Ontario is home to the LA/Ontario International Airport, which is the 15th busiest airport in the United States by cargo carried. Ontario handles the mass of freight traffic between the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and the rest of the country. It takes its name from the Ontario Model Colony development established in 1882 by the Canadian engineer George Chaffey and his brothers William Chaffey and Charles Chaffey. They named the settlement after their home province of Ontario, Canada.

LDS Population

LDS Members make up 2.59% of Ontario’s population. The state of California has the largest LDS population outside of Utah. California has 768,344 members in 1,348 wards and branches, 16 missions, and 7 temples and 189 Family History Centers.

LDS History

LDS pioneers traveled from New York City on February 4th, 1846 on the ship The Brooklyn and arrived in Yerba Buena, now San Francisco, on July 31, 1846. The pioneers were led by Samuel Brannan who published San Francisco’s first newspaper, “The California Star”, on January 9th, 1847. Brannan helped spark the gold rush by sending copies of “The California Star” with news of gold at Sutter’s Mill back east. Meanwhile, a group of roughly 500 other LDS members marched to San Diego in the Mormon Battalion in defense of the U.S. Mexican War.