Hemet highlight
Historic agricultural community in the San Jacinto Valley
Hemet was founded in 1910 as an agricultural settlement in the San Jacinto Valley after the Lake Hemet Dam was completed in 1895 to provide irrigation water.
The city was established by W.F. Whittier and E.L. Mayberry through the Lake Hemet Water Company and Lake Hemet Land Company starting in 1887. They completed Lake Hemet Dam in 1895, an engineering project that brought reliable irrigation to the valley and made agricultural development possible. The settlement grew from this water infrastructure, and Hemet was officially incorporated on January 20, 1910.
For generations, the San Jacinto Valley's economy was built on farming and ranching. The valley's fertile soil and now-reliable water supply attracted agricultural operations that shaped the region's identity through much of the 20th century. Today the landscape has shifted toward urban and suburban development, but the valley's agricultural heritage remains part of Hemet's identity and the reason families have put down roots here.
Agricultural communities tend to be multi-generational: families that farmed the land often raised children who stayed in the same place, and today's residents include both long-time families and newer arrivals drawn by the same affordability and sense of place. The households most affected by the loss of an income—those with mortgages, young children, or family businesses—benefit from term coverage sized to bridge the years when that income matters most.