Hemet is a city in the San Jacinto Valley

San Jacinto Valley

The San Jacinto Valley is a valley located in south western Riverside County, in Southern California.The valley is located at the base of the San Jacinto Mountains in the east and Santa Rosa Hills to the south with the San Gorgonio Pass to the north...

 in Riverside County

Riverside County, California

Riverside County is a county in the U.S. state of California. One of 58 California counties, it covers in the southern part of the state, and stretches from Orange County to the Colorado River, which forms the state border with Arizona. The county derives its name from the city of Riverside,...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It covers a total area of 27.847 square miles (72.1 km²), about half of the valley, which it shares with the neighboring city of San Jacinto

San Jacinto, California

San Jacinto is a city in Riverside County, California, U.S.A. It was named after Saint Hyacinth and is located at the north end of the San Jacinto Valley, with Hemet to its south. The mountains associated with the valley are the San Jacinto Mountains. The population was 44,199 at the 2010...

. The population was 78,657 at the 2010 census.

Hemet was founded in 1887, predating the formation of Riverside County, and was incorporated on January 20, 1910. The formation of Lake Hemet

Lake Hemet

Lake Hemet is a water storage reservoir located in the San Jacinto Mountains in Riverside County, California, with a capacity of of water. It was created in 1895 with the construction of the Hemet Dam, and is owned and operated by the Lake Hemet Municipal Water District .- Facts and statistics...

 helped the city grow and prosper, and stimulated agriculture in the area.