Indigenous and
Payómkawichum (pictured in 1910) long inhabited the area that is now Corona. Prior to the late eighteenth century, the area was primarily inhabited by the
Tongva and
Payómkawichum, who lived in a series of villages throughout the area. What is now Corona stood at the southeastern extent of
Tovaangar, or the Tongva world, and at the northern edge of Payómkawichum territory. The primary settlement in the area was the village of
Paxauxa, which was established along the banks of the
Temescal Creek at about where Corona is situated today. The settlement was shared by both the
Tongva and
Payómkawichum people. Cooperation and marriage between the two villages was common. High above the city of Corona, the village of
Pamajam was also located in a small valley of the
Santa Ana Mountains.
Colonial period , a wealthy
Californio ranchero, was granted
Rancho La Sierra, which included all of modern-day Corona.The founding of
Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1776 and
Mission San Luis Rey in 1798 saw the introduction of Spanish soldiers and missionaries in the area. This resulted in villagers being brought to the mission to be baptized and as labor. Spanish influence increased in the area with the establishment of the
San Antonio de Pala Asistencia in 1816. Two years following the construction of this mission outpost, the
Temescal Valley's first European resident, Leandro Serrano, was given permission by the Spanish to use the area for
cattle grazing. His first order was to kill the local
bear and
mountain lion population for the imported herds. After the
secularization of the Spanish missions by the
First Mexican Republic in 1833, the land under influence by the missions in
Alta California was gradually granted to large landowners as ranches. In 1848, Californio governor
Pio Pico issued this land to
Bernardo Yorba, which included present-day city of Corona. The street layout was designed by Hiram Clay Kellogg, a civil engineer from
Anaheim who was an influential figure in the early development of Orange County. Corona was established as a town by the
South Riverside Land and Water Company. The company was incorporated in 1886; founding members included ex-Governor of Iowa
Samuel Merrill, R.B. Taylor, George L. Joy, A.S. Garretson, and Adolph Rimpau. Originally a citrus growers' organization, it purchased the lands of
Rancho La Sierra of Bernardo Yorba, and the
Rancho Temescal grant and the colony of South Riverside was laid out. They also secured the water rights to
Temescal Creek, its tributaries and Lee Lake. Dams and pipelines were built to carry the water to the colony. In 1889, the Temescal Water Company was incorporated, to supply water for the new colony. This company purchased all the water-bearing lands in the Temescal valley and began drilling artesian wells. Originally located in
San Bernardino County, the city was named "South Riverside" and received its post office in that name on either May 27 or August 11, 1887 with Charles H. Cornell as the town's first
postmaster.
20th century The city of Corona has been popular among celebrities drawn to its upscale areas and relative privacy compared to Los Angeles.
Lucille Ball and
Desi Arnaz spent time at their ranch, located in north Corona (in what is now considered
Eastvale), and played golf often at the Cresta Verde Golf Course in the northeastern section of the city. After their divorce, Arnaz continued to live in Corona. In recent years Corona has been known as the "Gateway to the
Inland Empire". In April 1980 David Felix became Corona's first Hispanic Mayor. Main Street Realtors wrote, "Prior to the 1980s, the city was largely an agricultural community, dominated by citrus orchards, ranches, and
dairy farms. High real estate prices in
Los Angeles and
Orange counties made the area's land desirable to developers and industrialists, and by the late 1990s Corona was considered a major
suburb of
Los Angeles."
21st century In 2002, the city government considered an initiative to secede from Riverside County and form an autonomous Corona County because the city government and some residents were dissatisfied with how services were handled in nearby areas. The effort was also considered by areas in other cities in the western part of the county as far south as
Murrieta. Whether nearby cities such as
Norco would have been included in the new county are unknown. The proposed county would have been bordered by
San Bernardino County to the northwest and by
Orange County to the west, but it never came to fruition. ==Geography and climate==