Riverside 365

Archive for April, 2010

George's Burgers

George’s Drive-In is another of Riverside’s “institutions”.

I have tried to dig up a little bit of history on this place, but found little more than comments on Yelp, or restaurant reviews.

That said, if you haven’t had the chance to eat here, you should!
Especially if you are a “side” person. By that I am referring to onion rings, and such.

As much as I would personally love to restore their sign (and the bad peeling vinyl letters), it fits with the age and character of the rest of the place.

Lets hope that Riverside embraces its past and works to preserve and restore such places rather than demolish them for the sake of “Progress”.

If anyone knows more information on the history of George’s, please let me know.
I would love to update this post with a little historical information.

Riverside Municipal Auditorium

Thousands of miles from the battlefield, Riverside, like cities over much of the world, mourned it’s young men lost in World War 1. As early as 1919, community leaders were promoting the idea of a municipal auditorium which would also serve as a memorial to these men. A $200,000 bond issue for the construction of such memorial, though, was narrowly defeated in a 1921 election.

In 1925, the Mission Inn’s Frank Miller renewed discussion of a memorial with an offer to the city of a large piece of land at the corner of 7th (now Mission Inn Ave.) and Lemon Streets as the location for a municipal auditorium with rooms where veterans could meet. Miller’s gift was conditional to the construction of only one building – at a cost of not less than $200,000 – on the site.

The Daily Enterprise supported the memorial, as proposed by Miller, as a “patriotic need” and endorsed passage of a bond issue to fund it. Passage of that issue, in early 1926, committed $180,000 for construction and interior equipment.

The Municipal Auditorium and Soldiers’ Memorial Building was dedicated on March 14, 1929. Miller’s grant of land stipulates that the property be “maintained in perpetuity” as a memorial to the fallen soldiers…a reminder of the war’s tragic toll.

Riverside Plaza

Another view of the Riverside Plaza (Request Photo)

The Blacksmith Shop

The oldest continuous blacksmith shop in California, this place has a special interest to me.

The sign (prominently displayed), is a project that I have been working on for the past week.

The original sign, as you can imagine, was in pretty bad shape.

The owner asked if I could update the sign, yet keep with the original “feel” of the place.

Personally, I think it is coming out quite well!

Almost complete, I still have the phone number to apply, and two hanging “services” signs.

It is great to be part of the history of Riverside!

Van Buren Drive-In

One of the few Drive-In theaters still in use, this place has been around as long as dirt has!
In fact, I saw my first movie there (Peter Pan).

Somehow this place has managed to avoid being demolished with the recent growth in the area.

Farm House Motel

I am not even sure if this place is open anymore, but back in the day, when Riverside had an “International Speedway”, you would see this place packed with race car trailers.

Union Pacific

There is a lot of history in the city of Riverside.

Though time has changed the city’s identity, it was originally known as the city of firsts: First palm tree lined street (set mood for California), the first trolley cars, Naval orange trees, and so on).

Though I imagine that this old Union Pacific train also has some history behind it. All that I could find was that the train was donated to the city in July, 1954.

As a kid, the train was open to the public.
From front to back, top to bottom kids (and adult kids) would scour every inch of the beast.

These days, this train has gone the way of the old playgrounds with metal slides, and rusted joints.

Mission Mosaic

Timing is everything (okay, maybe location too)!

Surprise! Didn’t expect to see me back at the Mission Inn, did you?

This time I was actually going to the Crescent Jewell to get some lunch.

My friend, eagerly waiting for me, was mocking my effort to take some pictures of the sky and clouds. And then………..

Just as the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds {click}.

He decided to take back his comments after seeing the picture.

Remember When?

Remember when…….

Market Street was packed with shiny cars, and cruising was popular?

Drive-In diners actually existed?

Well so does De Anza Muffler.
An icon in downtown Riverside, this place has been around forever!

I could not help but appreciate the beauty of this place with the old car sitting on the lift.

Thank goodness that there was a place to stop after a trip around the block.

Lake Evans

Located in Fairmount Park, Lake Evans is bound to hold memories for any resident who has been in Riverside for a while.

Though events in the park seem to be picking up these days, the “attendance” is a far cry from earlier days (in my lifetime anyway).

The shoreline has always intrigued me with its gnarled exposed roots and old growth trees.

Looks more like something from the deep south than what one would expect in Riverside.