined to stage this outdoor pageant each spring.

Hemet was also noted for the 46th Agricultural District Farmer's Fair of Riverside County, which had its beginning in 1936 as the Hemet Turkey Show, and for the Ryan School of Aeronautics, which trained about 6,000 fliers for the Army Air Force between 1940 and 1944. Hemet Ryan Airport exists today at the site of the original Ryan Flight School.

The character of Hemet began to change dramatically in the early 1960's with the development of Sierra Dawn, the country's first "mobile home subdivision" in which individual lots were sold. Other mobile home parks and retirement housing developments followed, and Hemet became well known as a retirement community.

Hemet today retains much of its retirement orientation but is also becoming home to significant numbers of younger families who provide services to the senior population or who are simply fleeing the more urbanized areas of Southern California. The economy is based primarily on service to the senior community and ancillary services such as financial institutions and the health care professions.