Bob Smith knows the valley from A to Z
By David Allen / February 10, 2011
The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
BOB SMITH has published a new edition of "Redefining the Inland Valley," his guidebook to our area. Should that be "Re-Redefining"?
A lot has changed since the first printing in 1999: addition of the 210 Freeway and Victoria Gardens, reopening of Fox theaters in Pomona and Riverside, the demise of PFF and Security Pacific banks and the last block of Old Town Chino.
The new book is up to date enough to include the removal of the railroad bridge at Red Hill in Rancho Cucamonga, which took place last July.
Most of the book is the same, though: a series of driving tours of local cities, a timeline, a reading list and an A to Z dictionary of local places, people and events, from Adobe to Zappa, Frank.
Bob Smith dips into his local history book
"Redefining the Inland Valley" under the
watchful eye of Ontario and Upland founder
George Chaffey. (David Allen/Staff)
"This is written for people like me who need visual aids and who have a short attention span," Smith joked. "Redefining" is a useful general history of the area, especially since the book encompasses so much territory: Not only Ontario, Pomona and environs but San Bernardino, Redlands and Riverside.
(Smith's definition of the Inland Valley is more expansive than the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin's, but at least he likes the name enough to use it.)
Smith, 80, of Claremont is known to many from his days teaching art and photography at Chaffey College. The Hollywood native moved east in 1950 at the urging of his best friend.
"You've got to come out to Pomona to meet some girls," his friend told Smith, who ended up marrying the roommate of his friend's fiancee. He and Gwen have been married 58 years.
Smith's book had its genesis in the drawings of Alta Loma landmarks he began sketching in the late 1970s to document them before they did a quick fade.
"Groves were being torn out for development," Smith told me. "It would look different when I got home from work than when I left in the morning. I'd be lost in my own neighborhood. The landmarks were just disappearing."
Smith started producing calendars with 12 of his drawings, each with a historical blurb. His natural curiosity led him to expand his knowledge of the area.
He spent a year in research at local libraries, primarily at Upland's. We met there last week for a chat and a photo near the George Chaffey statue outside.
"I like finding out about things," Smith said. "Why are there two Arrows? Why are there three counties? Why is there a cemetery in Spadra - what's that about?"
(In short: Blame Claremont for diverting the otherwise-direct Arrow Highway; L.A. County encompassed the whole area until San Berdoo and Riverside broke away in the 1890s; Spadra was once a rail center with its own post office before drying up.)
For the past decade, Smith has kept a master copy of his book in which he's made additions and corrections, enough to prompt the new edition.
He'll be selling and signing copies on Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Magic Door Books, 155 W. Second St. in Pomona, and from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Cooper Museum, 217 A St. in Upland.
His book's intended audience? Fourth-graders studying California history, adults who like history and newcomers who don't know the local geography.
"My trainer at my gym is new here. I mentioned Kellogg Hill and he didn't know what that was," Smith said. "`Oh, is that the name of that hill? I didn't know it had a name."'
Look it up.
David Allen runs the gamut from A to B each Friday, Sunday and Wednesday. E-mail [email protected], call 909-483-9339 or write 2041 E. Fourth St., Ontario 91764. Find his blog at www.dailybulletin.com/davidallenblog
The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
BOB SMITH has published a new edition of "Redefining the Inland Valley," his guidebook to our area. Should that be "Re-Redefining"?
A lot has changed since the first printing in 1999: addition of the 210 Freeway and Victoria Gardens, reopening of Fox theaters in Pomona and Riverside, the demise of PFF and Security Pacific banks and the last block of Old Town Chino.
The new book is up to date enough to include the removal of the railroad bridge at Red Hill in Rancho Cucamonga, which took place last July.
Most of the book is the same, though: a series of driving tours of local cities, a timeline, a reading list and an A to Z dictionary of local places, people and events, from Adobe to Zappa, Frank.
Bob Smith dips into his local history book
"Redefining the Inland Valley" under the
watchful eye of Ontario and Upland founder
George Chaffey. (David Allen/Staff)
"This is written for people like me who need visual aids and who have a short attention span," Smith joked. "Redefining" is a useful general history of the area, especially since the book encompasses so much territory: Not only Ontario, Pomona and environs but San Bernardino, Redlands and Riverside.
(Smith's definition of the Inland Valley is more expansive than the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin's, but at least he likes the name enough to use it.)
Smith, 80, of Claremont is known to many from his days teaching art and photography at Chaffey College. The Hollywood native moved east in 1950 at the urging of his best friend.
"You've got to come out to Pomona to meet some girls," his friend told Smith, who ended up marrying the roommate of his friend's fiancee. He and Gwen have been married 58 years.
Smith's book had its genesis in the drawings of Alta Loma landmarks he began sketching in the late 1970s to document them before they did a quick fade.
"Groves were being torn out for development," Smith told me. "It would look different when I got home from work than when I left in the morning. I'd be lost in my own neighborhood. The landmarks were just disappearing."
Smith started producing calendars with 12 of his drawings, each with a historical blurb. His natural curiosity led him to expand his knowledge of the area.
He spent a year in research at local libraries, primarily at Upland's. We met there last week for a chat and a photo near the George Chaffey statue outside.
"I like finding out about things," Smith said. "Why are there two Arrows? Why are there three counties? Why is there a cemetery in Spadra - what's that about?"
(In short: Blame Claremont for diverting the otherwise-direct Arrow Highway; L.A. County encompassed the whole area until San Berdoo and Riverside broke away in the 1890s; Spadra was once a rail center with its own post office before drying up.)
For the past decade, Smith has kept a master copy of his book in which he's made additions and corrections, enough to prompt the new edition.
He'll be selling and signing copies on Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Magic Door Books, 155 W. Second St. in Pomona, and from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Cooper Museum, 217 A St. in Upland.
His book's intended audience? Fourth-graders studying California history, adults who like history and newcomers who don't know the local geography.
"My trainer at my gym is new here. I mentioned Kellogg Hill and he didn't know what that was," Smith said. "`Oh, is that the name of that hill? I didn't know it had a name."'
Look it up.
David Allen runs the gamut from A to B each Friday, Sunday and Wednesday. E-mail [email protected], call 909-483-9339 or write 2041 E. Fourth St., Ontario 91764. Find his blog at www.dailybulletin.com/davidallenblog