As far as we can tell, the present custom of shooting fireworks off Mount Rubidoux by the city of Riverside started in the early to mid-1960s.
Every year, thousands gather to watch the spectacle and some even root for the almost-inevitable fire on the mountain that can result. However, our current practice was not the first time that fireworks were contemplated from atop Riverside’s highest landmark.
Starting in May 1911, the citizens of Riverside began preparing for a big July 4 celebration.
Speeches would be made, with the city’s mayor leading the way. In addition, a parade was planned featuring floats and automobiles – still quite rare in 1911.
“This will be one of the finest displays of autos ever seen in the County,” wrote the Riverside Press on May 25.
In addition to a display of automobiles, it was hoped that an aviation meet could be held, too, in order to show off another new machine of the age – the airplane. The day would started with a salute from Mount Rubidoux by “Old Betsy” – a vintage 12-pound cannon in the possession of Riverside’s Company M of the National Guard. If all went right, the day would then end with a fireworks display from Mount Rubidoux, visible by all attendees of the main event, which was to be in Fairmount Park. In addition, sporting events and an evening dance were in order.
Riverside residents obviously wanted to do this July 4 up big, and therein lay one of the problems.
In order to get an airplane to Riverside from one of the aviation clubs in Los Angeles, it would cost $1,000 (or nearly $30,000 in today’s money). Plus, the fireworks themselves were going to cost a bit, too. So, event organizers started to sell tickets and ask for sponsorships.
By July 2, the airplane was in Riverside and being readied by its “mechanicians,” as the mechanical team was called, and some fireworks and a trained person to operate them were, too. The newspapers pleaded with people to “buy an aviation tag and we’ll let you see the fireworks too! Pyrotechnic plans depend upon patronage of the aviation show!”
By this time, the fireworks display must have been scaled down because there was talk of shooting them off of North Hill (near Fairmount Park) instead of Mount Rubidoux.
As July 4 came, it was obvious that sales of the aviation meet tickets had fallen short, and there would be no fireworks display in Riverside that night — from either Mount Rubidoux or North Hill. Many of the other events went off without any problems, but there were no fireworks that night.
It would take many more years before fireworks came to Mount Rubidoux – and become a staple of our Independence Day celebration.
If you have an idea for a future Back in the Day column about a local historic person, place or event, contact Steve Lech and Kim Jarrell Johnson at backinthedaype@gmail.com.
