History

Early History

Vernon was founded and incorporated in 1905 by ranchers James J. and Thomas J. Furlong and John B. Leonis, a rancher and merchant. John Leonis, of Basque origin, had come to Southern California in 1880 to work for his Uncle Miguel Leonis and later established his own ranch on unincorporated county land southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. Recognizing the significance of the three major railroads running through the area, he convinced railroad executives to run spur tracks off the main lines and incorporated the adjacent three miles as the first "exclusively industrial" city in the Southwestern United States. He named the new city after a dirt road, Vernon Avenue, crossing its center.

As industry slowly developed in the area, the founders of the city decided to market Vernon as a "Sporting Town." In 1907, on land leased from Leonis, an entrepreneur named Jack Doyle opened the Vernon Avenue Arena where 20-round world championship fights were held starting in 1908. Soon after, the Pacific Coast League built a ballpark for baseball. The Vernon Tigers won three Consecutive league pennants.

Vernon Expands

After 1919, Vernon returned to being exclusively industrial. With the opening of two giant stockyards, meat packing quickly became the city’s signature industry. Twenty-seven slaughterhouses soon lined Vernon Avenue from Soto Street to Downey Road, which remained until the late 1960s.

In the 1920s and 30s, heavy industries such as steel (U.S. and Bethlehem), aluminum (Alcoa), glass (Owens), can-making (American Can) and automobile production (Studebaker) grew in the city. The 1940s and 50s added aerospace contractors (Norris Industries), box and paper manufacturers, drug companies (Brunswig), and food processors (General Mills, Kal Kan). Giant meat packers (Farmer John and Swift) continued to grow.

In 1932, after a dispute with Southern California Edison over industrial rates for electricity, John Leonis orchestrated a Vernon bond measure to authorize the construction of the City's own Light & Power plant, which is still operational today.

Vernon Today

Vernon’s industries have changed along with broader economic changes in Southern California—but the city has maintained its focus on providing a favorable environment for business and remains an ideal location for industry. Vernon’s city government has also grown into one of the most efficient and business-friendly in the region. With some of the lowest taxes of any city in the state, Vernon is able to offer an array of city services tailored to meet the needs of its business community, which is now characterized by industries such as apparel, film production, food processing, electronics and waste recycling.

Vernon is just one of 25 cities in the United States with a Class 1-rated fire department and one of four cities in California with its own health department, which specializes in industrial issues. The city’s businesses receive very low rates for water, electricity, gas and fiber optics as a result of Vernon’s independent utilities. In 1989 Vernon formed a redevelopment agency, which has since invested tens of millions of dollars to develop property within the city to successfully attract and retain business.

After more than 100 years Vernon has more than realized the vision laid out by its founders of a city that could serve as a focal point for commerce and economic engine for the surrounding region. In 2008, Vernon was named Los Angeles County’s “Most Business Friendly City” for Cities with less than 50,000 residents by the L.A. County Economic Development Corporation.