Gateway Cities Census Data

Bell

Description: For the first 60 years of the 19th century, Bell was known as the 30,000-acre Rancho San Antonio, named after local settler Don Antonio Maria Lugo, a Spanish aristocrat and soldier. From 1855 to 1865, most of the rancho was sold for less than $1 per acre, with the Lugo family keeping its home — an adobe home that still stands on the southwest corner of Gage and Garfield avenues.

James George Bell and his family, for whom the city was named, settled in the area during the 1870’s. His house, built in 1876, now serves as the headquarters of the Bell Chamber of Commerce. The region turned to farming and the city incorporated in 1927, but it was not until after World War II that the city experienced a population boom.

Today, Bell is home to a mix of national chains, corporate headquarters and homegrown businesses. The U.S. distributor of Omnilife nutritional products is based in Bell, and Hill-Rom, one of the country’s leading manufacturers of hospital equipment, has a facility in Bell. The city sponsors an array of sports leagues, health fairs, film screenings, home improvement programs, educational workshops, leisure classes and field trips. Bell’s “Concerts in the Park” series is presented each summer at Treder Park in the Civic Center.

The city — known as “a community of families” — provides an enhanced quality of life — and an increased sense of community. In Bell, that’s just business as usual.

(city description courtesy of Press Telegram 2006 Almanac)