About Hemet, California

Hemet is a small city located in Riverside County nestled in the beautiful San Jacinto Valley is about 85 miles east of Los Angeles and about 45 miles west of Palm Springs. Hemet received its name from the company that founded the town, The Lake Hemet Land Company. The company drew its name from Hemet Valley, now called Garner Valley, located in the San Jacinto Mountains. Initially the company referred to the area as South San Jacinto, but changed the name to Hemet when the land company filed a plat map on November 11, 1893.

The City is known for being the home of The Ramona Pageant, California’s official outdoor play. Started in 1923, the play is one of the longest running outdoor plays in the United States. Hemet has been named a Tree City USA for 20 years by the Arbor Day Foundation for its dedication to the local forest. The City is also home to the Hemet Valley Medical Center, a 320-bed general hospital. As of the 2010 census, the City has a population of 78,657.

The City of Hemet has two museums and an outdoor amphitheater. The Hemet Museum, located at the intersection of State Street and Florida Avenue in downtown, features photographs of old Hemet, historic photographs from the Ramona Pageant, as well as Cahuilla cultural belongings such as baskets and agriculture displays. Hemet is also home of the Western Science Center. It features exhibits of Ice Age mammals, including ‘Max’, the largest mastodon found in the Western United States, and as ‘Xena’, a Columbian mammoth. The privately owned Ramona Bowl is a natural amphitheater located nearby in the Riverside county foothills. It is known for producing the play, Ramona.