A local story holds that when Hattie, daughter of city founder Samuel Merrill, returned from a trip to Italy, she was so impressed with the Rialto Bridge in Venice that she urged her father to name the city after it. Although the exact reason for the name Rialto remains unclear, the city is known throughout the region by its motto, "The Bridge to Progress," and continues to play an important role in transportation and commerce across the Inland Empire. This bridge look-alike was not the first built in the city, as replicas of the Rialto Bridge have appeared in parades, on citrus labels, and even on the city's old street lamps, which featured two lighted globes spanned by a replica of the bridge. Many of those tributes survive only in memory, but this new replica stands as a reminder of the city's humble beginnings as it moves into the future.