Duarte (Images of America)

Mexican Army veteran Andres Duarte was granted 6,595 acres along the southern foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in 1841 by the governor of Alta California. Rancho Azusa de Duarte eventually was carved into 40-acre parcels, and arriving families from the East and Midwest built schools, installed water lines, and grew crops. By 1900, two major rail lines served the area’s thriving citrus industry. Duarte’s beneficial climate led to the establishment in 1913 of a tuberculosis sanitarium, which became City of Hope, the world-class cancer treatment center. Bandleader Glenn Miller settled in Duarte. The city’s location along old U.S. Route 66 brought many visitors to and through town. A strongly independent civic spirit led to a momentous 1987 U. S. Supreme Court decision to disallow the expulsion of the Duarte Rotary from Rotary International for admitting three women. As for Andres Duarte, he is commemorated by a 2007 bronze equestrian statue, located across Huntington Drive from the city hall that bears his name.