The City of Artesia, a community of urban living with metropolitan facilities and commerce, is made up of more than 15,600 people. This mainly residential community started out as an urban agricultural town.

The area, like many surrounding it, was originally part of the Spanish land grant known as Rancho Los Coyotes owed by Manuel Nieto. Its name derived from the many artesian wells in the area. Artesia's founding as a distinct area came from an original 100 acres purchased by the Artesia land Company in 1875, and the formation of the Artesia Improvement company in 1906 for the purpose of developing a townsite. By the time they were ready to form a town, railways ran through the area, making Artesia a favorable place to develop. Artesia's first industry was truck farming until 1920's when dairies came to the area to answer the surrounding metropolitan area's need for milk. These moved father inland in the 1960's as the town and surrounding areas grew. One of the largest employers in the area is still a dairy, along with the hospital and children's dental building. The city was officially incorporated in 1959, with a population of 9,500.

One of the chief crops during Artesia's period of farming was grapes; there were many wineries in the area. One of the more interesting stories about Artesia's history comes from the Artesian Winery Company, that was located at the southeast corner of Artesia and Norwalk Boulevards.

Artesia is no longer known for its wineries. It is currently economically supported by surrounding local service industry and employment in adjacent industries. It has close to 2,000 rental unites within its boundaries of 1.62 square miles.

Artesia is made up of people vast national and religious backgrounds. They celebrate this diversity in October, with an International Festival that showcase the many different types of people that can be found within the city. Even during the rest of the year the many ethnic types of people that can be found within the city. Even during the rest of the year the many ethnic backgrounds are represented by wide number of churches, organizations, shops, and restaurants.