A. O. Lacey Boarding House

A.O. Lacey Boarding House Or "The New Hotel", San Dimas, Ca.
Some of the Male Boarders, Mattie holding Grace and William is next to her. A.O. holding the horses at the side of the house.

The early settlement that preceded San Dimas was called Mud Springs and, briefly, Mound City. According to local legend, Don Ygnacio Palomares, who received the Rancho San José as part of a Mexican land grant, kept some of his cattle in a corral in the so-called Horsethief Canyon. After Native Americans repeatedly ran his horses off, he prayed to St. Dimas, the crucified thief who begged forgiveness for his sins and later became patron saint of thieves. Soon the canyon in question was renamed San Dimas Canyon by Spanish settlers, and when the town was laid out in 1887, founders appropriated the name, which sounded better than "Mud Springs" and would therefore be more likely to attract new residents.