History
The City of Indio came about because of the need of a halfway point for the Southern Pacific Railroad between Yuma, Arizona and Los Angeles. The engines needed to be cleaned of all of the sand taken in and re-filled with water. At first, the-would-be city was called Indian Wells, but because of so many other areas already called that, Indio – after a Spanish variation of the word “Indian” – was chosen. After the railroad's arrival in 1876, Indio really started to take root. The first permanent building was the craftsman style Southern Pacific Depot station and hotel. Southern Pacific tried to make life as comfortable as it could for their workers in order to keep them from leaving such a difficult area to live in at the time. It was at the same the center of all social life in the desert with a fancy dining room and hosting dances on Friday nights.
While Indio started as a railroad town, it developed into an agricultural area shortly after. Onions, cotton, grapes, citrus and dates thrived in the arid climate due to the ingenuity of farmers finding various means of attaining water; first through artesian wells and later through the valley’s branch of the All-American Canal. However, water also was a major problem for Indio and the city was flooded several times until the storm water canals were created throughout the Coachella Valley.
Businessmen and women found this last frontier land of the continental United States as an ideal place to start fresh. Dr. Harry Smiley and his wife Nell were early residents and stayed in Indio after their car broke down on the way to Los Angeles and became people of influence and helped shape the area. A.G. Tingman was an early storeowner and first Postmaster of Indio, but also well known for taking advantage of miners as they headed to the mountains, selling at rather high prices. Later Dr. June Robertson McCarroll became a leading philanthropist as well as successful doctor in Indio. She was responsible along with the Indio Woman’s Club for pressing California into adopting the placing of white lines down the streets after she nearly got hit one too many times by passing vehicles. But even though these early founders of the city are considered pioneers, they still partook in the lifestyles of their friends living in such areas as Los Angeles. Indio established itself quickly and kept up with all the trends as they were brought in by the railroads.
At the turn of the 20th century, Indio was already an area that was not going to be a fading railroad town. Schools were built, the La Casita hospital provided medical services, and families established roots. This was the growth of a city, not just a railroad town.
By 1920, about one to two thousand year round residents lived in Indio, while it can double to 2,500 to 5,000 during the winter months and was advertised as a health resort for senior citizens and those with respiratory diseases and ailments in the rest of the 20th century.
Indio also served as the home of the USDA’s Date Station, a place where leading scientific research was taking place on the fruit that would become a major part of the culture of Indio. The station started in 1907 and was responsible for the ability of local farmers to better understand this unique crop and make the Coachella Valley a leader in American date crops. This also created a special tie of Indio to the Middle East that continues today. This also led to the one of a kind theme for our County Fair with the Middle Eastern flair.
It was not long before Coachella and Thermal were larger cities than Indio, but Indio remained the “Hub of the Valley,” as it was so called. With the burning of the majority of Thermal and the decline of Coachella, Indio grew again. By 1930 Indio was a thriving area and incorporated. On September 6, 1930, storekeeper Fred Kohler received the first business license in Indio.
It was also aided by the visiting soldiers from Patton’s training grounds in Chiriaco Summit located 30 miles to the east. However, Indio saw another decline as the valley’s population begin to move west towards newer cities such as Palm Desert. However, now there is a reversal in this trend and the eastern section of the valley is poised to once again become the center of the Coachella Valley.
The city had significant unemployment rates (in some cases over 20 percent) in the late 20th century and from the Late-2000s recession. The rate in 2006 was under 5 percent after the local economy rebounded in the real estate boom when more affluent residents moved in. The rapid population growth fuelled the city's present need for employment opportunities.
Read more about this topic: Indio, California
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“... in America ... children are instructed in the virtues of the system they live under, as though history had achieved a happy ending in American civics.”
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