Welcome to the web page for

Along the Old Roads

A History of the Portion of Southern California

That Became Riverside County, 1772-1893

(Order yours today - see below)

    Along the Old Roads has been described as the definitive history of Riverside County, California.  It's 902-page length delves into the settlement patterns of the area, the formation of the towns and cities that were present up to 1893, and then details all of the efforts that went into creating Riverside County.  Unlike many of its predecessors, though, Along the Old Roads tells of Riverside County's formation through the eyes of both the proponents and opponents, who fought to keep the status quo.

    The book consists of very readable text (see below for sample), most of which is cited with references and additional information in the citations.  In addition, several photos, maps, and many contemporary descriptions of towns, areas, and narratives of the county division struggle also appear, as do more than 25 appendices offering further background information.  If you are interested in any aspect of Riverside County history, or Southern California in general, Along the Old Roads would be a worthwhile addition to your library.

To order your copy of Along the Old Roads, please send a check for $43 ($38 + $5 shipping) to

The beginning of what would become Riverside is a unique story within our area. Riverside represents Riverside County’s only true "colony" development,¹ while also being one of the first true townsite settlements within the county. Generally speaking, the genesis of Riverside lay with two men - Judge John Wesley North and Dr. James Porter Greves, although they had several associates. North was very much the 19^th-century idealist and often thought of the pleasures that could be experienced in a town composed solely of people for whom the greater good of the community was the ultimate aspiration. North himself said it best when he wrote:

North already had experience forming communities. He had helped with excursions up the Mississippi River bringing settlers to Minneapolis in the early 1850s, and had a major role in the settlements of Faribault and Northfield, both also in Minnesota.³ He had helped to establish the Republican Party in Minnesota, and was an ardent abolitionist who also subscribed to another tenet of the time - temperance. Dr. Greves was a like-minded person who had been associated with North for many years, often following him and working with him on various projects. Greves was very influential in the settlement and success of Marshall, Michigan, so he too was skilled in establishing colonies. After the Civil War, the pair moved into the southern states in an attempt to help ease the South back into the Union. North’s theory, like that of many others at that time, was that with investment and respectable citizenry, those in the South could be brought back into the fold of the Union. Therefore, in 1869, both North and Greves were in Knoxville, Tennessee, where North hoped to found a colony of New Englanders who would offer investment, and better yet, a more "positive" influence, to the residents of eastern Tennessee. However, North was meeting resistance. As well-intentioned as he may have been, North failed to see the other side of the coin. Southerners saw people such as North and Greves as carpetbaggers who were corrupt and wanting to use the South only for their own selfish purposes. As such, North found himself shut out of the community, with many people openly boycotting him and trying to ruin him financially.