Colton is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States.

Nicknamed "Hub City", Colton is located in the Inland Empire region of the state and is a suburb of San Bernardino, approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) south of the city's downtown.

As traffic on each line began to soar in the mid-1990s, fueled largely by the vast increase in imports passing through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the primitive crossing became a serious bottleneck.

Passenger trains operated by Amtrak and Metrolink pass through Colton but do not stop there.

[4][5] The Tongva village of Homhoangna was located in the area that is now Colton, situated near the base of the foothills of Reche Canyon, historically known as Homhoa Canyon, derived from the Tongva language word homhoabit or "hilly place.

[4] From southwest area of modern-day Colton was known as "Agua Mansa" (Gentle Waters).

This is because the Indians living in what is now the San Bernardino Valley found refuge on the knolls of the property during the flood of 1862.

[4] The city was named after David Douty Colton, who had been a brigadier general of the California State Militia in 1855, prior to the Civil War.

[4] Colton was created in its modern form when the Southern Pacific Railway was built heading east from Los Angeles in 1875.

Colton was the site of conflict between the Southern Pacific Transportation Company and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway at Colton Crossing when both railroads wanted to cross through the town.

Virgil Earp lived in Colton at 528 West “H” Street[8] where he was the town's first marshal.

This included the block on the west side of Eighth Street north of J, including the then 70-year-old Helman's Department Store building, originally housing the First National Bank of Colton, on the corner and the Willet's Department Store building to its north.

[10] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 16.0 square miles (41 km2).

Slover Mountain, once the highest point in San Bernardino Valley and the site of the Colton Liberty Flag, is located in the city.

According to the 2010 United States Census, Colton had a median household income of $41,496, with 22.5% of the population living below the federal poverty line.