La Verne is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States.

[8] The European history of the area dates back to the 1830s when Ygnacio Palomares and Ricardo Véjar received the 15,000-acre (61 km2) Rancho San Jose land grant from Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado in 1837.

The land included the present day cities Pomona, Claremont, San Dimas, Glendora, and La Verne.

The adobe that Palomares built in 1837 is still preserved in Pomona as La Casa Primera de Rancho San Jose (The First House).

He ensured that a nephew, Jose Dolores Palomares, secured a tract of land a mile west.

In the mid-1880s, entrepreneur Isaac W. Lord purchased a tract of Jose Palomares' land and convinced the Santa Fe Railroad company to run its line across towards Los Angeles.

It sat empty for several years until sold to four members of the German Baptist Brethren Church, who persuaded others of that denomination that it would be an excellent site for a new institution of higher learning.

Residents grew field crops, and then began planting citrus trees, which flourished.

La Verne is a suburb 30 miles (48 km) east of Los Angeles, located in the Pomona Valley below the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains part of the Angeles National Forest, a habitat known to support black bears.

[9] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.562 square miles (22.18 km2).

[10] La Verne first appeared as a city in the 1910 U.S. Census[16] as part of the now defunct San Jose Township (pop 7,696 in 1900).

During 2009–2013, La Verne had a median household income of $77,040, with 7.9% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

[35] La Verne is located in the 5th district of Los Angeles County, and is represented by supervisor Kathryn Barger.

[39] In 2018, the La Verne Police Department appointed its first woman captain, Colleen Flores.

Calvary Baptist Schools is located at the intersection of Damien Avenue and Forestdale Street.

[43] The wedding scene in Wayne's World 2 was also filmed at the United Methodist Church of La Verne.