The 1938 Riverside Map Reveals Surprise

Like a curious cat, I explored the 1938 Riverside map and made a discovery I didn't know existed.  I love surprises.  Before single-family houses were built on the Maude side, just west of the CSDR campus, there were only three unpaved streets: Maude, Jane, and Mary. And no sight of CSDR.

Between Maude and Mary Streets, orange groves dominated the area.  They were probably planted in the early 1900s. Later in the early 1950s, the developer bought the farmland and took down the orange trees to make way for new houses.

The developer established new neighborhood streets between Maude and Mary Streets, including Gertrude, Kathleen, Molly, Priscillia, David, Ronald and Miguel.  Those seven roads were not on the 1938 map.  For the new homes, they were all paved for the first time.   

The same can be said about the other subdivision east of the CSDR campus on the Horace side.  Horace Street had always been unpaved until late 1952 for the new school.

When CSDR Founder Perry Seely and his committee selected the Horace Street property for a new school in 1948, the city's population was 40,000. Today in 2026, the population hovers at 330,000, thereby making Riverside the 12th largest city in California.

Dr Brill in the 1950s and Dr Randall in the 1990s expressed appreciation with the perfect selection of the Horace Street parcel for CSDR.

My writing assignment for this column was fun and rewarding.

Kevin Struxness, ‘76, MA

Editor, CSDR Old Times

24 February 2026