POMONA

city, Los Angeles county, southern California, U.S., in the Pomona Valley at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. Once part of the Rancho San Jos, it was promoted (1875) as an agricultural centre and named for the Roman goddess of fruit. Development was sustained by railroad links and artesian irrigation. By mid-20th century rapid residential and industrial growth paralleled the expansion of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Pomona is the home of California State Polytechnic University (1938). Inc. city, 1888. Pop. (1990) 131,723.