The developers envisioned subdividing the surrounding lands, with Meloland to serve as a hub after obtaining a railway switch and station, general store, telegraph service, and packing facilities.

[5][6] A post office, store, and packing warehouse were in fact established in 1908,[7][8] although the latter two buildings burned down soon after construction, with two workmen narrowly escaping the blaze.

[10] Earlier in 1908, Shepherd had sold 40 acres to writer Harold Bell Wright,[11] who built a house and artist's retreat on the property, which he called "Tecolote Rancho".

In the accounts of some area pioneers, it was Wright himself who gave the settlement its name, when a local observed him sift the soil and remark, "this is mellow land".

[4] The University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources's Desert Research and Extension Center is located at Meloland, and has been operating there since 1912.