Adelanto is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It is about 9mi northwest of Victorville in the Victor Valley area of the Mojave Desert, known as the northern region of the Inland Empire. The population was 31,765 at the 2010 census.HistoryAdelanto was founded in 1915 by E. H. Richardson, the inventor of what became the Hotpoint electric iron. He sold his patent and purchased land for $75,000. He had planned to develop one of the first planned communities in Southern California.The name Adelanto means 'progress' or 'advance' in Spanish, and was first given to the post office that was established on the site in 1917.Richardson subdivided his land into one-acre plots, which he hoped to sell to veterans with respiratory ailments suffered during World War I. He also hoped to build a respiratory hospital. Richardson never fully realized his dream, but his planning laid the foundation for the present day City of Adelanto.Acres of deciduous fruit trees once grew in the city, which became known in the state for its fresh fruit and cider. The orchards thrived until the Great Depression, when they were replaced by poultry ranches. As the wartime emergency developed early in 1941, the Victorville Army Air Field was established with land within the Adelanto sphere of influence. In September 1950, the air field was named George Air Force Base in honor of the late Brigadier General Harold H. George.
