Why Victorville
Victorville is a city situated in the High Desert region of San Bernardino County, California, along the southwestern edge of the Mojave Desert. Positioned at an elevation of approximately 2,950 feet above sea level, it lies about 81 miles northeast of Los Angeles and 36 miles north of San Bernardino via Interstate 15 through the Cajon Pass. Neighboring communities include Apple Valley to the east, Hesperia to the south, and Adelanto to the west, with the Mojave River flowing sporadically across the city's 74-square-mile territory.
The area was originally inhabited by the Serrano people. During the mid-nineteenth century, early settlers established desert waystations along the Mojave River, such as Lane's Crossing in 1858 and Mormon Crossing in 1867, to supply travelers and freighters crossing the arid terrain. The modern town site began forming in 1885 with a California Southern Railroad telegraph station named Victor, after railroad manager Jacob Nash Victor. To eliminate postal confusion with a town in Colorado, the U.S. Post Office Department renamed the settlement Victorville in 1901, and the community officially incorporated as a city in 1962.
The historic core, Old Town Victorville, developed along U.S. Route 66, which was designated along D and Seventh streets in 1926. In 1940, screenwriters Herman J. Mankiewicz and John Houseman spent twelve weeks in seclusion at the local North Verde Ranch, now called the Kemper Campbell Ranch, to write drafts of the screenplay for the film Citizen Kane. Aviation and defense facilities have also shaped the area; the former George Air Force Base, constructed in 1941 and closed in 1992, was later converted into the Southern California Logistics Airport, a federal penitentiary, and a vacant housing site used for military training. In 2007, the logistics airport hosted the DARPA Urban Challenge autonomous vehicle contest.
Victorville experiences a cool arid climate characterized by four distinct seasons and notable daily temperature variations. Summers are generally hot to sweltering, with average high temperatures approaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit, though late-summer monsoons can bring thunderstorms and flash flooding. Winters are cooler, featuring average daytime highs around 60 degrees Fahrenheit and night temperatures that frequently drop to or below freezing, alongside rare and light snowfall. Strong winds occur frequently throughout the year, particularly during the spring season.
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