Indio, California

The population was 89,137 in the 2020 United States Census, up from 76,036 at the 2010 census, an increase of 17%. Indio is the most populous city in the Coachella Valley, and was formerly referred to as the Hub of the Valley after a Chamber of Commerce slogan used in the 1970s. Indio is now nicknamed the City of Festivals, a reference to the numerous cultural events held in the city, most notably the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.


Indio is the principal city of an urban area defined by the United States Census Bureau that is located in the Coachella Valley: the Indio–Palm Desert–Palm Springs CA urban area had a population of 361,075 as of the 2020 census, making it the 114th largest in the United States.^[6]

History[edit]

Indio is within the ancestral lands of the Desert Cahuilla Indians whose headquarters are in nearby Thermal, California.^[8]


Railroad line construction east out of Los Angeles began in 1873. Trains were operated to Colton on July 16, 1875, and to Indio (then known as Indian Wells) on May 29, 1876. Moving on eastward from Indio, the railroad reached the west bank of the Colorado River opposite Yuma on May 23, 1877. Back then, Yuma was a village known as Arizona City prior to 1873. There was a delay in getting military authority to lay tracks across the Yuma Indian reservation, and it was September that year before the bridge was completed so trains could operate into Yuma. The Southern Pacific Railroad was to have joined those of the Texas & Pacific, one of several railroads then holding, or seeking, federal authority to build lines from various sections of the country west to the Pacific Coast. But the rail-head of the T & P was at a standstill far off in Texas, so Southern Pacific continued building eastward.^[9]


The City of Indio came about because of the need for a halfway point for the Southern Pacific Railroad between Yuma, Arizona and Los Angeles, since the engines needed to be refilled with water.^[10]: 292 Since other areas had the name Indian Wells, Indio (after a Spanish variation of the word "Indian") was chosen instead.^[11] After the railroad's arrival in 1876, Indio began to grow. The first permanent building was the craftsman-style Southern Pacific Depot station and hotel. Southern Pacific tried to make life as comfortable as it could for their workers to keep them from leaving such a difficult area to live in at the time. The depot was at the center of all social life in the desert with a fancy dining room and hosting dances on Friday nights.^[12]


While Indio started as a railroad town, it soon became an agricultural center. Onions, cotton, grapes, citrus and dates thrived in the arid climate due to the ingenuity of farmers finding various means of attaining water, first through artesian wells and later through the valley's branch of the All-American Canal. However, water also was a major problem for Indio and the city was flooded several times until the storm water canals were created throughout the Coachella Valley.^[13][14]


Businessmen and women found this last frontier land of the continental United States as an ideal place to start fresh. Dr. Harry Smiley and his wife Nell were early residents and stayed in Indio after their car broke down on the way to Los Angeles and became people of influence and helped shape the area. A. G. Tingman was an early store owner and first Postmaster of Indio, but also well known for taking advantage of miners as they headed to the mountains, selling at rather high prices. Later Dr. June Robertson McCarroll became a leading philanthropist and successful doctor in Indio. She was responsible along with the Indio Woman's Club for pressuring California into adopting the placing of white lines down the streets after she was nearly hit one too many times by passing vehicles. Even though these early founders of the city are considered pioneers, they still partook in the lifestyles of their friends living in such areas as Los Angeles. ^[15]


By the turn of the 20th century, Indio continued to grow. Schools were built, the La Casita hospital provided medical services, and families established roots. By 1920, about one to two thousand year-round residents lived in Indio, while it ballooned from 2,500 to 5,000 during the winter months and was advertised as a health resort for senior citizens and those with respiratory diseases and ailments in the rest of the 20th century.^[16]


Indio also served as the home of the USDA's Date Station, a place where leading scientific research was taking place on the fruit that would become a major part of the culture of Indio. The station started in 1907 and was responsible for the ability of local farmers to better understand this unique crop and make the Coachella Valley a leader in American date crops. This also created a tie to the Middle East that led to the theme for the County Fair with the Middle Eastern flair known as the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival .^[13]


Before the early 20th century both Coachella and Thermal were larger than Indio, but Indio remained the "Hub of the Valley", as it was then called. With a fire burning much of Thermal and the decline of Coachella, Indio grew again. By 1930, Indio was a thriving area and incorporated. On September 6, 1930, storekeeper Fred Kohler received the first business license in Indio.^[17]


During the Second World War, Indio was also aided by the visiting soldiers from Patton's training grounds in Chiriaco Summit located 30 miles to the east.^[18]


From the middle to second half of the 20th century, much of the Coachella valley's population began to move west towards newer cities such as Palm Desert and La Quinta. However, there is now a reversal in this trend. Indio, along with the rest of the region experienced a population boom in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, with the population doubling twice over^[19]

Media[edit]

The Indio Date Palm^[73] was an early paper established in 1912 by John Winfield (J. Win) Wilson.^[74]


Print news in Indio is most notably provided by The Desert Sun, a daily newspaper part of the USA Today Network with a circulation of 14,685 in Indio in 2017.^[75] Providing news coverage of the Coachella Valley and distributing to eight cities, The Desert Sun had the largest newspaper circulation in the desert in 2017.


The Coachella Valley also receives news coverage from the Press-Enterprise, a Riverside-based daily newspaper, and Desert Star Weekly, a Riverside County adjudicated newspaper.^[76] There are many other independently or Self Published daily newspapers and weeklies covering Indio, such as the Coachella Valley Independent and Tidbits of the Coachella Valley.


Newspapers aimed at a Latino readership are also essential in Indio, due to the high number of Spanish-speaking Hispanics/Latinos in the area. El Informador del Valle is printed in Spanish then distributed to homes and a range of meat markets, gas stations, Hispanic restaurants, and more locally owned businesses throughout Indio.^[77] La Prensa Hispana is another such newspaper that is aimed toward Indio's Latino community, but uniquely merges English and Spanish together to provide a bilingual newspaper. The newspaper has received recognition from the Hispanic Chamber of commerce-Coachella Valley for its value and impact on the community.^[78]


There are also several online news sources that cover Indio, such as the Coachella Valley Weekly, Cactus Hugs, Coachella Magazine, KESQ, and Los Angeles Times. Entertainment and lifestyle magazines and publications include the Desert Entertainer, Coachella Magazine, and Desert Magazine, among others.


Indio has ten local television stations serving the Coachella Valley and six Spanish-language networks (local or regional affiliates like KUNA-LD and KVER-CD), some of which are over-air signals from Mexico. Eight Los Angeles television stations are available on cable and satellite service.


Four out of 20 Palm Springs area's radio stations are licensed to Indio: KESQ 1400 AM (in Spanish) owned by KESQ-TV/KDFX-CD, KKUU 92.7 FM (Urban/Hip-hop/R&B) owned by Morris Communications, KHCV 104.3, and classic rock KRHQ 102.3 FM owned by RM Broadcasting. However, none of the stations have their offices or studios in Indio. KHCV and KESQ are located in Palm Desert; both KKUU and KRHQ are located in Palm Springs.