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Address

139 N Euclid Avenue
Upland, CA 91786

Evaluation

Building
5/7/2007

Construction Date

1920

Description

The San Antonio Water Company office is a one-story building in the Mission Revival-influenced Spanish style. A low-pitched, tiled, side-gable roof caps the stuccoed structure. Rafters are visible in the eaves and the gable ends are vented. Symmetry governs the arrangement of the three-bay facade. In the central bay a broad arch marks the entry vestibule. Within the recess a paneled and glazed door is flanked by sidelights over spandrel panels. An extension of the roof forms a hood over the archway; it is supported by prominent brackets rising from plain piers. Cottage windows with five lights in their upper sashes are located in the side bays. Another pair of plain piers reinforce the corners of the facade. Sited at the head of a groomed lawn, the building is intact and in good condition. A small rear addition is not visible from the facade.

Built in 1927 at a cost of $4000, the San Antonio Water Company office moved to this site from Ontario. The company's history is intimately linked to that of the Ontario Colony. When the Chaffey Brothers planned the Colony, arrangements for water were part of the scheme from the beginning. They secured the subterranean water rights in San Antonio Canyon and dug a tunnel 2850 feet deep until finding a rich source. Pipe was laid and arrangements were made for water to flow to each lot in the Colony. The San Antonio Water Company was organized on November 23, 1882 and each of the lot owners in the Colony became a shareholder. Subsequent development of wells and subsidiary companies ensured that adequate water was available for both agricultural and domestic use. This innovative arrangement led to Ontario beins recosnized as a model irrigation colony at the st. Louis worldis air in 1904.