Established on a 2,000 acre tract that was purchased from the Hollenbeck holdings by J. S. Phillips in 1882, the City of Covina was given its name by a young engineer named Frederick Eaton who was hired by Phillips to survey the area. Struck by the manner in which the valleys of the adjacent San Gabriels seemed to form a natural cove around the lush vineyards that had been planted by the region's earliest settlers, Eaton combined the words cove and vine, and coined the name Covina for the new township.

Covina was once at the center of the Southern California Citrus Belt, and for more then 50 years the cultivation of oranges and lemons was the city's economic mainstay. Citrus Avenue derives it's name from the large groves of oranges that once covered the area. To find out more about the city of Covina and its place in the San Gabriel Valley, visit the Covina Museum in the old jail house adjacent to City Hall.