Hemet is located 35 miles southeast of Riverside in a valley at the foot of Mount San Jacinto. Long known as a prime agricultural area, Hemet has developed into a major trading area for western Riverside County and is well established as a retirement center. The 2000 Census lists the population at just over 66,800 within the City limits, plus a trading area population over 220,000.

The area in which Hemet is located was first inhabited by members of the Cahuilla Indian tribe.  In the early 1800s, the area became a cattle ranch for Mission San Luis Rey and was called Rancho San Jacinto. When the missions were broken up by the Mexican government, the land was awarded to Jose Antonio Estudillo in 1842.

Hemet's development began in 1887 with the formation of the Lake Hemet Water Company and the Hemet Land Company by William F. Whittier and Edward L. Mayberry. Work on a masonry dam in the San Jacinto Mountains commenced in 1891, and the Hemet Dam was completed in 1895. The subsequent formation of Lake Hemet behind the dam and completion of a water transmission and distribution systems to and through the southern half of the valley made future development possible.

The city of Hemet was incorporated in January 1910 and served primarily as a trading center for the surrounding agricultural district. Important crops included apricots, peaches, olives, citrus, walnuts, potatoes and alfalfa. The Hemet Chamber of Commerce was originally formed in 1908 from the Hemet Improvement Association.

Since 1923, one of the valley's chief claims to fame has been the annual Pageant based on the novel Ramona. One of the incidents which inspired Helen Hunt Jackson to write Ramona occurred in the valley, and the production of a pageant based on the novel was discussed for a number of years as a method of promoting the valley. From 1923 onward, with only brief interruptions during the Depression and during World War II, the people of Hemet and San Jacinto joined to stage this outdoor play each spring. The pageant is held in the Ramona Bowl located in the Santa Rosa Hills south of Hemet and is the Official California State Outdoor Play and America's longest running outdoor drama.

Hemet was also noted for the 46th Agricultural Farmer's Fair of Riverside County, which had its beginning in 1936 as the Hemet Turkey Show, and for the Ryan School of Aeronautics, which trained about 6,000 fliers for the Army Air Force between 1940 and 1944. Hemet-Ryan Airport exits today at the site of the original Ryan Flight School.

The character of Hemet began to change dramatically in the early 1960s with the development of Sierra Dawn, the country's first "mobile home subdivision" in which individual lots were sold and the City provided street, sewer, refuge and lighting services.

Hemet in the 21st Century retains its retirement orientation but is also drawing significant numbers of younger families who provide services to the senior population or who are looking for affordable housing. Hemet's median age in 1990 was 56.7 years; ten years later it was 44.6 years. Consequently, many younger parents travel outside the San Jacinto Valley to work.

    In 1999, the Metropolitan Water District completed its 800,000 acre foot reservoir south of Hemet. Named Diamond Valley Lake, this large, aquatic jewel provides fishing, sailing and other recreational facilities. In addition, two major museums (a water education museum and an archaeology and paleontology center) are scheduled to be completed in 2006 adjacent to the lake.

    The most important Hemet entity is the people who live here. They care about their neighbors and about education. To demonstrate this, a 52,000 square foot new library was completed in 2003 at 300 E. Latham Avenue, paid for by the people living in Hemet and used by all San Jacinto Valley residents.