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The city of Victorville was originally named Victor after a Santa Fe Railroad construction worker by the name
of Jacob Nash Victor. The town started to form around the railroad station and in 1886 the first subdivision
was mapped between First Street and Eleventh Street and A Street and G Street. Agriculture flourished due
to the availability of Mojave River water and fertile soil in the area.
Towards the end of the century limestone deposits were discovered and the, now thriving, cement industry
was born. Around this time the name of the town was changed from Victor to Victorville to avoid confusion
with the town of Victor, Colorado.
In 1926 Route 66 was built through the area, it is now known as Seventh Street. Construction of George Air
Force Base was completed in 1943, bringing increased business to the region. In 1962 Victorville was incorporated
as a city, at that time the population was around 8,000.
In 1992 George Air Force Base was closed and in 1993 it was annexed by the city where it has since become
the Southern California Logistics Airport. This is creating many new jobs for the region.
Currently the population of Victorville is close to 100,000 and the city is expanding rapidly. Most new home
construction is occuring on the west side of the 15 freeway.
In the Summer the temperature can get up to 110 degrees but humidity is low and economical evaporative
coolers (swamp coolers) work well. In the Winter the temperature can dip below freezing with occasional snowfall
which is usually gone by the following day. Rainfall is low, averaging 4" annually. Current weather conditions
are displayed on the right.
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