Columnist

Joe Blackstock

Joe Blackstock writes on Inland Empire history. Past columns are on Facebook at www.facebook.com/IEHistory.

Groups of Run For The Wall riders prepare to take off from the Ontario Convention Center parking lot in this May 2025 staff file photo. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)

‘Run For The Wall’ riders ready for cross-country trek dedicated to military veterans

May 10, 2026 at 6:01 a.m.

This year's ride kicks off Wednesday, May 13 from the Ontario Convention Center.

Rancho Cucamonga’s historic Richfield Gas Station museum early in January hosted one of the very first celebrations of this year’s centennial of the creation of Route 66. The station was visited by a caravan of classic cars, following the route from Santa Monica to Chicago. (Photo by Joe Blackstock)

Barber made sure ‘people will come’ by making Route 66 historic highway

February 2, 2026 at 2:47 p.m.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the creation of Route 66, when the federal government first designated its major highways with numbers.

Ashley Covarrubias and Johnas Pulley, both of Pasadena who work for the Rams, help build walls for homes lost in the Eaton fire during San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity’s “Walls of Hope” volunteer day at Brookside Park in Pasadena on Thursday, June 26, 2025. Habitat for Humanity is planning to build homes in Altadena using The Foothill Catalog. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Volunteering for Habitat for Humanity taught me more than how to swing a hammer

October 8, 2025 at 1:48 p.m.

That overwhelming amount of satisfaction you receive by having a part in building that house is something you carry the rest of your life.

In this file photo vehicles travel northbound on Cajon Blvd., part of historic Route 66 in the Cajon Pass, toward the 15 Freeway in San Bernardino County. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Secret vigilantes once lurked on Southern California highways tracking bad drivers

August 18, 2025 at 11:45 a.m.

The undercover observers began work on April 1, 1920, with the goal of “curbing the reckless driving which is seen every day,” writes Joe Blackstock.

Eric Fort, a Marine Corps veteran, will be one of 1,400 motorcycle riders who will begin the annual Run for the Wall from the Ontario Convention Center this week. The riders will converge on Washington, D.C. for Memorial Day weekend. (Photo courtesy of Eric Fort)

From Ontario to D.C.: Run for the Wall honors veterans who paid the ultimate sacrifice

May 11, 2024 at 2:07 p.m.

For some riders the cross-country trip can help to heal some wounds, physical and emotional.

The Mojave Cross, a subject of drawn-out lawsuits and thefts, is now atop a new memorial to honor all military at the museum of the Mojave Desert Historical and Cultural Association in Goffs in eastern San Bernardino County. (Courtesy of Joe Blackstock)

Mojave Cross finally finds a safe, permanent place in the San Bernardino County desert

May 6, 2024 at 11:52 a.m.

After it was stolen in 2010 and the US Supreme Court weighed in on the ongoing controversy, the Mojave Cross, which honors the nation’s military, is finally home -- for...

A unit celebrating the Iron Riders, an all-Black U.S. Army bicycle regiment,
seen here in 1897, will be riding in the 2024 Rose Parade. (Photo courtesy Montana State Library History Portal, mtmemory.org)

Rose Parade 2024 horses: The colorful background of the equestrian units

December 28, 2023 at 4:55 p.m.

Since the very first New Year's Day procession in Pasadena, equestrian units have played an important role in the celebration.

Elizabeth Short, better known as the “Black Dahlia,” victim of Los Angeles’ best-known unsolved murder case. (Courtesy)

‘Black Dahlia’ victim dined in the Inland Empire weeks before her death

January 16, 2023 at 5:43 p.m.

The Sycamore Inn restaurant in Rancho Cucamonga has rows of photos noting the well-known celebrities who dined there, including one of Elizabeth Short.

Jackie Robinson was a standout in high school and college football games at the Rose Bowl, where his statue was unveiled in 2017.
(HANS GUTKNECHT, SCNG)

Rose Bowl history: Remembering Jackie Robinson’s football career in Pasadena

December 22, 2022 at 2:13 p.m.

It was there he was called to perform 13 times — four games for his high school team then known as Muir Tech and nine more as a star for...

Th Penn State-USC game was a packed house — made more so by the gatecrashers. Above, the view looking northeast at the Rose Bowl stadium’s inaugural game in 1923. (Library of Congress, digital collection)

Rose Bowl history: Gate-crashers, near fisticuffs and crowds, the move to the Arroyo Seco 100 years ago

December 22, 2022 at 1:41 p.m.

The stadium was initially built as a horseshoe — designed similar to the open-ended Yale Bowl in New Haven, Conn. Several hundred fans on that Jan. 1 decided against buying...

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