In 1926, citrus groves lined the new paved farm highway through La Verne. At the eastern city limits, the Wilson family broke the rows of orange and lemon trees with a fruit stand. Two years later they turned it into Wilson's Sandwich Shop. By 1962 it had become Wilson's Steakhouse. The same footprint now holds La Paloma, a family-owned Mexican restaurant that has served travelers there since 1966, according to La Verne Magazine's spring feature on the road.
That corner sits on Foothill Boulevard. In La Verne, Foothill Boulevard is Route 66. It is the authentic historic route, and La Verne, like San Dimas and Claremont, simply calls it by its local name. Route 66 was dedicated on November 11, 1926, at a ceremony in Pinehurst, North Carolina, where states adopted a uniform highway numbering system, according to a National Register nomination hosted by the National Park Service. The centennial is a month away.
La Verne keeps its historic district and its historic road in two different places. Old Town carries the brick-and-boutique sense of history. Foothill carries the Target, the Grocery Outlet and the FedEx Office. That errand strip is the century-old road, and the storefronts opening on it this fall are its latest layer.
One Corner, Five Menus
The La Paloma site shows how this stretch of road has always worked. The business on the lot changed every few decades, and the reason for stopping there stayed the same. Here is the sequence La Verne Magazine traced:
- Before 1926: The local road is part of the National Old Trails route.
- 1926: The road becomes part of U.S. 66, and the Wilson family opens its fruit stand at the eastern city limits.
- 1928: The stand becomes Wilson's Sandwich Shop.
- 1962: The shop has grown into Wilson's Steakhouse, a destination in its own right.
- 1966 to today: La Paloma takes over the footprint at 2975 Foothill Boulevard, and its sign is still one of the road's most photographed.
The California Historic Route 66 Association lists two La Verne points of interest: La Paloma, and Mr. D's Diner at 919 Foothill Boulevard. Mr. D's own site says it is open every day from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
How the Old Road Became "New La Verne"
The road's own path has shifted too. One detailed route history, an enthusiast site that no official source has confirmed, says a 1928 map shows an early west La Verne alignment. It turned west on East Baseline Road, ran north on North San Dimas Road, and came back to Foothill. The same account says a Foothill extension across San Dimas Wash took out those turns in the early 1930s, and that the freeway replaced Route 66 as the main through-route around 1964. Arrow Highway, despite its name, was never the alignment.
After the freeway took the through-traffic, the road found a second job. La Verne Magazine describes present-day Route 66 as the place where La Verne "migrated and transformed to city status." It credits city leaders with deliberately building tax revenue on Foothill while presenting Old Town as a historic center of restaurants, boutiques and jewelry stores. The magazine's list of what lines the road now includes a Vons shopping center, a Target, an Edwards Regal movie theater, the Habit, an El Pollo Loco and an AAA Auto Club office.
Some of those parcels have earlier lives of their own. In the same feature, La Verne native Jaye Steinbrick, a former president of the Pomona Valley Model A Club, recalls growing up near the Mt. Baldy Drive-In and watching movies from his bedroom window. That drive-in stood where the Target shopping center is now.
So the parking lot where an ordinary Saturday errand ends was once a drive-in screen on Route 66, on the same road as the corner where the Wilsons' fruit stand grew into a steakhouse before La Paloma moved in.
The 2026 Layer
This fall has been one of those turnover seasons. La Verne Daily News has tracked the changes one storefront at a time:
- Grocery Outlet held its grand opening on Tuesday, Sept. 29, in The Commons at La Verne shopping center, 1504 Foothill Blvd. The store is open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- FedEx Office Print & Ship Center opened in August at 1335 Foothill Blvd. and holds its grand opening tomorrow, Oct. 13. Store manager Jonathan Greene told La Verne Daily News the event will include giveaways and a raffle for a free 3-by-5-foot banner.
- Zata Healthy Mediterranean Food has opened at 1548 Foothill Blvd., also in The Commons, according to a Sept. 11 dining update.
- Los Jarritos Cafe Y Cocina was officially open by late September at 2080 Foothill Blvd. in La Verne Plaza.
- I.V. Juice Bar at 2320 Foothill Blvd. closed for good on Oct. 4 after five years, La Verne Daily News reported. Its Rancho Cucamonga location remains open.
One block south, Larios Meat Market scheduled its grand opening for Sept. 12 at 1912 Arrow Hwy. It is close to the old route but not on it. Every other address on the list sits on the alignment the Wilsons' fruit stand once served.
None of these businesses market themselves as Route 66 stops, and they don't need to. A grocery store, a print shop and two new kitchens opening within about two miles of each other is exactly what this road has done since its first season.
A Centennial Split Between Two Districts
The city's centennial plans follow the same split as the town. Early on, the celebration lived on Foothill. La Verne Daily News reported in July that the City ran a summer Route 66 passport: a scavenger hunt with 16 participating businesses along the historic route, each hiding a Route 66 icon for participants to find and stamp. City Management Analyst Andrea Blockinger told the outlet how the businesses had responded:
"They are enjoying the increased traffic to their business."
The same article quoted the Boutros family, owners of Open Box Outlet at 2139 Foothill Blvd. They had been at that location for only a year and don't advertise, and they said they had noticed some new faces carrying passports. Blockinger also said City Council members had discussed expanding the idea into an annual citywide passport that would feature different business corridors.
The road also got public art. At its June 15 meeting, the City Council recognized three artists for their Route 66 banner designs:
- Gary Samuelson for "Freedom Still Rings" and "Mile Markers Stamps from La Verne"
- Sophia De La O for an untitled design
- Manuel Legaspi for "A Heritage, A Vision, A Future of Promise"
La Verne Daily News reported that the winning designs now hang along Foothill Boulevard. According to the council record, crews installed the banners in June and the artists will take them home afterward, so the display is temporary. A La Verne Historical Society exhibit on the road opened at the La Verne Public Library on July 9 and ran through the end of September.
The celebration's last big event moves to the other district. The City's calendar lists the Route 66 Centennial Car Show for Saturday, Nov. 21, at Mainiero Square, D Street and Third Street, in the middle of Old Town. The City's listing gives a 10 a.m. start, and La Verne Daily News' fall calendar lists it as running until 4 p.m. Neither listing names an organizer or explains how to enter a car. The show celebrates a highway in a square that the highway never passed through.
La Verne's neighbors have taken a more visible approach. Claremont installed a 16-foot steel Route 66 monument at Foothill and Indian Hill boulevards on Sept. 21, the Claremont Courier reported. Upland held a free Route 66 Centennial Celebration at Upland Memorial Park on Oct. 3. La Verne Magazine notes that Glendora, Upland, Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga have all fully embraced Route 66 signage, while La Verne still uses the Foothill name.
The Remaining Dates
- Oct. 13: FedEx Office grand opening, 1335 Foothill Blvd.
- Nov. 11: The 100th anniversary of Route 66's dedication.
- Nov. 21: Route 66 Centennial Car Show, Mainiero Square, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
On a full drive of La Verne's stretch of Foothill, the La Paloma sign comes up at 2975, the newest storefronts in The Commons sit near 1504 and 1548, and Mr. D's is at 919, all on the same road the Wilsons sold fruit beside in 1926.
At Concierge Realty Group, we track La Verne one block and one storefront at a time, from the Foothill corridor to the streets around Mainiero Square. If you'd like to talk about how your corner of town has changed and what that means for your home, we'd be glad to sit down with you. Schedule a Consultation.
