Palmdale, CA

Palmdale is a city located in the Antelope Valley region of Los Angeles County, California. According to the 2010 census, the population of Palmdale was 131,742. The city is bordered by Lancaster to the north and northeast, Palmdale Hills to the east and southeast, and by Lancaster County to the south.

The first Europeans known to visit what would become Palmdale were members of Juan Bautista de Anza's 1774 expedition. On October 12th of that year, they found a hot spring on Mount Lee near present day Edwards Air Force Base which they named Buena Vista Spring after Don Gaspar de Portolà's lieutenant governor in Alta California. In 1887, landowner Benjamin Davis built a winery on his property which he named Davis Winery after his wife. The winery became one of Southern California's largest producers of wine until its closure in 1957.

In 1909, J. Paul Getty purchased 400 acres (1 km²) from Davis for $7500 and began developing what would become Getty Villa (now part of the Getty Museum). In 1913-1914, he built a mansion at 2221 East Avenue (now demolished) which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Getty House/Getty Villa (also now demolished). In 1916-1917 he built another mansion at 3333 East Avenue which still stands today and is also listed on the National Register as Getty House/Getty Villa #2 (currently used as offices for Antelope Valley College).

In 1923 oil was discovered on land owned by William Andrews Clark who began drilling wells soon thereafter. By 1927 there were over 1,000 wells in operation with production reaching over 100 million barrels before gradually declining due to depletion rates and competition from other sources such as Mexico and Saudi Arabia. By 1940 only 10% of original production remained while new discoveries had ceased altogether by 1970.

In 1979 Mervyn LeRoy founded LeRoy Estates Development Company which purchased much of Clark's former oilfield land including portions now occupied by Walmart Supercenter (opened 1984), Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse (opened 1988), AutoZone Park (opened 1990), Dollar Tree Plaza (opened 1991), Cinemark 20th Century Fox Theatre(opened 1998), Regal Entertainment Group Stadium 16 & IMAX Theater(opened 2002) ,and many other businesses including restaurants such as Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar(opened 1997) , Chili’s Grill & Bar( opened 1993) , TGIFridays( opened 1989 ),and others . In addition , parts are currently being developed into residential neighborhoods such as Woodland Hills Village South( opened 2006 ), Willowbrook Village South( opened 2007 ), Citrus Heights Village North( opened 2009 ), Antelope Valley Gateway Town Center Area North/South Corridor Area North/South Corridor Area West Side Corridor Area West Side Corridor Area East Side Corridor Area East Side Corridor Area Central Business District Central Business District Downtown Historic Core Downtown Historic Core Midtown Historic Core Midtown Historic Core Southside Historic Core Southside Historic Core Western Gateway Town Center