About Us:
Few communities are lucky enough to have a historical park devoted to local history, and fewer still are able to offer as much as Corona Heritage Park & Museum.
Beginning with the site itself, it is one of the most integral to the 20th Century development of the city of Corona. The Corona Foothill Lemon Company, which was established June 15, 1911, became the largest lemon ranch in all of California and one of the longest running. It was the reason for a time that Corona became well known as the “Lemon Capital of the World.” Corona Heritage Park & Museum is made up of the 5-acre heart of the 2,000 acres of lemon groves that once stood here.
The primary buildings have been preserved and are still standing. Three residential homes of the supervisor, manager and owner, built in the teens of the 1900's, are now respectively a railroad museum, art gallery and spiritual center. The mule shed is now an antiques store. The storage buildings have become entomological laboratories for developing and producing beneficial insects. The packing sheds are filled with commercial artists-in-residence and art educators. What was once the 1937 company store is now the 10,000 sq. ft. Corona Heritage Museum, filled with local artifacts and curious visitors. A small cottage became the ready-rooms for brides preparing for their garden weddings.
Corona Heritage Park & Museum is not only unique to Corona, it’s unique in its success as a 100% volunteer non-profit organization that doesn’t rely on your tax dollars. The 21-member board of directors and 400+ general membership sustains the Corona Heritage Foundation in its thriving artistic and cultural development, and daily operations of the park and museum. Which, by the way, has operated in the black five-days-a-week since opening in December of 2000.
We’re proud of what people can accomplish when they decide to work together to provide something unique and spectacular for their region. The park is a community center for field trips, discovery and reflection, historic awareness, research and resources, nature, horticulture and gardening, art galleries, studios and classes, programs for exercise, weight-loss and addictions, secular, religious and cultural events, weddings, receptions, and community gatherings. Corona Heritage Park and Museum has become a one-of-a-kind facility that is unusual to come across, useful to so much of the community, respectfully protecting the history, and continuing towards ambitious goals for the future.
