Hemet

Sister cities

• Kushimoto
• Marumori
• Ebeltoft

History

This had long been the territory of the indigenous Soboba people and Cahuilla tribe prior to Spanish colonization. During the early 19th century, Mission San Luis Rey used the land for cattle ranching. They named the area with the settler name Rancho San Jacinto. Following Mexico gaining independence from Spain, in 1842, settler José Antonio Estudillo received the Rancho San Jacinto Viejo Mexican land grant. In 1848, the United States annexed the California territory after defeating Mexico in the Mexican–American War. In 1887, during the first major Southern California land boom, Anglo-Americans W.F. Whittier and E.L. Mayberry founded the Lake Hemet Water Company, and the Lake Hemet Land Company, for speculative development. They had plans to dam the San Jacinto River to provide irrigation water to the valley. They named the town Hemet in November 1893. In 1895, they completed Hemet Dam as a private project on the San Jacinto River, creating Lake Hemet and providing a reliable water supply to the San Jacinto Valley. This water system, for irrigation in an arid region, was integral to the valley's development as an agricultural area. By 1894, settlers had established a newspaper, the Hemet News, and "several general stores", the largest being Heffelfinger & Co, which occupied an entire block. Other businesses included "a drug store, an excellent barber shop, two blacksmith shops, harness shop, shoe repairing houses, two real estate offices and two lumber yards." "The most pretentious building" was the two-story Hotel Mayberry, "supplied with all the modern conveniences usually found in first-class hostelries, including stationary water, baths, etc., and a complete electric light system, the power for which is furnished by the company's private plant." Also noted was…

Geography

Hemet is in the San Jacinto Valley of western Riverside County, south of San Jacinto. The valley, surrounded by the Santa Rosa Hills and San Jacinto Mountains, is mostly dry land, except for Diamond Valley Lake to the south. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. Hemet is southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. File:Downtown Hemet - Bank of Hemet Building.jpg|NE Corner of Harvard Street and Florida Avenue File:Harvard District - Downtown Hemet.jpg|Harvard District - Downtown Hemet in 2014 File:Hemet Theater - panoramio.jpg|Hemet Theater in downtown, built in 1921 File:Looking North on Harvard, Downtown.jpg|Harvard Street, looking north in 2008 File:Downtown Hemet - Harvard St at Florida Ave.jpg|Downtown Hemet, looking north down Harvard Street Hemet has a semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification: BSh) with mild winters and very hot, very dry summers.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,551
• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  3,107
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  2,891
• Black Phoebe

  Sayornis nigricans (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  2,764
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,351
• American Coot

  Fulica americana Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  2,219
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,123
• Say's Phoebe

  Sayornis saya (Bonaparte, 1825) · Aves
  2,073

Largest nearby schools

• San Jacinto High
  High · San Jacinto · 2,617 students · 21.3:1 ratio
• Hemet High
  High · Hemet · 2,438 students · 23.4:1 ratio
• Heritage High
  High · Romoland · 2,428 students · 22.9:1 ratio
• West Valley High
  High · Hemet · 1,898 students · 23.1:1 ratio
• Liberty High
  High · Winchester · 1,753 students · 24.7:1 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
• Ethan A Chase Middle
  Middle · Menifee · 1,368 students · 24.9:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.83 — 2026-06-26
  19 km NNE of Indio, CA
• M 2.82 — 2026-06-09
  7 km SE of Loma Linda, CA
• M 3.18 — 2026-06-09
  7 km SE of Loma Linda, CA
• M 2.54 — 2026-06-03
  1 km E of San Jacinto, CA
• M 2.51 — 2026-05-12
  3 km WSW of Lake Henshaw, CA
• M 3.29 — 2026-05-09
  1 km SE of Muscoy, CA