Grand Boulevard Historic District

Grand Boulevard is a circular roadway in Corona, California, laid out in 1886 about 40 miles east of Los Angeles. The ring measures one mile across with a 100-foot-wide right-of-way, and it surrounds a grid of interior streets while exterior streets meet its outer edge at various angles. The district includes the roadway, intersecting streets and alleys, driveways, curbs and gutters, parkways, sidewalks, street trees, historic streetlights, a granite hitching post and two pocket parks. Palms, silk oaks, peppers, eucalyptus and other trees line much of the circle, and 146 historic-style lamps remain from a late-1920s lighting project. The roadway was originally dirt, later oiled and paved. A monument marks the start and finish line of the 1913, 1914 and 1916 Corona road races. Location, design, setting and association remain strong, though the State Route 91 bridges, widening and new signals have altered the northern section.