1. Earplugs Are Essential
NASCAR’s Auto Club Speedway is the premier attraction and destination in these parts. It brings dozens of teams—and tens of thousands of racing fans—to the city each year, which is a major boom for the local tourism industry.
2. Fontana’s Where Angels Get Their Wings
The now ubiquitous Hells Angels Motorcycle Club was originally founded in Fontana in 1948 by the Bishop family. The name itself was a suggestion from their acquaintance, Arvid Olsen, who had served in the Flying Tigers’ “Hells Angels” squadron in China during World War II.
3. Honk If You’re Heading For Fontana
With three major state highways running through it, accounting for an estimated 48,000 vehicles a day, Fontana is a regional hub of the trucking industry. It’s also home to product distribution centers for many large national companies, including the Home Shopping Network, Sears, Target, Avery Dennison, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota.
4. Our Runners Are The Fastest In The Land
The Fontana Days Half Marathon and 5K Run—now in its 59th year—is known as the fastest half marathon because of the gradual downward slope of the course. The elevated drop of 2,125 feet from start to finish means most participants record their best personal record times when they run here.
5. Fontana’s All Mobbed Up
Al Capone, the biggest and baddest mobster and bootlegger in all the land, once owned a house in Fontana (8775 Tamarind Avenue). A prominent “C” is still visible on the south side of its chimney.
6. We Know How Rabbits Do It
From 1928 to 1965, Fontana had the first and only U.S. Agriculture Department laboratory for the care and breeding of rabbits during an era when rabbits were researched for their possible value in animal husbandry. Also studied were the quality and volume of rabbit meat, fur and leather.
7. We’re A Little Crass
In some parts, Fontana is “fondly” referred to as Fontucky, a nickname once-upon-a-time coined in homage to a rural, downtrodden population that was reminiscent of backwoods Kentucky. The moniker has stuck, in part because people who live in what they consider the “nicer” surrounding areas like to differentiate and distance themselves.
8. Your Stomach Will Think It Got Kidnapped To El Salvador
Pupusas are a traditional Salvadoran dish made of thick handmade corn tortillas typically stuffed with cheese, pork and refried beans. And it’s common knowledge that Fontana might be the best place to find them north of El Salvador. Favorite locations include Café Las Pupusas and Los Molcajetes.
9. Fontana’s Got A Napoleon Complex
In the years between the 2000 census and 2012 census, Fontana’s population grew at a whopping rate of 52 percent. Much of this growth was due to the city’s aggressively successful campaign to annex several unincorporated but well-developed areas surrounding the city. (Watch out, Los Angeles.)
10. Our Produce Is Larger Than Life
Bono’s Historic Orange is an classic Americana fruit stand located along Route 66 in Fontana. But, alas, you can no longer buy produce there. If you’re looking for some oranges of the edible variety, your best bet is the Farmers’ Market, held in downtown Fontana every Saturday.
11. Broadway Songs Are Best With A Side Of Fries
The only place to get your theatrical fix in Fontana is at Center Stage Theater, which specializes in Broadway musicals and cabaret shows. They also serve dinner while you watch, so be sure you munch in time to the beat.
12. It’s Good To Be Informed
Fontana is home Lewis Library and Technology Center, the largest branch of the San Bernadino County Library system. And per City-Data, one-third of its Fontana’s residents work as “information and record clerks.” People here know their stuff.
13. Steel And Health Care Go Hand-In-Hand
Fontana was founded by Azariel Blanchard Miller in 1913, but it remained essentially rural until entrepreneur Henry Kaiser moseyed into town during World War II. He built the largest steel mill in the area. And while that’s long gone, the healthcare network he established for his workers and their families—Kaiser Permanente—remains a behemoth to this day.
14. Hasta La Vista, Fontana
The steel industry’s loss was Arnold Schwarzenegger’s gain. Terminator 2’s steel mill scene was filmed in the real deal—the space once occupied by Kaiser Steel Mill.
15. It’s Got Natural Style
Fontanta’s Mary Vagle Nature Center, situated at the base of Mount Jurupa, has three miles of hiking trails—plus a one-acre pond—from which you can ogle (and/or avoid) hawks, foxes, ducks, rattlesnakes and rabbits. The center also offers a variety of educational programs, as well as a reptile viewing area.
16. Artistic Expression Is For The Masses
The Art Depot is a beloved Fontana institution. In addition to a gallery, it offers classes for all ages, open studios, and special events, regardless of how good you are with a piece of charcoal, a brush, or a lump of clay.
17. But Fontana Only Hangs Onto The Best Of It
Everyone is free to artistically dabble, but the city's Artist Showcase program displays only Fontana’s best artists in its City Council Chamber Foyer at City Hall. They also provide the cream of the crop with small stipends in support of future work.
18. Fontana’s Never Sick Of Showing Off Its Wheels
The Fontana Car Show is an epic ongoing event, taking place one Friday each month for the entire spring and summer. Car enthusiasts get to exhibit and stare at the most distinguished and exotic cars around. TGIF, indeed.
19. We’ve Got Moguls For Neighbors
Fontana is situated near three major ski resort destinations. For a weekend getaway, take your pick amongst Big Bear, Lake Arrowhead, and Mountain High. Summers are pretty darn gorgeous there, too.
20. “Close Enough” Counts Here
Fontana Horseshoe Pitching Club is one of only 21 official horseshoe pitches in Southern California. It’s also the second largest, with 24 courts. Surprisingly, the median age for Fontana’s citizens is a sprightly 28.7 years, far lower than the stage median of 45.6 years.
21. Train Tracks Make For Great Bike Trails
The Pacific Electric Trail is a collaborative project among Fontana and its neighbors, linking cities from Claremont (20 miles west of Fontana) to Rialto (5 miles east of Fontana). The trail honors the historic Pacific Electric Railway Line while making smooth pavement for its bike riders—including commuters looking to avoid the 10 Freeway and automobile traffic.
22. Fontana’s Mormons Became Catholics
The earliest recorded landowner in the Fontana area was Don Antonio Maria Lugo, who received a land grant in 1813. His sons sold a portion of their land to a group of Mormon settlers in 1851, but those settlers eventually returned to Salt Lake City. These days, 62 percent of the city is Catholic, in large correlation to the nearly 69 percent of the city that identifies as Hispanic.
23. Fontana Has A Hankering For Thai Food
Two of the most resoundingly popular restaurants in Fontana travel the world of Thai Cuisine. Locals debate which is their favorite, Khunyai Asian Grill or Thai Kitchen Bowl.
24. Fontana Likes To Play Around
Fontana Park, which debuted in late 2008, is the city’s newest favorite pastime. It features a skate and BMX park, basketball gym, sports pavilion, children’s playground, dog park and an aquatic center (with heated pools). A wide range of fitness classes and sports programs run around these parts too—for kids, and for the kid in all of us.
25. We Enable Speed Junkies
You might never make it into a NASCAR event on the city’s Auto Club Speedway, but the Allen Berg Racing School will give you quick fix of what it feels like. A true novice to open-air cars starts with the 20-lap class. The hits get more hardcore from there.
26. Fontana’s Dedicated To Your Health
Alarmed by the growing rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease (within its borders as well as nationwide), the city launched its Health Fontana Program in 2004. It’s still going strong today, overseeing community health and education services, free exercise and recreation programs, and partnerships with the city’s businesses to advocate and promote healthy lifestyles.
27. It’s Award-Winningly Eco-Conscious
Fontana received a Tree City USA designation from the National Arbor Day Foundation for 15 years in a row, in recognition of its active tree management plan. It also received the U.S. Conference of Mayors Cans for Cash Recycling Award for collecting 592,672 pounds of aluminum cans in a year (3.15 pounds per citizen).
28. Goal! Goal!!!!!
You better learn to shout that with conviction, because soccer is the sport of sports in these parts. The city runs its own leagues for both children and adults. Private clubs also abound. Fontana Premier Soccer League is a favorite for the kids and Universal Soccer League is popular with the grown-ups.
29. We Do Bottomless Coffee With The Best Of Them
Two favorite neighborhood establishments in Fontana are Red Hill Coffee Shop and Lucy’s Diner. At Red Hill Coffee Shop your meal will likely come with a plentiful amount of flavorful gravy; at Lucy’s Diner it’s likely to be a side of creamy guacamole.
30. It Has The Best Golf For Everyone
Fontana’s Sierra Lakes Golf Club is a new 18-hole championship golf course designed by Ted Robinson, an internationally acclaimed golf course architect. Even better, it’s a public facility, an all-too-rare affordable golf opportunity in a country club setting.
