Meloland, California

{{Short description|Unincorporated community in California, United States}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}

{{coord|32|48|11|N|115|26|51|W|display=title}}

{{Infobox settlement

|name = Meloland

|other_name =

|native_name =

|nickname =

|settlement_type =Unincorporated community

|image_skyline =

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|pushpin_map =California#USA

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|pushpin_map_caption =Location in California

|pushpin_image=California Locator Map with US.PNG

|subdivision_type = Country

|subdivision_name =United States

|subdivision_type1 = State

|subdivision_name1 = California

|subdivision_type2 =County

|subdivision_name2 = Imperial County

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|coordinates = {{coord|32|48|11|N|115|26|51|W|region:US-CA|display=inline}}

|elevation_footnotes = {{gnis|1661005}}

|elevation_m =-16

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Meloland is an unincorporated rural community in Imperial County, California. It is located on the Holton Interurban Railroad east of El Centro and {{convert|4|mi|km}} west of Holtville.{{California's Geographic Names|1442}} Prior to settlement, the location was known as Gleason{{Cite news |date=1908-05-07 |title="Meloland" Newest Town |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-meloland-newest/138697154/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |work=The Los Angeles Times |pages=25 |archive-date=January 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114051848/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-meloland-newest/138697154/ |url-status=live }} or Gleason Switch.{{Cite book |last=Vollmann |first=William T. |url=http://archive.org/details/imperial00voll_0 |title=Imperial |date=2008 |publisher=Viking |isbn=978-0-670-02061-4 |pages=251, 347–348 |author-link=William T. Vollmann}}

Agricultural development of the area began on October 1, 1907, when R. P. Shepherd established the 280 acre "Rancho Meloland". 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.{{Cite news |date=1908-05-02 |title=Youngest Settlement of Reclaimed Desert |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/imperial-valley-press-youngest-settlemen/138697671/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |work=Imperial Valley Press |pages=2 |archive-date=January 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114051849/https://www.newspapers.com/article/imperial-valley-press-youngest-settlemen/138697671/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite journal |title=Meloland Ranch |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c045817100&seq=200 |journal=The Desert Farmer |volume=3 |issue=May 1909 |pages=180–181 |access-date=January 14, 2024 |archive-date=January 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114054935/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c045817100&seq=200 |url-status=live }} A post office, store, and packing warehouse were in fact established in 1908,{{Cite news |date=1908-07-11 |title=Postoffice at Meloland |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/imperial-valley-press-postoffice-at-melo/138698300/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |work=Imperial Valley Press |pages=3 |archive-date=January 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114051846/https://www.newspapers.com/article/imperial-valley-press-postoffice-at-melo/138698300/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=1908-05-09 |title=Store at Meloland |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/imperial-valley-press-store-at-meloland/138698337/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |work=Imperial Valley Press |pages=8 |archive-date=January 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114051851/https://www.newspapers.com/article/imperial-valley-press-store-at-meloland/138698337/ |url-status=live }} although the latter two buildings burned down soon after construction, with two workmen narrowly escaping the blaze.{{Cite news |date=1908-06-12 |title=Drags youth out of flames |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-drags-youth-out-of/138698611/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |work=The Los Angeles Times |pages=21 |archive-date=January 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114051850/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-drags-youth-out-of/138698611/ |url-status=live }} A month later, Shepherd sold the land holdings to J. R. Loftus.{{Cite news |date=1908-07-11 |title=Meloland Sold |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/imperial-valley-press-meloland-sold/138698699/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |work=Imperial Valley Press |pages=9 |archive-date=January 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114051847/https://www.newspapers.com/article/imperial-valley-press-meloland-sold/138698699/ |url-status=live }}

Earlier in 1908, Shepherd had sold 40 acres to writer Harold Bell Wright,{{Cite news |date=1908-05-16 |title=Author Will Make a Valley Home |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/imperial-valley-press-author-will-make-a/138698817/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |work=Imperial Valley Press |pages=5 |archive-date=January 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114051845/https://www.newspapers.com/article/imperial-valley-press-author-will-make-a/138698817/ |url-status=live }} who built a house and artist's retreat on the property, which he called "Tecolote Rancho".{{Cite book |last=Tagg |first=Lawrence V. |url=http://archive.org/details/haroldbellwright0000tagg |title=Harold Bell Wright, storyteller to America |date=1986 |publisher=Westernlore Press |isbn=978-0-87026-062-9 |location=Tucson, Ariz. |pages=119–120}} Here he wrote The Calling of Dan Matthews, The Winning of Barbara Worth, and The Eyes of the World. 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".

In 1909, a daughter was born to J. R. Loftus and his wife, the first baby to be born in Meloland. The post office closed in 1911. The population was listed as 10 in 1910, 20 in 1920 and 1930, 15 in 1940, and 50 in 1965.

File:Near Meloland, Imperial Valley, California, 8b33211.jpg.]]

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.{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=About Us |url=http://drec.ucanr.edu/About_Us |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources |language= |archive-date=January 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114132953/https://drec.ucanr.edu/About_Us/ |url-status=live }}