A Brief History of The Inland Gateway Association of REALTORS®, Inc.

History has it that sometime in late 1946, a group of concerned REALTORS® gathered in the bakery next to Ralph W. Stanfield’s real estate office on S. Main St., sitting on empty orange crates and presumably with their shirt sleeves rolled up, making plans and laying the foundation to form the Corona Board of REALTORS®.  The board actually received its charter in August 1947.  The board was officially known as the Corona Realty Board.  The board had six members at its inception, with Ralph Stanfield serving as its first president in 1947.

The organization has always been active in community and civic affairs, but early years were rather lean in productive real-estate activity.  It is estimated that in the late 1940’s the board produced ½ to ¾ of a $1,000.000.00 in gross volume, the values however, were much lower than they are today.  The average home sale was from $3,500 to $10,000. Property values started to climb in 1951. Howard Blakely developed Blakely Manor and initiated the first FHA loans in the area which ran from $9,750 to $10,750.  The home of the Corona Realty Board was on Howard Street.  Blakely’s Real Estate office was located at 937 W. Sixth St.  The board’s meetings for many years were held at the Kinney Hotel on E. Sixth St., which became Lindy’s Café, long since gone. In 1956 the board was incorporated.  Upon doing so, t6he board became known as The Corona Board of REALTORS®.

The following decade produced great growth, expansion and population influx for the area and the community of Norco produced a number of prominent real-estate offices. In 1966, the board was incorporated as the Corona-Norco Board of REALTORS®. The board office had remained in Blakely’s Real Estate office until that time.  Afterward, it was moved to 1128 E. Sixth St.

In 1974, the Association purchased the property, at 702 Crawford St., which previously served as a place of worship for the local Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation. In 2003 the Association moved once more to its current location at 321 E. Sixth Street, where it once housed an old Citizens Bank for the city.

Through continued dynamic leadership, the Corona-Norco Association of REALTORS®, Inc., will undoubtedly enjoy bigger and better years in the future. Our association is dependent upon our members’ participation.

Due to the housing influx outside the city boundaries of Corona and Norco the Association filed for a name change, which today is known as “The Inland Gateway Association of REALTORS®”, Inc.

The National Association of REALTORS® in November 2007 at their annual conference granted the request.