Heritage of the Inland Empire
Work, migration, culture, and everyday spaces that shaped our region.
What Heritage Means Here
Heritage in the IE isn't just plaques and museum exhibits. It's:
Citrus groves and packing houses
Rail yards, warehouses, and factories
Small storefronts that extended trust before credit scores
Community halls, storefront churches, temples, mosques
Marches, movements, and meetings in parking lots and parks
This section exists to document and honor those foundations.
Featured Heritage Stories
From Groves to Freight Lines
How Riverside's orchards, Colton's rail lines, and San Bernardino's industrial corridors evolved into today's logistics landscape—and what that meant for workers and neighborhoods.
Read Full Story→
Arriving and Belonging
Stories of families and communities—Latino, Black, Asian, Middle Eastern, and more—who chose the Inland Empire, started businesses, built congregations, and raised new generations.
Read Full Story→
Shops That Stayed
Profiles of long-running barbershops, markets, tailors, mechanics, diners, healthcare practices—businesses that quietly served through recessions, detours, and city change.
Read Full Story→
Faith, Music & Movement
How faith spaces, car clubs, bands, spoken word nights, youth groups, and local sports gave people a sense of belonging and identity.
Read Full Story→How We Work With Heritage Content
• We welcome contributions from residents, elders, historians, educators, and community leaders.
• We distinguish between documented history and personal narrative.
• We correct respectfully when needed and invite additional perspectives.
• We avoid sensationalizing hardship; we focus on dignity and context.
Share a Heritage Story
Suggest or share a heritage story if you represent a long-standing institution or business, hold family or community history that should be preserved, or work with archives, schools, or historical societies.
