Table Of ContentA HISTORY OP THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OP RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA,
WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO ITS RELATION TO THE COMMUNITY
A Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the Department of History
University of Southern California
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Arts
by
Sanford Vandever Smith
September 1950
UMI Number. EP67521
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INTRODUCTION
The writing of any history provides its own unique
difficulties, and one of the main problems connected with
this thesis stems from the nature of a Baptist church.
Baptists have ever considered themselves as equals, and
each one is considered to have as much voice as the next
in the control of the church. Therefore, no group, even of
elected officers, has absolute control of a Baptist church,
and it has been difficult, and at times impossible, to deter
mine what part the church played in some activities of civic
importance.
The other major problem involved in this study was
the lack of material for certain periods. A thoroughly
competent history of Riverside is yet to be written, and the
best of the various attempts ends in 1913* Therefore, the
community background has not always been as full as it should
have been. The Riverside Public Library possesses a mass of
material on the history of Riverside, but the process involved
in a thorough search through that source would alone be
sufficient to provide for another and a more advanced study
than is encompassed in these pages. The church has not
taken much care in preserving its material, and for the
period covering the turn of the century, I was forced to cull
what information I could from newspapers, minutes of associ
ation and convention meetings, and the reminiscences of
iii
older members of the church.
My method in this study has been to first establish
a general picture of an era in Riverside*s history and then
to attempt to fit the history of the church into that
picture. Of course, much of the information about the
church* s development has little, if any, relation to the
main trend of Riverside history. However, this information
had to be included to give a complete picture of the church.
In developing the history of both church and community,
I have attempted, insofar as it was possible, to deal with
movements and trends instead of personalities. The notable
exception to this has been the references to the various
pastors, because, in a real sense, they are the representa
tion of the church in the community. Therefore, I have
thought it worthwhile to present their general attitudes and
objectives when these could be ascertained.
My debt to others in the preparation of this study
is great, and I would like to acknowledge Miss Alice Holliday,
unofficial historian of the First Baptist Church, first in
this respect. Miss Holliday has collected much information
about Riverside and the church, and she has given freely of
her time, knowledge, and material to help me in this
endeavor. Other members of the church too numerous to
mention have given encouragement and assistance. The
Riverside Public Library allowed me much freedom in the use
iv
of its newspaper files and magnificent Riverside History
File, for which I am duly grateful. Mr. Avery Edwin Field
was most gracious in permitting me to use photographs in
his collection which he has acquired at no small expense to
himself. And finally, I wish to acknowledge the under
standing and encouragement given to me by Professor Owen 0.
Coy.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE SETTLING OF RIVERSIDE, AND THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FIRST BAPTIST
CHURCH.................................... 1
II. STABILIZATION IN CHURCH AND COMMUNITY,
1874-1882 14
III. BOOM IN COMMUNITY AND CHURCH................ 33
IV. DEPRESSION, PROHIBITION, STABILIZATION . . . 51
V. INCREASING MATURATION IN CHURCH AND
COMMUNITY................................ 70
VI. WORLD WAR I AND A F T E R ...................... 84
VII. PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION.................. 98
VIII. CONCLUDING YEARS OF DR. CATHERWOOD»S
PASTORATE................................ 110
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS................................ 125
BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................. 130
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
ILLUSTRATION PAGE
1. Indians Living near Mt. Roubidoux in
the Early Days
The Center of Riverside, c. 1875 ............... 2 2
2. One of the Early Citrus Fairs
Riverside from Mt. Roubidoux, c. 1883 . . . . 39
3* The First Baptist Church, 1882-1904
The First Baptist Church, 1904-1908 68
4. The First Baptist Church, 1909-1928
The First Baptist Church Today ............... 95
5. Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Educational
Unit, November 6, 1927
Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Mexican
Baptist Church Building, May 27, 1945 • • • 105
6. One of the Young People*s Radio
Broadcasts
Typical Activity in the C . S . 0 ............... 114
7 . Riverside from Mt. Roubidoux, 1950 ......... 124
CHAPTER I
THE SETTLING OP RIVERSIDE, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
In a manner typical of southern California, the city
of Riverside had its beginning in a land boom. The original
plan of the promoters was to convert a rancho into a forest.
A visitor to the present city would suspect, with good
reason, that the forest was to have been composed of orange
trees, but such was not the case. If the plan had been
carried out there would have been mulberry trees where the
Valencia and navel orange groves now stand.
In the years following the civil war, the land of
southern California was passing from grazing use to agri
cultural development. It was not yet known which crops
were best, and experiments were likely to result in over-
enthusiastic enterprises. One idea which developed was that
California could become a great producer of silk. Culti
vation of mulberry trees began in various parts of southern
California, and in 1866 the state offered cash premiums to
those who could successfully produce trees and cocoons.'1'
Under the leadership of Louis Prevost, a Frenchman
R. G. Cleland, Cattle on a Thousand Hills, p. 235*
2
who was acquainted with the business of silk production, a
Silk Center Association was formed, and it was decided to
locate a silk producing colony on the site of the present
city of Riverside. More than five thousand acres of land
were bought and arrangements had been made to buy over
three thousand more when Prevost died in August, I869.2
Lacking an experienced leader, the Association dropped its
plans, and it was left to T. W. Cover, one of its members,
to sell the land.^
The next step towards the settling of Riverside came
on March 17, 1870. On that date, Judge J. W. North of
Knoxville, Tennessee, issued a prospectus seeking any who
might be interested in founding a colony in California.2^
He wanted to get at least one hundred families who could
invest one thousand dollars each in the project. It was
proposed that enough land would be bought for a colony of
ten thousand people, and that each subscriber would be
allowed to buy 160 acres of farming land and two town lots.
During the following month, Judge North and a
p
J. H. Roe, Notes on the Early History of Riverside,
California, 4.
^ E. W. Holmes, History of Riverside County,
California, 22, 23.
^ "A Colony for California,” in Riverside History
File, Riverside Public Library.
