Claremont history:

Claremont is a college town in eastern Los Angeles County, California, USA, about 30 miles (48 km) east of downtown Los Angeles at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. The population as of 2008 is 37,242. Claremont is known for its seven higher-education institutions, its tree-lined streets, and its historic buildings. In July 2007 it was rated by CNN/Money magazine as the fifth best place to live in the United States, and was the highest rated place in California on the list. Due to its large number of trees and residents with doctorates, it is known as "the City of Trees and PhDs."

The city is primarily residential, with commercial activity revolving around The Village, a popular collection of street-front small stores, boutiques, art galleries, offices, and restaurants westerly adjacent to the Claremont Colleges. The Village was expanded in 2007, adding a multi-use development that includes a cinema, a museum of art, a boutique hotel, retail space, offices, and a parking structure on the site of an old citrus packing plant just west of Indian Hill Blvd.

Large trees and shade-covered streets, older residential areas, and the Claremont Colleges are located south of Foothill Boulevard and Baseline Road. Several of the colleges are consistently rated among the best in the nation. This has helped draw students from across the country and around the world.

The citrus groves and open space which once dominated the northern portion of the city have been replaced by new residential developments of large homes. Construction of Stone Canyon Preserve, one of the final tract residential developments in the north of the city, commenced in 2003, as part of a complicated agreement between Pomona College and the City of Claremont which resulted in the creation of a 1,740-acre (7.0 km2) wilderness park. The foothills also include the Padua Hills Theatre, an historic site constructed in 1930.

Claremont has been a winner of the National Arbor Day Association's Tree City USA award for 22 consecutive years. Early citizens planted trees when the city incorporated in 1907. Claremont is one of the few remaining places in North America with American Elm trees that have not been exposed to Dutch Elm Disease; the stately trees line Indian Hill Boulevard in the vicinity of the city's Memorial Park.

Commuter train service to Claremont is provided by Metrolink from the Claremont Metrolink Station. The station is on the San Bernardino Line with trains traveling to Los Angeles and San Bernardino several times each day.

Claremont is located at 34°6′36″N 117°43′11″W / 34.11°N 117.71972°W / 34.11; -117.71972 (34.110009, -117.719734). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 34.8 km2 (13.4 mi2). 34.0 km2 (13.1 mi2) of it is land and 0.7 km2 (0.3 mi2) of it (2.08%) is water. Claremont is located at the eastern end of Los Angeles County, and is adjacent to the cities of Upland, Pomona, La Verne, and Montclair and San Bernardino County. Claremont is approximately 24 miles (39 km) east of Pasadena and 30 miles (48 km) east of Los Angeles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_California