Leona Valley

History

Leona Valley's post colonial history can be best described as land abundant with cattle ranches. In the late 18th century, after the loss of the Tataviam Native Americans – the area's original inhabitants – to Indian Reductions as Mission Indians at the Mission San Fernando immigrants from Spain and Mexico quickly established themselves. The majority of the immigrants were primarily interested in the land in order to establish cattle ranches. During the 1830s, the ranches were broken up into smaller homesteads by farmers from Germany, France and the state of Nebraska. The Ritter family started one of the first wineries in this country in Leona Valley which was later shut down by the U.S. Prohibition period in the early 20th century. In 1901 Frank D Hall bought the 3000 acre St. Anthony Ranch. The valley was then known as Leonis and he changed the name of the ranch to Leona Valley Ranch and set about building a dairy farm. The Ranch was most of the land west of Bouquet Canyon Rd. The dairy did not work out and the subdivision of the Leona Valley Ranch started in 1918. That first phase of the subdivision was for properties that had roads and water (either had water or was in an area known to be practical for drilling a well). One of the early sales was the southwest corner of Elizabeth Lake Rd and 90th St West. The Nolenberger's built a store and gas station on that lot which opened in 1924. The building is now Hemme Hay and Feed store. In 1927 Frank Hall incorporated Farm Home Builders to handle the next phase that required new roads and a water system. To that end Farm Home Builders took out a loan for $45,000. The Great Depression hit before many sold and it wasn't until the 1940s that most were sold. The majority of those old large homestead parcels have…

Geography

Leona Valley is located about west of the Palmdale Civic Center in Southern California. Leona Valley town is located in its namesake, Leona Valley. This valley is a long narrow valley separated from the Antelope Valley by the San Andreas Fault ridge, known as Ritter Ridge, so named after one of the settlers from Nebraska in the 1880s. The valley is about a mile wide and in length. The geographic Leona Valley is also home to the towns of Lake Hughes and Lake Elizabeth. The ZIP Code is 93551 and the community is inside area code 661.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  6,529
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  5,122
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,757
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,585
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  3,219
• White-crowned Sparrow

  Zonotrichia leucophrys (J.R.Forster, 1772) · Aves
  3,027
• Black Phoebe

  Sayornis nigricans (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  2,902
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,393

Largest nearby schools

• iLEAD Hybrid
  Other · Acton · 3,575 students · 20.8:1 ratio
• Quartz Hill High
  High · Quartz Hill · 3,066 students · 26.9:1 ratio
• Highland High
  High · Palmdale · 2,790 students · 25.6:1 ratio
• Lancaster High
  High · Lancaster · 2,642 students · 24.5:1 ratio
• David G. Millen Law and Government Magnet Academy
  Middle · Palmdale · 1,023 students · 23.8:1 ratio
• Amargosa Creek Middle
  Middle · Lancaster · 973 students · 20.7:1 ratio
• Esperanza Elementary
  Elementary · Palmdale · 950 students · 26.4:1 ratio
• Hillview Middle
  Middle · Palmdale · 907 students · 22.7:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.16 — 2026-10-09
  2 km SW of Signal Hill, CA
• M 2.7 — 2026-10-08
  2 km WNW of Fontana, CA
• M 3.81008714964485 — 2026-09-30
  4 km SE of Piru, CA
• M 3.55404092525043 — 2026-09-27
  7 km WSW of Hermosa Beach, CA
• M 2.62 — 2026-09-24
  17 km WSW of Johannesburg, CA
• M 2.96 — 2026-09-23
  17 km WSW of Johannesburg, CA