Fontana’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 9 old photos of Fontana. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Fontana, formerly Rosena from 1890 to 1919, was founded in 1919 by Azariel Blanchard Miller. The name fontana is Italian for fountain or water source; the city is close to the Santa Ana River to the east. Within a few years, it became an agricultural town of citrus orchards, vineyards and chicken ranches and astride U.S. Route 66 (now known as Foothill Boulevard). The Fontana area was radically transformed during World War II when Henry J. Kaiser built the Kaiser Steel plant just outside the city limits. At the time, it was one of only two steel mills west of the Mississippi River. To provide for the plant workers' health needs, Henry J. Kaiser constructed the Fontana Kaiser Permanente medical facility, now the largest managed care organization in the United States.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Fontana’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fontana’s history is told.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🗓️Date a photo8 archive items have no date+2 🔁Retake an old viewSettling basin, facing north. - S…, 1990: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Fontana
See all 65 →
Fontana, decade by decade
unknown8 items
LOCDate?Sainsevain Property, 14804 Summit Avenue
LOCDate?Getchell Ranch, 4055 Lytle Creek Road
LOCDate?Sainsevain Property, Smokehouse, 14804 Summit Avenue
LOCDate?Sainsevain Property, Mill, 14804 Summit Avenue
LOCDate?Sainsevain Property, Cobblestone Garages, 14804 Summit Aven…
LOCDate?Sainsevain Property, Lime Kilns, 14804 Summit Avenue
LOCDate?Sainsevain Property, Sansevain House, 14804 Summit Avenue
LOCDate?Sainsevain Property, Circular Reservoir, 14804 Summit Avenue
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Sainsevain Property, 14804 Summit Avenue and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Historic places
National Register · via Wikidata
From Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (8) and the National Register (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.