A farm stretches across the landscape in this undated photograph of early Hemet. The construction of Lake Hemet Dam allowed mountain runoff to be used to irrigate crops.
One hundred years ago today, 177 residents went to the polls in a town that owed its existence to Edward L. Mayberry and William F. Whittier directing runoff from the San Jacinto Mountains into their Lake Hemet Dam.
The water allowed farmers to grow apricots, carrots, citrus, walnuts, grain and potatoes, and to raise cattle and establish dairies. The newly fertile land also made wealthy men of Mayberry and Whittier, owners of the Hemet Land Company, Hemet Water Company and the town bank.
Eventually, as the population grew, the town needed more sidewalks, more firefighters, a library and more schools. It also needed a way to pay for them when the founders wouldn't. The solution: a city with a built-in tax base.
So on Jan. 11, 1910, exactly 130 people -- mostly working men who hoped a new city would create more jobs -- voted to incorporate. The 33 votes against came largely from landowners who feared increased taxation, according to newspaper reports. Fourteen votes were thrown out on technical grounds, and despite that hiccup, Hemet was born nine days later when the state certified the vote.
Today, as Hemet looks ahead to its next 100 years, many of the issues would be familiar to those southeastern Riverside County pioneers: jobs and population growth, services and how to pay for them. But there are differences: Farms have been disappearing for years, and the city evolved into a retirement community that is now evolving yet again into a community of families, requiring a shift in thinking among city officials. And why, many would ask, is someone trying to blow up a police building?
"Cities live," City Manager Brian Nakamura said. "We grow, we get hurt, we feel pain. As a living organism, you have to adapt."
Marc Searl's grandparents arrived in the Hemet area in the 1880s and farmed 7,500 acres.
When Searl graduated from college with an economics degree, he took over the cattle operation. Today, that land is owned by the Metropolitan Water District and is underwater at Diamond Valley Lake.
Searl, 61, a former Hemet city councilman, now owns BJ Sporting Goods downtown on Florida Avenue.
"I was a college-educated cowboy," he said, "and now I'm a jockstrap salesman."
The city had 1,482 residents in 1920, said historian Mary Whitney, who has written seven books on Hemet. Estimates now put the population close to 80,000.
As a result, Searl said, the sense of family that binds Hemet residents and helps them work together to find solutions has eroded.
Beryl Penacho, 92, has lived on 5 acres in eastern Hemet since 1963 after moving to the city with husband Victor in 1950. The land used to be covered with apricot trees, but she pulled them out in 2000 as they died and the income diminished. The widow lives across Mayberry Avenue from Saratoga Ranch, a development of new homes.
"I don't think we have the community feeling we used to have," Penacho said. "We need to have more interest in what happens in town."
Nakamura, though in his first year as city manager, also has seen that problem.
To that end, he said, cities have a responsibility to reach out to residents on topics such as safe driving, recycling, school safety and conservation.
Nakamura said he was heartened Friday, however, when he turned out for sign-ups for the Citizens Emergency Response Team -- volunteers who assist during earthquakes or fires -- and saw 30 people apply and a waiting list of 28 more.
"I was blessed to see citizens so eager to want to help," Nakamura said. "I think it makes our community a great place to live and work and educate."
TODAY'S ISSUES
Even so, the city is showing its age.
Water and sewer pipes are nearing retirement, and the city is working on plans to replace them before they make headlines with spectacular collapses. An inadequate stormwater drainage system is being modernized with the below-ground drains that most other cities have had for years.
The city has had to close a fire station and cut positions because of the economy.
Three December incidents that police say involved gang members -- a pursuit that left a bullet hole in a police car, a young man chopped into pieces and then burned in a bonfire, and an attempt to use natural gas to flatten a gang task force building in a ball of fire -- made regional or national newscasts and reminded residents that urban ills are creeping into the city as it grows.
Nakamura characterized that spree as "blips" and said the city is focusing on reducing crime.
Of course, all those improvements take money, and just as the area sought to expand its tax base 100 years ago, the city is trying to do the same today.
Commercial and residential development, and improving transportation will all play a part and are inextricably linked.
Penacho noted the shift in development to the west in the 1970s and '80s. That's where most of the open land is, and where the city hopes to grow revenue on land that once produced food.
Industrial development would provide jobs that would allow Hemet residents to work locally instead of commute to western Riverside or Orange or Los Angeles counties, and it would encourage outsiders to move to Hemet. More rooftops would increase the need for service businesses, which would hire workers.
Highway 79 will be realigned about three miles to the west, from downtown to west of Warren road, with much of the cross traffic eliminated. The old highway will become basically a city street. The new highway, which is in the environmental review process, would bring motorists traveling from Beaumont to Temecula to San Diego through the city and provide opportunities for the types of businesses that normally sprout near offramps.
A Metrolink line -- Hemet wants stations downtown and to the west -- would make the city more attractive to visitors as well as potential residents.
A Hemet line "is part of the vision," said Riverside County Transportation Commission Project Development Director Cathy Bechtel, but as long as there's no money for it, that's what it will remain.
All would bolster the city's sales and property tax accounts, money that can be used to improve buildings and public services.
So, too, would increased use of Diamond Valley Lake, a popular fishing spot south of the city.
Nakamura said he doubts Metropolitan will ever allow water skiing or other recreational uses that could pollute the water that is delivered to San Diego. But he said he hopes camping, golf courses and other activities can be developed to complement the softball fields under construction. Those fields will host a national tournament this year that is expected to be a boon to the local economy.
Such development would "create a destination for tourism," Nakamura said. "We should have something to offer year round."
THE FUTURE
Whether it's asking the federal government for millions for rails, or asking the city for thousands for a sidewalk, there is agreement: The louder and more united the choir, the better.
Some have suggested that merging the cities of Hemet and San Jacinto -- a proposal that has generated more buzz than action -- would give the region of about 160,000 people more political clout in addition to saving money on public services.
Nakamura, while not taking a stand on a merger, said regions typically have an easier time getting federal funding than cities by themselves.
Whatever Hemet looks like 100 years from now, it will have to confront issues that today are both well-known and unimaginable.
Technology is sure to provide dazzling advances and puzzling policy issues -- Edward Mayberry and William Whittier never had to ponder flight paths at Hemet-Ryan Airport -- for residents and city leaders.
Regardless, there will be stories to tell in 2110 of those who shaped the second 100 years, just as the cowboy-turned-jockstrap salesman Marc Searl shared tales of his grandparents.
"I see a great future for the valley," he said. "Otherwise I wouldn't be here."
Centennial events
Official play
What: "Remembering When: The Story of Mr. Whittier's Hemet," a play about Hemet Water Company co-founder William F. Whittier.
When: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 22
Where: Hemet Public Library, second floor.
Cost: $30 in advance, $35 at door. Includes wine and hors d'oeuvres
Information: Wayne Disher, 951-765-2441
Kickoff celebration
What: Speeches, street fair with vendors and community groups, music on two stages on Harvard Street, child dancers, crowning of centennial queen.
When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 23
Where: Hemet Public Library
Information: Wayne Disher, 951-765-2441
Whisker-ino contest
What: A contest will award prizes for longest, grayest, best handlebar style and best-looking mustache.
When: Winners will be announced Jan. 23 at the kickoff celebration and chosen via a vote of applause. Entries are open.
Information: Joy Ward, 951-658-4478
Baby contest
What: Babies born Jan. 20, 2010, at Hemet Valley Hospital will receive a commemorative centennial birth certificate signed by the Hemet mayor, a goody bag and a centennial teddy bear.
When: Announcement of the babies' names, arrival times and parents' names will be made at the kickoff celebration.
Information: Wayne Disher, 951-765-2441.
Relay run
When: 9 a.m. Jan. 23
What: Five runners pass a relay baton with a Hemet proclamation in it.
Where: From Diamond Valley Lake to Hemet Public Library.
Who:Hemet High running champions Raven Harrison and Meredith Beattie, Habitat for Humanity land-donor Joe Ziegler, Mayor Eric McBride and Fire Chief Matt Shobert.
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