From Orange Grove to Open Road: Route 66 Through the Heart of the Orange Empire
When U.S. Route 66 was commissioned on November 11, 1926, it was aligned along Foothill Boulevard through the community then known as Lordsburg, California — a citrus-growing town at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains whose streets were lined with orange trees and whose identity had been shaped more by the Brethren Church than by the railroad speculation that created it. By the time Route 66 travelers were cruising Foothill Boulevard in earnest in the 1930s and 1940s, the town had been renamed La Verne and had earned the designation that still defines its historical character: the “Heart of the Orange Empire.”
La Verne sits about 30 miles east of Los Angeles in the Pomona Valley, below the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and the Angeles National Forest. It is a small city of approximately 30,000 people that retains a notable amount of its early 20th-century small-town character in its Old Town district on D Street — a walkable stretch of turn-of-the-century buildings anchored by the University of La Verne, an institution whose origin story is one of the more unusual in California higher education. For Route 66 travelers on California’s Foothill Boulevard corridor, La Verne is a city worth pausing to understand — not because it has a single unmissable monument like the Cucamonga Service Station to the east or the Aztec Hotel to the west, but because its accumulated history — the citrus groves, the German Baptist Brethren hotel-turned-college, the adobe from 1868, the La Paloma Restaurant still serving since 1966, and the two orange groves still alive at Heritage Park — adds up to something genuinely distinctive.
In 2026, La Verne is participating in the Route 66 Centennial celebrations — acknowledging that Foothill Boulevard, which carries the State Route 66 designation from the 210 Freeway interchange eastward, is one of the most continuously significant pieces of Route 66 in California, and that the city’s history of agricultural abundance, educational idealism, and mid-century roadside commerce is as much a part of the Mother Road story as the desert landmarks further east.
Where Does Route 66 Run Through La Verne?
Route 66 runs along Foothill Boulevard through La Verne from east to west — the same alignment it follows through most of San Bernardino County and the western San Gabriel Valley. La Verne is distinguished by the fact that Foothill Boulevard carries the State Route 66 (SR 66) designation from the interchange with the 210 Foothill Freeway in La Verne eastward — making La Verne the western edge of the formally designated State Route 66 corridor through the Inland Empire.
From Interstate 210 (Foothill Freeway): Take the Foothill Boulevard exit. Route 66/Foothill Boulevard runs east–west directly through the city. From State Route 57 (Orange Freeway): Head north to Foothill Boulevard. The Old Town La Verne district on D Street — the historic core of what was once Lordsburg, including the University of La Verne and the majority of the city’s turn-of-the-century architecture — is located approximately one mile south of Foothill Boulevard on D Street, requiring a short detour from the highway itself. The Metrolink San Bernardino Line has a La Verne station, providing rail access from downtown Los Angeles.
La Verne’s History: From Rancho San José to the Orange Empire
The Rancho San José and the Palomares Family: 1837–1880s
The land that became La Verne was part of the Rancho San José — a vast 15,000-acre Mexican land grant awarded in 1837 to Ygnacio Palomares by Mexican Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado. The Rancho San José encompassed the present-day communities of Pomona, Claremont, Glendora, and La Verne — an enormous tract of open land at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains that supported cattle, sheep, and the beginnings of agriculture. The Palomares family’s connection to the area extends through multiple generations: Ygnacio’s nephew Jose Dolores Palomares received a portion of the rancho, and it was on that property that Saturnino Carrión built his adobe home in 1868 — the oldest surviving structure in the La Verne area and a California State Historic Landmark.
Lordsburg: The Hotel That Never Had a Guest — and the College It Became
The origin story of modern La Verne is one of the more entertaining in California small-city history. In the mid-1880s, Isaac Wilson Lord — a wealthy Los Angeles entrepreneur — purchased land from the Palomares family and persuaded the Santa Fe Railroad to route its new line from San Bernardino to Pasadena through his property, ensuring the town would have a station. In 1887, with the land boom at its peak and Midwesterners flooding into Southern California on competing railroads offering impossibly cheap fares, Lord laid out a townsite he named Lordsburg after himself. He constructed a 60-room hotel in anticipation of the crowds that would follow.
The crowds never came. The Southern California real estate bubble of 1888–1889 collapsed with brutal speed, and the Lordsburg Hotel — grand, new, and entirely empty — never lodged a single paying guest. Lord’s townsite stagnated. But the failed hotel found an unexpected second life when M. M. Eshelman, a member of the German Baptist Brethren Church (also known as the Church of the Brethren, or informally the “Dunkards” — from the German word for baptism by immersion), purchased the bankrupt hotel in 1889 and arranged for a community of Brethren people to move to the area so their young people could attend college in the transformed building. In 1891, Lordsburg College opened in what had been Lord’s ill-fated hotel. That institution is today the University of La Verne — a nationally accredited university with a full campus in the Old Town district of La Verne.
The Symbolic Naming: From Lordsburg to La Verne
The Lordsburg name persisted until 1917, the year Isaac Lord died. The city’s residents voted to change the name to La Verne — a name already in local use for the foothill area above the town, which ranchers had called by that name believing it was French for “spring-like” (it actually means “the alder tree,” a type of birch). The name change was celebrated with one of the more charming moments in California municipal history: the city arranged a symbolic wedding ceremony between “Miss Lordsburg” and “Mr. La Verne” as part of the official renaming celebration. The city was formally incorporated in 1906 under the Lordsburg name and subsequently carried its new identity into the Route 66 era.
The Heart of the Orange Empire: Citrus on Route 66
By the time Route 66 was commissioned in 1926, La Verne’s identity was inseparable from citrus agriculture. The combination of the San Gabriel Mountains’ water supply, the valley’s soils, and the Mediterranean climate produced abundant orange and lemon crops, and Lordsburg — then La Verne — earned the designation “Heart of the Orange Empire” for its role as a center of the Southern California citrus industry. Hundreds of acres of orange trees covered the landscape that Foothill Boulevard’s Route 66 travelers drove through; the scent of orange blossom in the spring was a characteristic sensory experience of Route 66 travel through the San Gabriel Valley.
The La Verne Historical Society describes the citrus era’s end vividly: “A citrus disease and new housing development after World War II saw groves being bulldozed for tract homes.” By the 1950s, the orange groves that had defined the landscape were being replaced by the same suburban development pattern that transformed the entire San Gabriel Valley. The last surviving orange groves in La Verne are preserved on the grounds of the La Verne Mansion and Heritage Park — a deliberate act of preservation that keeps the “Heart of the Orange Empire” designation connected to something real and visible rather than merely historical.
State Route 66 Designation: La Verne’s Unique Highway Status
La Verne holds a specific distinction in the Route 66 story in California: Foothill Boulevard carries the State Route 66 designation from the 210 Freeway interchange in La Verne eastward through the Inland Empire communities. U.S. Route 66 was decommissioned nationally in 1985, but California’s State Route 66 — the formal California state highway designation — continues through La Verne eastward to San Bernardino, making this section of Foothill Boulevard not merely a historic alignment but a currently active state highway that simply carries a different bureaucratic framework. This is why signs marking SR 66 are present along Foothill Boulevard through La Verne: the number is not merely commemorative but an active state highway designation.
Foothill Boulevard: Route 66 Through La Verne Today
The City of La Verne describes its section of Foothill Boulevard as “a distinguished and beautiful stretch of America’s iconic Route 66, a regional retail and entertainment destination enhanced by a program of public art and landscaped parkways.” With over 30,000 cars per day — fed directly by the 210 Freeway interchange — Foothill Boulevard in La Verne is one of the more commercially active sections of the Route 66 alignment in the San Gabriel Valley, supporting 1.4 million square feet of contiguous retail space over 175 acres and generating $232 million in annual sales (2024). This commercial vitality distinguishes La Verne from some of the quieter San Gabriel Valley Route 66 communities to the east and west.
The La Paloma Restaurant: A Route 66 Landmark Since 1966
At 2975 Foothill Boulevard, the La Paloma Restaurant has been serving Mexican food to Route 66 travelers and La Verne residents since 1966 — making it one of the longer-running continuously operating restaurants on the Foothill Boulevard corridor. The restaurant was built on the same site that had housed Wilson’s Sandwich Shop in the 1920s, creating a layered food service history at the same address that spans from the earliest Route 66 years to the present.
The La Paloma sign — visible from Foothill Boulevard and a recognized Route 66 visual landmark in the community — is worth a photograph. Route 66 travel writers consistently include the La Paloma among the Foothill Boulevard stops worth making in La Verne, both for the sign’s vintage character and for the restaurant’s remarkable longevity. A living sycamore tree behind the La Paloma sign — a native California live oak that once dominated the surrounding landscape before the orange groves and the subsequent suburban development replaced it — is noted by Route 66 travelers as an unusual survivor of the pre-agricultural landscape.
Mr. D’s Diner
Another Route 66 photo stop on Foothill Boulevard in La Verne is Mr. D’s Diner — described by Route 66 travelers as worthy for both its structure and its vintage signage. The diner exemplifies the mid-century roadside diner aesthetic that was a defining feature of Route 66 commercial culture along the San Gabriel Valley corridor, where travelers heading toward Los Angeles found a final cluster of classic roadside services before the highway dissolved into the metropolitan grid. The combination of the building’s form and its signage makes it a standard reference in the Foothill Boulevard Route 66 photography documentation.
Route 66 Heritage Signage and Public Art
La Verne’s city government actively celebrates its Route 66 identity through public art commissions and heritage signage programs along Foothill Boulevard. The “Art in Public Places” program has placed murals at multiple locations along the corridor, and a WPA mural from circa 1939 — discovered at Damien High School — documents historic La Verne as painted by artist Frank Matranga. The Bagelry at 2095 Foothill Boulevard houses one of La Verne’s notable public art pieces depicting the city’s history.
Old Town La Verne: The Original Lordsburg on D Street
One mile south of Foothill Boulevard, the Old Town La Verne district on D Street preserves the physical fabric of the original Lordsburg townsite — the community that Isaac Wilson Lord laid out in 1887 and that the Church of the Brethren transformed from a failed speculative town into a college community. D Street is lined with Deodar trees (Cedrus deodara, the Himalayan cedar) — towering specimens planted in the early 20th century that create a cathedral canopy over the street and establish the distinctive character of Old Town La Verne.
The University of La Verne
The University of La Verne occupies a campus integrated into the Old Town La Verne neighborhood — its buildings set among the early 20th-century streetscape of D Street rather than enclosed behind a wall or fence. The university’s origin in the 1891 Lordsburg College — established in Isaac Lord’s empty hotel by the Church of the Brethren — gives it one of the more unusual founding stories in California higher education. The Brethren Church on E Street, whose imposing tower exemplifies Gothic Moderne architecture, remains a landmark of Old Town La Verne and a visible reminder of the denomination that sustained the community through its early years. The university today enrolls over 7,000 full-time equivalent students and offers a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs.
The University and The Graduate (1967)
For film enthusiasts, La Verne holds a specific piece of cinema history. Two blocks south of Foothill Boulevard on D Street, the United Methodist Church served as the location for the closing scene of Mike Nichols’s The Graduate (1967) — the iconic sequence in which Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) bursts into the church to interrupt Elaine’s wedding. The church scene was filmed in La Verne rather than at the fictional California setting the film depicts, and the La Verne church’s architecture — its tall windows, its white exterior — delivered the visual requirements of one of American cinema’s most celebrated finales. For Route 66 travelers with an interest in film history, the D Street United Methodist Church is a brief detour from Foothill Boulevard that connects Route 66’s urban California corridor to Hollywood filmmaking.
Old Town Architecture
Old Town La Verne preserves a compact collection of early 20th-century commercial and residential architecture that provides the most direct physical connection to La Verne’s Lordsburg-era character. The La Verne Discover website notes Queen Anne condominiums at Bonita and E Street that “combine features from buildings within a two-mile radius, making the project characteristic of the Lordsburg area.” Third Street, lined with Deodar trees, contains several of the most architecturally distinguished early La Verne buildings. The police and fire departments on Third Street west of D Street occupy buildings that anchor the civic identity of Old Lordsburg. The neighborhood’s walkable, human-scale character — rare among Route 66 communities that have been transformed by suburban development — makes Old Town La Verne worth a dedicated 30–60 minute exploration.
La Verne Mansion and Heritage Park: The Orange Groves That Survived
For travelers who want to understand what “Heart of the Orange Empire” means in concrete, touchable terms, the La Verne Mansion and Heritage Park is the essential destination. The park preserves the last two surviving orange groves in La Verne — living remnants of the agricultural landscape that Route 66 travelers drove through in the 1930s and 1940s — alongside the Weber House, an 1883 farmhouse that was restored by volunteers and relocated to the park grounds, and an assemblage of historic farm equipment, a windmill, and two old barns.
The park’s establishment was a deliberate act of preservation. As the La Verne Historical Society recounts, City Councilman Craig Walters, who closely identified with the citrus industry, pressed to save “a small part of the vanishing ‘orange empire'” in the early 1980s. A developer building tract homes in the area “arranged to have a derelict 1883 farmhouse (the Weber House) moved to a site in the orange grove.” Volunteers rebuilt and restored the house; rusting farm equipment was recovered and displayed; a windmill donated by the Historical Society was re-erected. The result is a living agricultural museum where visitors can see orange trees, walk among the fruit, and understand viscerally what the San Gabriel Valley looked like when Route 66 carried travelers through groves extending in every direction.
The Carrión Adobe: An 1868 Adobe Near Route 66
For those interested in the oldest layer of La Verne’s history, the Carrión Adobe at 919 Puddingstone Drive is a California State Historic Landmark — a home built in 1868 by Saturnino Carrión on his 380-acre ranch that was part of the Rancho San José held by his uncle Ygnacio Palomares. The adobe is an L-shaped structure built of sun-baked bricks with 22-inch-thick adobe walls — thick enough to maintain natural cooling even during the peak of summer — and high ceilings with original beams. It is believed to have been designed by an Italian architect, and the timbers for the building were hauled from Los Angeles by carretas (carts) and horseback.
The Carrión Adobe has a colorful legal history: Saturnino Carrión mortgaged his home to fight against the creation of the Puddingstone Reservoir on his land, losing the battle — as the lake that now stands where his ranch once was clearly demonstrates. The adobe was abandoned, designated a California State Historic Landmark in 1945, used as a hen run in the interim, and finally restored by Paul Traweek in 1951. It is currently private property, but the site is marked with a plaque and is included in Route 66 historical guides to the La Verne area. The nearby Puddingstone Reservoir — whose creation Carrión fought so hard against — is now a recreation area offering fishing, camping, and water activities within the Bonelli Regional Park complex, making it a pleasant complement to a La Verne Route 66 visit.
Practical Information for Your La Verne Route 66 Visit
Getting to La Verne
From Los Angeles (west): Follow Foothill Boulevard east from Claremont or Glendora into La Verne. Route 66/Foothill Boulevard continues unchanged through the community boundaries.
From San Bernardino (east): Follow Foothill Boulevard / State Route 66 west from Rancho Cucamonga through Upland and Claremont into La Verne.
From Interstate 210 (Foothill Freeway): Multiple exits access Foothill Boulevard in La Verne. The Foothill Boulevard exit itself is the most direct.
From State Route 57 (Orange Freeway): Take Route 57 north to the Foothill Boulevard junction and head east or west as needed.
By Metrolink: The Metrolink San Bernardino Line serves La Verne station, providing rail access from downtown Los Angeles (Union Station) with connections to San Bernardino. The La Verne station is near the Old Town district on D Street.
Time Required
A thorough La Verne Route 66 visit — Foothill Boulevard driving tour (La Paloma Restaurant, Mr. D’s Diner, Route 66 signage), Old Town La Verne (D Street walk, University of La Verne, Deodar tree corridor, The Graduate film location church), Heritage Park (orange groves, Weber House), and the Carrión Adobe marker — requires a comfortable half-day. Heritage Park and Old Town together constitute the most distinctive and irreplaceable experiences in La Verne; the Foothill Boulevard commercial corridor, while active, is the most suburban of the three experiences.
Heritage Park and the Orange Groves
La Verne Mansion and Heritage Park is the best place in the city to connect with the citrus era that defined La Verne’s Route 66 identity. Contact the La Verne Historical Society for current tour schedules and Heritage Park access. The park is located south of Foothill Boulevard; directions are available at the La Verne City Hall visitor resources.
Dining on Route 66 in La Verne
La Paloma Restaurant at 2975 Foothill Boulevard has been serving since 1966 and remains one of the more reliable Route 66-connected dining stops in the community. Mr. D’s Diner on Foothill Boulevard is both photogenic and functional. Old Town La Verne’s D Street has several dining options including Cafe Allegro, noted for its Italian cuisine and sidewalk dining, two blocks east of D Street on Third Street.
Climate
La Verne has a warm Mediterranean climate — semi-arid, with hot and dry summers and cool winters. Like the neighboring San Gabriel Valley communities, it experiences the Santa Ana winds in fall. Average summer highs reach 90°F; winters bring cool temperatures with the peaks of the San Gabriel Mountains occasionally receiving snow visible from Foothill Boulevard. Spring (March–May) and fall (September–November) are the most pleasant seasons for walking Old Town La Verne and Heritage Park.
Nearby Route 66 Highlights in the San Gabriel Valley
Route 66 in Glendora, California — About 5 miles east on Route 66 (Foothill Boulevard through San Dimas into Glendora), the city that officially renamed its street “Route 66” is home to the Frank Chance Baseball Hall of Fame Building, Rubel Castle, and the Golden Spur neon legacy.
Aztec Hotel, Monrovia — About 15 miles west on Route 66, the 1925 National Historic Landmark is the first Mayan Revival architecture building in the United States — one of the most visually extraordinary stops on California’s entire Mother Road corridor.
Route 66 in Rancho Cucamonga, California — About 15 miles east on Route 66, the city with California’s oldest winery (Thomas Winery, est. 1839), the 1915 Cucamonga Service Station Route 66 Museum, the Sycamore Inn stagecoach stop (since 1848), and the Magic Lamp Inn neon landmark.
Route 66 in Pasadena, California — About 20 miles west on Route 66 (Colorado Boulevard), Pasadena’s celebrated corridor passes the Colorado Street Bridge, Norton Simon Museum, and the Gamble House, with Colorado Boulevard celebrating its own 150th anniversary in 2026 alongside the Route 66 Centennial.
Route 66 in Los Angeles, California — About 30 miles west, the Route 66 alignment through Los Angeles follows Sunset Boulevard through Hollywood and Santa Monica Boulevard through West Hollywood and Beverly Hills to the Santa Monica Pier.
Santa Monica Pier — End of the Trail — About 45 miles west at the Pacific Ocean, the End of the Trail sign marks the symbolic completion of the 2,448-mile journey from Chicago.
Route 66 in California — Complete Guide — The full overview of all 314 miles of California’s Route 66 from Needles on the Arizona border through the Inland Empire, San Gabriel Valley, La Verne, Pasadena, and Los Angeles to the End of the Trail at the Santa Monica Pier.
Route 66 Centennial 2026 — The 100th anniversary of Route 66 is November 11, 2026. La Verne is participating in the Centennial celebrations — the city formally recognizes that Foothill Boulevard’s Route 66 heritage is central to its identity. Check this page for California centennial events.
Route 66 — Complete Guide — The definitive guide to all 2,448 miles of the Mother Road, from the Begin sign in Chicago to the End of the Trail at the Santa Monica Pier.
