The area was first inhabited by the Gabrielino and Serrano tribes. , a Mexican-era
rancho granted to Don
Juan Bandini, a noted
Californio entrepreneur, in 1838.
Etymology Although no geographic feature or town was officially named Jurupa Valley prior to the establishment of the city in 2011, the term is known to have been used as early as 1887 when referring to lands along the northeast side of the
Santa Ana River opposite the city of Riverside. The name "Jurupa" was derived from the 1838
Mexican land grant Rancho Jurupa, which the Jurupa Valley area had been part of. The
rancho, in turn, derived its name from a previous Jurupa
rancho operated by the
Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, until the mission was disbanded through the
Mexican Secularization Act of 1833. Both
Serrano and
Gabrieleño peoples lived in the area. The Gabrieleño referred to the village as
Jurungna or
Hurungna. The exact meaning of the word "jurupa" is disputed. The 1890 book,
An Illustrated History of Southern California, states that the word was a greeting, meaning ″peace and friendship″, used by the Native Americans when the first Catholic priest visited the area. In 1902, Father Juan Caballeria, in his
History of San Bernardino Valley; From the Padres to the Pioneer, states that the word was derived from
jurumpa, meaning watering place. Later linguistic studies concluded that the name likely refers to
juru,
Artemisia californica (California sagebrush), common in the area.
Incorporation On June 2, 1992, under measures E, F, and G, the first effort to form a city was voted down by the electorate. Measure E, whether or not to incorporate Jurupa and Mira Loma, lost 76% to 24%. Measure F, whether to vote city council members by district or at large, if incorporation passed, was 69% district, and 31% at large. Measure G, the selection of a city name, had the following results: Jurupa 40%, Rancho Jurupa 23%, West Riverside 21%, and Camino Real 16%. At the time, Jurupa was described as including the neighborhoods of Rubidoux, Pedley, and Glen Avon. On March 8, 2011, a second proposal for incorporation was put before the voters. This time, the measure passed with 54% voting yes, 46% voting no, and with an effective date of July 1, 2011. At the time, the new city was estimated to have a population of 88,000, and included the communities of Mira Loma, Glen Avon, Sky Country, Indian Hills, Pedley, Rubidoux, Belltown, Jurupa, Jurupa Hills, and Sunnyslope. The city immediately faced the possibility of disincorporation when the California Senate passed Bill 89, which shifted millions of dollars of vehicle license fees away from cities. The new city struggled for several years, and in 2014 notified the Riverside County Local Agency Formation Commission that it might be necessary to disincorporate. In September 2015, Senate Bill 25 was passed by the California Assembly and Senate to restore funding to cities, but was vetoed by then-Governor
Jerry Brown. Later in the month, Senate Bill 107 was signed by the governor. It remediated many of the outstanding debts of Jurupa Valley, as well as three other recently incorporated cities in Riverside County.
Historic events • Between 1926 and 1928, the
Wineville Chicken Coop Murders, a series of abductions and murders of young boys, took place within Jurupa Valley city limits. At the time, the community of Wineville was unincorporated. Today, it is the Jurupa Valley neighborhood of Mira Loma. • The
Stringfellow Acid Pits, a toxic waste dump and a
Superfund site, became the center of national news coverage in the early 1980s. == Demographics ==