The story
History
Indigenous peoples
Before Spanish settlement, the area was inhabited by the Tongva, Serrano, and Cahuilla. The Tongva village of Homhoangna was located in the area that is now Colton, situated near the base of the foothills of Reche Canyon, historically known as Homhoa Canyon, derived from the Tongva language word homhoabit or "hilly place."
Spanish and Mexican settlement
During the Mission Era, the Mission San Gabriel established a Spanish settlement Politana in 1810, just northeast of what is now Colton. By 1840, Colton was part of two private ranchos, Rancho Jurupa and Rancho San Bernardino. The southwest area of modern-day Colton was known as "Agua Mansa" (Gentle Waters). It had been settled by New Mexico pioneers in 1842. What is currently known as Cooley Ranch was known as Indian Knolls for nearly 100 years. This is because the Indians living in what is now the San Bernardino Valley found refuge on the knolls of the property during the flood of 1862.
American settlement
The original owner of Cooley Ranch was George Cooley of Kent, England who had moved to Colton in 1853 and who purchased 200 acres at $3.50 an acre along the Santa Ana River the next year. Cooley was chairman of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors in San Bernardino County. By 1873, the property had mushroomed into a 400-acre property. Eventually, when property taxes had increased, the property was sold to Villelli Enterprises of La Habra. The city was named after David Douty Colton, who had been a brigadier general of the California State Militia in 1855, prior to the Civil War. He was later the vice president of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company.
Rancho San Bernardino was purchased by Mormon settlers in 1851 who began establishing the neighboring City of San Bernardino. Land disputes between the Mormons and squatters in the area during this period gave rise to Fort Benson on land in present-day Colton.
Colton was created in its modern form when the Southern Pacific Railway was built heading east from Los Angeles in 1875. It was founded in 1875 and incorporated in 1887. Colton was the site of conflict between the Southern Pacific Transportation Company and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway at Colton Crossing when both railroads wanted to cross through the town.
Virgil Earp lived in Colton at 528 West "H" Street where he was the town's first marshal. He resided in Colton from 1883 to 1889. Morgan Earp is buried at Hermosa Cemetery.
1950s to present
In 1953, a significant portion of the historic downtown of Colton was bulldozed to make room for the Ramona Freeway, which would later be named the San Bernardino Freeway. This included the block on the west side of Eighth Street north of J, including the then 70-year-old Helman's Department Store building, originally housing the First National Bank of Colton, on the corner and the Willet's Department Store building to its north. Both stores moved to locations further north on Eighth.
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Colton had a population of 53,909. The population density was 3,466.8 inhabitants per square mile (1,338.5/km2). The median age was 32.2 years. The age distribution was 26.6% under the age of 18, 10.8% aged 18 to 24, 29.6% aged 25 to 44, 22.6% aged 45 to 64, and 10.3% who were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 96.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males.
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99.8% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.2% lived in rural areas. The census reported that 99.0% of the population lived in households, 0.6% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.4% were institutionalized.
There were 16,018 households, out of which 44.2% included children under the age of 18. Of all households, 44.7% were married-couple households, 8.6% were cohabiting couple households, 28.4% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present, and 18.2% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. 17.0% of households were one person, and 5.2% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.33. There were 12,298 families (76.8% of all households).
There were 16,632 housing units, of which 96.3% were occupied. Of occupied units, 50.4% were owner-occupied and 49.6% were occupied by renters. 3.7% of housing units were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.7% and the rental vacancy rate was 4.8%.
2023 ACS 5-year estimate
In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $69,581, and the per capita income was $26,757. About 12.1% of families and 15.3% of the population were below the poverty line.
2010 census
At the 2010 census Colton had a population of 52,154. The population density was 3,251.7 inhabitants per square mile (1,255.5/km2). The racial makeup of Colton was 22,613 (43.4%) White (13.0% Non-Hispanic White), 5,055 (9.7%) African American, 661 (1.3%) Native American, 2,590 (5.0%) Asian, 176 (0.3%) Pacific Islander, 18,413 (35.3%) from other races, and 2,646 (5.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 37,039 persons (71.0%).
The census reported that 51,824 people (99.4% of the population) lived in households, 85 (0.2%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 245 (0.5%) were institutionalized.
There were 14,971 households, 7,826 (52.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 7,167 (47.9%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 3,233 (21.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 1,340 (9.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 1,268 (8.5%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 106 (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 2,452 households (16.4%) were one person and 614 (4.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 3.46. There were 11,740 families (78.4% of households); the average family size was 3.86.
The age distribution was 16,671 people (32.0%) under the age of 18, 6,360 people (12.2%) aged 18 to 24, 14,965 people (28.7%) aged 25 to 44, 10,495 people (20.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 3,663 people (7.0%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 28.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.6 males.
There were 16,350 housing units at an average density of 1,019.4 per square mile, of the occupied units 7,766 (51.9%) were owner-occupied and 7,205 (48.1%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 9.2%. 28,063 people (53.8% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 23,761 people (45.6%) lived in rental housing units.
According to the 2010 United States Census, Colton had a median household income of $41,496, with 22.5% of the population living below the federal poverty line.
From Wikipedia’s article on Colton, California, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4