CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the location of the old town of Florida. It was south of the San Jacinto River.

In 1886, an engineer by the colorful name of Burr Bassell produced two maps for the Fairview Land and Water Company.

A subdivision map, called The Fairview Tract Map, divided the holdings of the company, located where the San Jacinto River flowed from the mountains into the San Jacinto Valley, into large lots of 20 and 40 acres. The other map Bassell created was for a new town to be located south of the San Jacinto River.

The town was called Florida, for Flora, the Greek goddess of flowers.

The name was chosen because of the numerous wild flowers that filled the San Jacinto Valley before its settlement for farming.

The town of Florida grew fairly quickly. The center of town was the intersection of Florida and Fairview avenues. The town’s north-south streets were numbered, while the east-west streets were lettered, a naming pattern that can still be seen in the streets north and south of Florida Avenue, west of Bautista Creek.

Within two years, many lots were purchased and homes were built. By 1888 the little town had at least 30 homes, a grocery store and two hotels.

Around this same time the residents of Florida, tired of having to go into San Jacinto for mail, petitioned the federal government for a post office in their town. However, the postal service felt it would be too confusing to have a town with the same name as a state and the application was rejected.

Not to be thwarted, the residents came up with a new name for the post office, another version of Fairview, and the post office in Florida opened in February 1889 under the name “Valle Vista.” For many years the area was known by both names. Newspaper articles at the time usually mentioned both the Florida and Valle Vista names when referring to the little town.

The showpiece and community center for Florida was for many years the Florida Hotel, which opened in 1888 at the corner of Fifth and D streets. It was a three-story brick hotel known for its many magnolia trees. The hotel was later renamed the Magnolia Hotel.

An article in the May 13, 1893, edition of the Riverside Press and Horticulturist had this to say about Florida and the Florida Hotel: “It reminds one of an Eastern village, for the trees are tall and line all the streets, the houses look homelike and comfortable, cows graze on the commons, chickens and hogs wander about – all creating a peaceful scene of rural comfort. A fine brick hotel in a bower of flowers, vines, and tree, was a most inviting place.”

Unfortunately, according to the Dec. 22, 1916, edition of the Hemet News, “Florida was not properly situated to prosper.” When the railroad came to the San Jacinto Valley it bypassed Florida and the little town died as a business center.

Today, the Florida name continues in the title of a main San Jacinto Valley thoroughfare. The area once known as Florida continues to be identified by the name of Valle Vista.

Contact the writer: If you have an idea for a future Back in the Day column about a local historic person, place, or event, contact Steve Lech and Kim Jarrell Johnson at backinthedaype@gmail.com.