Duarte Chronicles

Andres Duarte was a Mexican army veteran who was awarded a 6,595-acre grant south of the San Gabriel Mountains in 1841. Parceled out to settlers and farmers, the Rancho Azusa de Duarte began thriving when rail lines were built to access the citrus crops. Duarte was home to the City of Hope, a tuberculosis clinic that became a world-class cancer research and treatment center. The old U.S. Route 66 brought thousands of new Californians through the residential melting pot from points east. Res...