Inland Empire Images presents a beautiful selection of photographs from across Southern California’s Inland Empire. Organized into four categories—Claremont, Ontario, Fontana, and San Bernardino—these images offer a stunning window into our past: citrus groves, vineyards, elegant hotels, fabulous houses, steam trains, stagecoaches, and trolleys. In the early 20th century, the Inland Valley—“the IE”—was the iconic West that attracted millions of transplants who now call Southern California home.

These images are a testament to an elegance and culture not typically associated with the Inland Empire. Before the Inland Empire surrendered that past to relentless, reckless hit-and-run development, there was a vibrant, pioneering history. Before the headlong rush to bulldoze everything beautiful in the IE; to stucco-ize every cultural monument, there was a history—and these photos tell the story.