Chap­ter 3: A School Among the Orange Groves takes us back to the mid-1950s, when California’s only state-run school for deaf stu­dents was locat­ed in San Fran­cis­co, known as the Cal­i­for­nia School for the Deaf. This insti­tu­tion became a vital cen­ter for Deaf Cul­ture in the state, offer­ing a space for both edu­ca­tion and com­mu­ni­ty. How­ev­er, for fam­i­lies resid­ing in South­ern Cal­i­for­nia, espe­cial­ly those liv­ing near the Mex­i­can bor­der, the long trip to Berke­ley posed a sig­nif­i­cant chal­lenge, par­tic­u­lar­ly giv­en the lim­it­ed trans­porta­tion options. Fol­low­ing the post-World War II boom, as Los Ange­les grew into a major city, advo­cates pushed for the estab­lish­ment of a sec­ond school in the South­ern part of the state. This led to the cre­ation of the Cal­i­for­nia School for the Deaf in River­side in 1946, under Gov­er­nor Earl War­ren, which aimed to pro­vide greater acces­si­bil­i­ty for stu­dents in South­ern Cal­i­for­nia. This move was a game-chang­er for many fam­i­lies who had long strug­gled with the geo­graph­i­cal and logis­ti­cal obsta­cles of send­ing their chil­dren to the north­ern part of the state.

In 1946, River­side was a mod­est city of about 50,000 peo­ple, main­ly rec­og­nized for its exten­sive orange groves. These groves had become a sym­bol of the area, flour­ish­ing due to irri­ga­tion sys­tems that trans­formed the arid land into fer­tile soil. This agri­cul­tur­al boom was large­ly fueled by the intro­duc­tion of the navel orange from Brazil in the 1870s, a sweet and prized vari­ety that rev­o­lu­tion­ized the cit­rus indus­try. The city’s trans­for­ma­tion into a cit­rus pow­er­house helped estab­lish River­side as the epi­cen­ter of Cal­i­for­ni­a’s orange indus­try. As the region’s oranges became wide­ly acclaimed, with awards won at pres­ti­gious events such as the New Orleans World’s Fair, River­side gained nation­al recog­ni­tion. This agri­cul­tur­al suc­cess laid the ground­work for the city’s future growth, which would go on to include sig­nif­i­cant indus­tri­al and eco­nom­ic devel­op­ment, con­tribut­ing to its expan­sion into a thriv­ing urban area over the com­ing decades.

In 1948, River­side was cho­sen as the site for the new school, locat­ed amid bar­ley fields and orange groves. This loca­tion was select­ed inten­tion­al­ly to dis­tance the school from the stig­ma asso­ci­at­ed with men­tal insti­tu­tions, ensur­ing that the new facil­i­ty would offer an empow­er­ing and pos­i­tive envi­ron­ment for its stu­dents. The land was pur­chased for a mod­est price of $68,500, which would lat­er prove to be an incred­i­ble invest­ment. Although the school did not open its doors to stu­dents until 1953, the antic­i­pa­tion for the school’s estab­lish­ment was pal­pa­ble through­out the region. The Cal­i­for­nia School for the Deaf in River­side was strate­gi­cal­ly locat­ed with views of the San Gabriel Moun­tains, pro­vid­ing a peace­ful, inspir­ing back­drop for stu­dents and staff. The school’s expan­sive, well-main­tained grounds were rare among state insti­tu­tions at the time, offer­ing an ide­al space for edu­ca­tion and per­son­al growth for its stu­dents.

As the years passed, River­side under­went sig­nif­i­cant changes. The once-thriv­ing orange orchards began to make way for sub­ur­ban devel­op­ment, and the city’s pop­u­la­tion grew expo­nen­tial­ly, reach­ing 300,000 by 2022. Riverside’s strate­gic loca­tion in South­ern Cal­i­for­nia, with its close prox­im­i­ty to freight and logis­tics hubs, helped to solid­i­fy its role as a key play­er in the U.S. econ­o­my. The city adapt­ed to a more car-cen­tric cul­ture, with hous­ing devel­op­ments sprawl­ing across the area, which changed its land­scape sig­nif­i­cant­ly. Despite the trans­for­ma­tion into a bustling urban cen­ter, River­side still retained ties to its agri­cul­tur­al her­itage. Revi­tal­ized down­town areas and pub­lic parks ded­i­cat­ed to its cit­rus lega­cy served as reminders of the city’s agri­cul­tur­al roots. Local his­to­ri­an Vin­cent Moses cap­tures the sen­ti­ment sur­round­ing these changes, reflect­ing on how River­side evolved from a peace­ful agri­cul­tur­al com­mu­ni­ty to a thriv­ing urban land­scape. His obser­va­tions high­light the com­plex­i­ty of such a trans­for­ma­tion, empha­siz­ing both the growth and the preser­va­tion of Riverside’s unique his­to­ry as the city adapt­ed to the pres­sures of mod­ern devel­op­ment.

As River­side con­tin­ues to grow and evolve, its shift from a small farm­ing town to an indus­tri­al pow­er­house serves as a mod­el of adapt­abil­i­ty. The city’s lega­cy, marked by its agri­cul­tur­al foun­da­tions, remains an impor­tant part of its iden­ti­ty even as it embraces its role as a logis­tics hub in the mod­ern era. Through all of these changes, Riverside’s trans­for­ma­tion illus­trates how cities can main­tain a con­nec­tion to their past while adapt­ing to new chal­lenges and oppor­tu­ni­ties. The cre­ation of the Cal­i­for­nia School for the Deaf in River­side stands as a tes­ta­ment to the city’s abil­i­ty to evolve while main­tain­ing a focus on the needs of its res­i­dents, par­tic­u­lar­ly those in the deaf com­mu­ni­ty.