Little was known of the settlement of the area these photos were taken in, before 1837. In 1837 the Polomares and Vejar families settled on their land grant here. Their land was near the intersection of what is now Arrow Highway and San Dimas Canyon Road. Some of their land was purchased during the Gold Rush, in 1852, by Colonel George Heath, of Ohio. He was responsible for setting up the first school in this area, on his land, which he and Palomares were trustees of. It was from him, that Isaac Lord purchased 100 acres, and it was Lord's dream to make the area grow and become profitable. The Southern Pacific Railroad, however, was much more difficult to deal with than he had expected. His beautiful hotel was to never have a paying guest. He moved back to San Bernardino, where he had come from in 1885. The Pacific Land Corporation, a subsidiary of the Santa Fe, purchased much of his land. They named the town Lordsburg in recognition of that which he had tried to accomplish there. The name was changed to La Verne in 1917.

The Lordsburg Hotel was eventually demolished.