Calexico began as a tent city of the Imperial Land Company and has grown into a thriving city on the US-Mexico border.

Before the repeal of prohibition, Calexico was primarily a week-end town visited by workers in the Imperial Valley in pursuit of fun and games, dance halls and saloons in adjacent Mexicali, which was outside the United States and unaffected by the Volstead Act.

Although it gained a reputation for a while as a typical U.S.-Mexico border town with all the tawdry aspects usually associated with such places, the modern city of Calexico is a far cry from what it was back in those early days. Hundreds of acres are now being devoted to industrial parks use and commercial and retail incentives are being offered to encourage industrial development.

Since Calexico represents the mixing of two cultures and areas and because of its proximity to the Mexican border, the name Calexico was coined for a combination of Mexico and California. Source: City of Calexico