National Orange Show Brings Historical Significance

SAN BERNARDINO >> From March 6 to March 11, 1911, the National Orange Show held their first event, filling up two canvas tents in an empty lot on the corner of 4th Street and E Street. Though it rained the entire time the event was held, it did not halt the 3,000 attendees from coming to see the new “exotic” citrus fruit that is the orange. The National Orange Show is a non-profit organization that began as a means to improve industry and relations between other counties in California. It continued to grow larger each year, bringing in twice the amount of attendees than each previous event. Eventually, the organization found a building large enough to host it, and it became a yearly event, lasting two weeks in the month of March. People from almost every county in California were featured in the show. The building that hosted it was a large exposition hall on E Street and Mill Street. It was known as the “largest and finest exposition buildings in the nation” during its time. Despite having to cancel the show for five years due to World War II, between 1942 and 1946, the National Orange Show was still booming. At its largest, it brought in over 300,000 attendees each year. The large expo hall was completely destroyed in a fire in July of 1949. That would not stop the organization from moving forward, though. The lot was quickly built over by an even larger and more fire-resistant building, which opened in March of 1950. This building was promptly followed by two smaller buildings that were used to feature commercial and industrial exhibits, as well as trade shows. As the years continued, more buildings were added to the property, including a stadium, administrative buildings, an auditorium and a dining center. Each of these buildings continues to stand and is still in use today. The site altogether would eventually be named the National Orange Show Event Center. San Bernardino Valley College, which had been using the stadium for football, declared that they no longer were going to use the stadium in 1979. An auto race schedule was formed and it became a permanent feature of the stadium. The lot outside of the stadium became a major hub for outdoor markets and fairs, while inside the buildings, the National Orange Show Organization continued to grow and expand their exhibits. An off-track betting facility was built in 1987 and brought in over 1,600 bettors each day, bringing more popularity to the organization, giving more business to the dining areas, the race course and the outdoor markets. Currently, the show remains open year round for visitors to come and venture the 120-acre property and see the history of how the orange changed Southern California.