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The area that is now Ontario was probably part of the lands used for hunting and foraging by the nomadic Tongva (Gabrieleño) Indians, who were known to roam as far east as the western San Bernardino Mountains. The Serrano Indians may have also used the land; the remains of a Serrano village were discovered in the neighboring foothills of the present-day city of Claremont. Juan Bautista de Anza is said to have passed through the area on his 1774 expedition, and to this day a city park and a middle school bear his name. Following the 1819 establishment of San Bernardino Asistencia, which served as an outpost of the San Gabriel mission, it became part of a large, vaguely identified area called "San Antonio". In 1826, Jedediah Smith passed through what is now Upland on the first overland journey to the West coast of North America via the National Old Trails Highway (present-day Foothill Blvd).
The 1834 secularization of California land holdings resulted in the land's transferral to private hands. In 1881, the Chaffey brothers purchased the land (which at that time also included the present-day city of Upland) and the water rights to it. They engineered a drainage system channeling water from the foothills of Mount Baldy down to the flatter lands below that performed the dual functions of allowing farmers to water their crops and preventing the floods that periodically afflict them. They also created the main thoroughfare of Euclid Avenue (California Highway 83), with its distinctive wide lanes and grassy median. The new "Model Colony" (called so because it offered the perfect balance between agriculture and the urban comforts of schools, churches, and commerce) was originally conceived as a dry town, but attracted farmers (primarily citrus) and ailing Easterners seeking a drier climate. To impress visitors and potential settlers with the "abundance" of water in Ontario, a fountain was placed at the Southern Pacific railway station, where it was set to turn on once an hour -- just at the moment the train arrived. Today the fountain is located outside the Ontario Museum of History and Art.
Agriculture was vital to the early economy, and many street names recall this legacy. The Sunkist plant also remains as a living vestige of the citrus era. The Chaffey brothers left to found the settlement of Mildura, Australia, which was not as successful. Charles Frankish continued their work, and was instrumental in the 1887 creation of the mule cart, a mule-driven passenger trolley that traveled up Euclid Avenue to 24th Street. At that point, the mule was loaded onto a platform at the rear of the car and allowed to ride as gravity propelled the trolley back down the avenue to the downtown Ontario terminus. No longer in use, the mule cart is commemorated with an enclosed statue south of C Street on the Euclid Avenue median.
Ontario was incorporated as a city in 1891, and North Ontario broke away in 1906, calling itself Upland. Ontario grew in astronomical rates 10 times in the next half a century to have a population of 20,000 by the 1960s to only grew 10 times more by the year 2007. Ontario was viewed as an "Iowa under Palm trees" of a solid Midwestern/Mid-American foundation, but it had a large German and Swiss community, tens of thousands of European immigrants came to work in agriculture, and in the early 1900s the first Filipinos and Japanese farm laborers later adapted nursery ownership skills.
Ontario has over two centuries of Hispanic residents from the Californio period of Spanish colonial and Mexican rule in the 1840s, but the first wave of Mexican settlers was in the 1880s brought as workers in the railroad industry (see traquero) and another wave from the Mexican Revolution of the 1910s. The first youth gangs formed in Ontario in the 1940s from the vestiges of the farmworking Mexican American community that came to work in Ontario's citrus and olive groves. By the 1950s, the gang Onterio Varrio Sur (the South Side or Mission Boulevard) had established themselves, and by the 1980s, some of its members rose to prominent positions in the Mexican Mafia. Mexican Americans resided in the city's poorer southern side facing State Route 60 and Chino, the city's high number of Hispanic/Latin American immigrants arrived in the 1980s and '90s than national per capita gave Ontario a distinction as a "Little Mexico" except the city isn't exclusively Latino.
In the years following Ontario's founding, the economy was driven by its reputation as a health resort. Shortly thereafter, citrus farmers began taking advantage of Ontario's rocky soil to plant lemon and orange groves. Agricultural opportunities also attracted vintners and olive growers. The Graber Olive House, which continues to produce olives, is a city historical landmark and one of the oldest institutions in Ontario. Dairy farming is also prevalent, as it continues to be in neighboring Chino.
A major pre-war industry was the city's General Electric plant that produced clothing irons. During and after World War II, Ontario experienced a housing boom common to many suburbs. The expansion of the Southern California defense industry attracted many settlers to the city.
Today, Ontario still has a manufacturing industry, the most notable of which is the Maglite corporation, which produces flashlights there. However, manufacturing has waned, and today Ontario's economy is dominated by service industries and warehousing. Much of southern Ontario still contains dairy farms and other agricultural farms. However, the area is currently under planning to be developed into a mixed-use area of residential homes, industrial and business parks, and town centers, collectively known as the New Model Colony.
The Citizens Business Bank Arena is a sports arena which opened in late 2008. It is owned by Ontario, but is operated by Anschutz Entertainment Group. It is an 11,000-seat multi-purpose arena, and is home to the Ontario Reign, a team in the ECHL. It is the largest enclosed arena in the Inland Empire.
The LA/Ontario International Airport provides domestic and limited international air travel. Because of the many manufacturing companies and warehouses in the city, the airport also serves as a major hub for freight, especially for FedEx and UPS. This airport is owned by the city of Los Angeles.
Because Ontario is a major hub for passengers and freight, the city is also served by several major freeways. Interstate 10 and the Pomona Freeway (State Route 60) run east-west through the city. Interstate 10 is north of the Ontario airport while the Pomona freeway is south of the airport. Interstate 15 runs in the north-south directions at the eastern side of the city. State Route 83, also known as Euclid Avenue, also runs in the north-south direction at the western side of the city.
Ontario also has a Metrolink station off of Haven Avenue. It connects Ontario with much of the Greater Los Angeles area, Orange County and the San Fernando Valley. Public bus transportation is provided by Omnitrans.
