Beaumont

History

Beaumont, which is French for "Beautiful Mountain", received its name in 1887 from Henry C. Sigler, president of the Southern California Investment Company, because San Jacinto Peak is nearby and visible from the city. The earliest inhabitants were Native Americans. During the early 1850s, several surveying parties passed through the vicinity of present-day Beaumont in search of a pass that would connect the east to the Pacific Ocean. The San Gorgonio Pass was first surveyed in 1853 during an expedition under Lieutenant R.S. Williamson, who was sent by the United States government. Its location enthralled many who now saw that connecting to the ocean was a feasible measure and led to plans for constructing a railway from the Missouri River to the Pacific. By the early 1860s, stagecoach lines were providing service through the pass area, and a stage stop was established, named Edgar Station, after a physician from one of the expedition parties who made his home in the area. In 1875 when the Southern Pacific Railroad laid tracks through the modern-day location of Beaumont, they established a rail station named Summit Station. This served as a rest stop for railway travelers from the Mojave Desert on their way to the Los Angeles vicinity. In 1884 a real estate development company established a town named San Gorgonio. A second real estate development company purchased the town in 1887 and renamed the town Beaumont, which was incorporated on November 18, 1912. By 1927, the small city had a population of 857 with five churches, a public library, a bank, a high school, two local newspapers, several lumber yards, commercial packing houses, and a dehydrating plant. The city, one of Riverside County's largest apple growers, was dubbed "the land of the big red apple" by…

Geography

Beaumont's neighboring cities are Banning to the east and Calimesa to the northwest. With an elevation of above sea level, Beaumont is at the peak on the San Gorgonio Pass between San Bernardino and Palm Springs, neighboring the Interstate 10 and State Route 60 freeways. If driving east to Banning or west to Calimesa, drivers can feel a gradual downward slope. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which 99.96% is land and 0.04% is water. Beaumont reaches an average high of during the summer and an average low of during the winter. Due to its higher elevation, it is usually - colder than its neighboring lower-elevation cities, such as Moreno Valley, Hemet, San Jacinto, and the Palm Springs desert area. Snow does fall, but it usually doesn't stick for more than a couple of hours. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Beaumont has a Hot-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps. Beaumont's slightly cooler temperatures and less air pollution, relative to its neighboring lower-elevation cities, make it a desirable area for development in the Inland Empire region. However, it is one of the windiest cities in Southern California, along with San Bernardino, Fontana, and Victorville. Annual precipitation is approximately .

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  7,465
• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  6,424
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  6,213
• Black Phoebe

  Sayornis nigricans (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  5,811
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,129
• White-crowned Sparrow

  Zonotrichia leucophrys (J.R.Forster, 1772) · Aves
  4,670
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  4,587
• California Towhee

  Melozone crissalis (Vigors, 1839) · Aves
  4,585

Largest nearby schools

• Mission Vista Academy
  Other · Beaumont · 4,794 students · 30.5:1 ratio
• Beaumont Senior High
  High · Beaumont · 3,328 students · 26.6:1 ratio
• San Jacinto High
  High · San Jacinto · 2,617 students · 21.3:1 ratio
• Tahquitz High
  High · Hemet · 1,727 students · 21.6:1 ratio
• San Jacinto Valley Academy
  Other · San Jacinto · 1,571 students · 20.7:1 ratio
• San Gorgonio Middle
  Middle · Beaumont · 1,215 students · 22.1:1 ratio
• Banning High
  High · Banning · 1,146 students · 20.1:1 ratio
• Summerwind Trails
  Elementary · Calimesa · 1,057 students · 23.5:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.77 — 2026-10-15
  3 km NNW of San Jacinto, CA
• M 2.71 — 2026-10-11
  4 km E of San Jacinto, CA
• M 2.7 — 2026-10-08
  2 km WNW of Fontana, CA
• M 2.6 — 2026-10-06
  4 km NNW of Big Bear City, CA
• M 3.08 — 2026-10-01
  20 km ESE of Anza, CA
• M 2.63 — 2026-09-23
  9 km WNW of Anza, CA