Editor’s note: Joe Blackstock will soon complete 20 years of writing about local history in the Inland Empire.
This column originally published July 12, 1999.
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Peter Demens was once in the imperial guards of the Russian czar, helped found St. Petersburg, Florida, and later was a key figure in helping to shape the Inland Valley, and especially what is now Rancho Cucamonga.
Demens, born Pyotr Alexeyevich Dementyev, was the key figure in bringing the route of the Pacific Electric Railway through today’s Rancho Cucamonga in July 1914.
In 1912, ranchers in the foothills were quite isolated from the nearest railroad several miles to the south. They campaigned to have the new PE rail route turn north through their area, instead of generally paralleling what is now Arrow Highway.
Demens was chosen to lead fellow members of the Citizens League of Alta Loma in raising nearly $20,000 to buy a right of way and convince PE to run the line northeast from Upland and through Alta Loma and Etiwanda.
Through Demens’ efforts, the campaign worked. The line gave growers direct access to shipping routes, encouraged more development and even made it possible for their children to take the train (with one transfer) to Chaffey High in Ontario, then the nearest high school.
The opening of that rail line almost 94 years ago may have been as significant for the development of the foothills at that time as the completion of the San Bernardino Freeway was to the whole region in 1954.
Today, there are no longer rails on Demens’ right of way, but slowly but surely, a hiking, biking and equestrian trail is being built from the edge of Claremont to Rialto.
Nearly a century ago, the residents of Alta Loma couldn’t have picked a better man to lead their efforts.
Demens was an enthusiastic developer, skilled promoter and perhaps a little “redoubtable Russian hustler,” as one Florida acquaintance described him in 1914.
He was one of thousands of immigrants who saw America before the turn of the century as a place where fortunes and reputations could be made by hard work and wits.
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Demens left Russia in May 1881 after serving in the army, where he acquired the captain’s title he used for much of his life.
He landed in New York with $3,000 and headed south to Florida, which was at that time like California in the very early stages of its development.
Demens invested his money in a sawmill in Longwood. Later, he took over the Orange Belt Railroad when the owners couldn’t pay him $9,400 for ties they ordered. Demens then set off to extend the railroad 120 miles west to undeveloped Pinellas Bay on Florida’s west coast.
Continually cash-strapped, Demens spent most of his time convincing investors, among them Chicago meatpacking millionaire Philip Armour, to sink money into the enterprise.
Despite many problems, the first train arrived at the coast in June 1888. To honor Demens’ birthplace, the tiny hamlet at the end of the line was named St. Petersburg.
The line actually did just as advertised — opening up what became today’s huge St. Petersburg and Tampa metropolitan area — but not soon enough for Demens.
The tenuous financing he put together came back to bite him in 1889 when interest payments couldn’t be met. Undaunted, he moved his family to Asheville, North Carolina, where he set up a sawmill using what money he still had from his Florida venture.
He later moved to Los Angeles in 1892 and bought into a steam-powered laundry and a firm making toilet and shaving soap.
Then Demens, whose home was in the Echo Park district, bought a citrus ranch in Ioamosa, an early name for part of the Alta Loma area in May 1895. He died in January 1919.
For most of his life he wrote articles to the Russian journal, “Viestnik Vevropy,” describing his life and opportunities, at times embellishing both his success and his wealth.
His articles in “Viestnik Vevropy” for 21 years influenced many to immigrate to the U.S., especially as the Russian Revolution got into full swing. A number of Russian immigrants settled near Demens in Alta Loma.
Two monuments to this energetic Russian remain decades after his death.
One is the magnificent rock house at Archibald Avenue and Hillside Road in Rancho Cucamonga that Demens bought for his family. It’s a city historic landmark with a marker out front.
In St. Petersburg, at the corner of First Avenue and North Shire Drive, is Demens Landing, a waterfront park honoring the man who helped build cities on both sides of the continent.
Joe Blackstock writes on Inland Empire history. He can be reached at joe.blackstock@gmail.com or Twitter @JoeBlackstock.
