The City of Duarte was incorporated in 1957. Presently known as “The City of Health,” Duarte got its start in 1841 when 7,000 acres of prime land in the northern section of the San Gabriel Valley were granted to Mexican Corporal Andres Duarte and his wife. Duarte named his ranch “Azusa de Duarte.” Unfortunately for Corporal Duarte, in the mid-1800s, he was forced to sell most of his land in 40 acre plots, to satisfy his mounting debt. One purchaser of such a 40 acre plot was Dr. Nehemiah Beardslee who started the first school, now known as Beardslee Elementary.

Many of Duarte's earliest settlers, like so many of those in other Southern California cities, came for health reasons or to farm its fertile soil. The latter contributed greatly to the Southern California citrus industry of days past.

Today, Duarte, California is best known for the City of Hope National Medical Center, one of the country's foremost leaders in cancer treatment, and Santa Teresita Hospital. The City of Hope National Medical Center began in 1928 when the Jewish Relief Association started a tuberculosis sanitarium beneath a tent. A group of Carmelite Sisters founded Santa Teresita Hospital in 1930 in four small cottages.

The citizens of Duarte are currently experiencing an upscale median home price of about $484,000. Homes throughout Duarte range between $300,000 to well over $1 million with all shapes and sizes included.