On Aug. 1, I got to hear a wonderful presentation on the history of the Automobile Club of Southern California by its archivist, Morgan Yates. In it, he mentioned that Riverside has the oldest extant AAA office building in the Inland Empire — at the southwest corner of Mission Inn Avenue and Chestnut Street in downtown. That got me wondering just how long that organization has had a presence here.
As it turns out, Jan. 29, 1917 is when the first branch office of AAA was opened in Riverside, and hence Riverside County. Its location was 733 West Seventh Street, today’s Mission Inn Avenue, which puts it right in the middle of the Loring Building. A man named Flay Moulton was the branch manager, and apparently he had only recently been hired by the AAA as he showed up with several different jobs beforehand.
In summer 1919, the AAA had outgrown its space and moved into another at 682 Main Street, right on the commercial side of the Mission Inn. Anyone who has read old copies of Westways magazine and its precursor Touring Topics knows that Frank Miller of the Mission Inn had a long relationship with the AAA, serving on its board as the Riverside County representative for many years. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if Miller gave the AAA free or reduced rent in the Inn.
The space that the AAA occupied in the Mission Inn had previously been used by the agent for the Santa Fe Railroad. When the railroad vacated the office, they left behind a large painting of the Grand Canyon painted by famed landscape painter Richard Krueger. I’d love to know where that painting is now.
These early years were pivotal in the history of the AAA and Southern California.
The AAA was actively working throughout the region to erect signposts on roads to help motorists find their way. This was especially important in the desert regions of Riverside County where mistakes could easily lead to a life-threatening situation. Routes from Banning to Palm Springs, and Indio, Mecca, and Blythe were especially needed as those routes were becoming busier with more cars coming into the state.
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By 1923, the AAA again decided to move into larger quarters, but this time they would build their own.
This new building, at Mission Inn Avenue and Chestnut, was one of many built throughout Southern California in the Spanish Colonial style that was popular at the time. Riverside’s office, though, was the first to have the arched arcade in front of it, probably at the behest of Frank Miller who advocated for Spanish/Mission architecture all along Riverside’s main east-west route. It is this building that Morgan Yates referred to as the oldest extant AAA office building in the Inland area.
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.
