Colton
Colton is a city located within San Bernardino County in California. The city is about 57 miles to the east of Los Angeles and considered to be within the Island Empire region. As of 2010, the city of Colton had a population of about 52,000 people living in just over 16 square miles of land.
One of the main claims to fame of Colton is its history as the location of Colton Crossing. This was ranked within the list of busiest railroad crossings within the country. The crossing was first installed back in 1882 as a crossing point between the California Southern Railroad and the Southern Pacific Railroad. Rail traffic in the area increased greatly during the mid-1990s and the crossing was frequently blocked with traffic. The crossing finally closed in August of 2013 when it was replaced with a fly-over.
As of 2010, the top employers in the Colton – each with more than 1,000 employees - were Arrowhead Regional Medical Center and Ashley Furniture Industries. Not far behind were Colton Joint Unified School District and CSM Bakery Products.
There have been multiple notable residents in Colton throughout its history including rapper 40 Glocc, Olympic medalist Susan Woodstra, and baseball players Kit Carson, Cam Carreon, and Ken Hubbs.
If you look at Colton on a map, you will notice that the Santa Ana River crosses directly through the center of the city, but is not actually included within the city limits, effectively dividing the city into two separate areas. The area is easy to access via Interstate 10 which is also known as the San Bernardino Freeway and Interstate 215 which is also known as the Riverside Freeway.