California Citrus State Historic Park
Cultural Heritage, Parks
This park preserves some of the rapidly vanishing cultural landscape of the citrus industry and tells the story of this industry’s role in the history and development of California. The park recaptures the time when “Citrus was King” in California, recognising the importance of the citrus industry in southern California.
In 1873, the U.S. Department of Agriculture forever changed the history of Southern California when it sent two small navel orange trees to Riverside resident Eliza Tibbets. Those trees, growing in near perfect soil and weather conditions, produced an especially sweet and flavourful fruit. Word of this far superior orange quickly spread, and a great agricultural industry was born.
In the early 1900s, an effort to promote citrus ranching in the state brought hundreds of would-be citrus barons to California for the “second Gold Rush.” The lush groves of oranges, lemons and grapefruit gave California another legacy – its lingering image as the Golden State – the land of sunshine and opportunity.
Location: 9400 Dufferin Avenue
Riverside, California 92504
Phone: (951) 780-6222
Website: www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=649
Hours: October-March 8am-5pm 7 Days a Week
April-September 8am-5pm Monday-Friday 8am-7pm Saturday, Sunday
