About Blythe, California

Blythe is a general law city in eastern Riverside County, California. Incorporated on July 21, 1916, the City’s population at the 2010 census was 20,817. The City of Blythe encompasses an area of approximately 26.8 square miles and is situated 265 feet above sea level.  Blythe enjoys a comfortable California desert climate with winter temperatures averaging 55-75 degrees, and summer temperatures averaging 85-110 degrees. Annual rainfall is approximately 3 inches per year.

Blythe was named after Thomas Henry Blythe, a San Francisco businessman and entrepreneur. Mr. Blythe established primary water rights to the Colorado River in the southwestern California region in 1877. The town was originally named Blythe City, by Thomas Blythe himself, but the name was shortened to simply Blythe around the time the first post office was opened in 1908.

In 2016, the voter-approved recreational use of cannabis in California has made the cannabis industry drawn to the economically declined city due to lower land prices, water, and potentially lower taxes compared to other parts of the state. One of the proposed cannabis facilities, Palo Verde Center, would be one of the largest in North America.