Elberta originated in the early 1900's as two separate settlements, Elberta and Verda, located four miles south of this location. The surrounding 15,000 acres had been purchased in 1892 by Gilbert Payton and Ernest Rigdon, who envisioned a fruitful valley and an opportunity to make their fortune in mining. In 1907 Matthew B. Whitney bought the project from Payton and Rigdon and named Elberta after the Elberta peaches growing there.