Redlands, California is a city in San Bernardino County. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 63,591. The city is located 10 miles east of downtown San Bernardino and is nick-named the Jewel of the Inland Empire. Here is the seal of the city of Redlands, CA.
History
The area now occupied by Redlands was originally part of the territory of the Morongo and Aguas Calientes tribes of Cahuilla people. Explorations such as those of Pedro Fages and Francisco Garces sought to extend Catholic influence to the indigeneous people and the dominion of the Spanish crown into the area in the 1770s. The Serrano (Mountain-dwelling Cahuilla) village of Guachama, located just to the west of present-day Redlands, was visited by Fr. Francisco Dumetz in 1810, and was the reason the site was chosen for a mission outpost. Dumetz reached the village on May 20, the feast day of Saint Bernardino of Siena, and thus named the region the San Bernardino Valley. The Franciscan friars from San Gabriel established the San Bernardino Asistencia in 1819 and embarked on the usual program of training the native tribes to raise crops and encouraging permanent settlements. By 1820, a ditch, known as a zanja, was dug by the natives for the friars from Mill Creek to the Asistencia. In 1822, word of the Mexican triumph in the War of Independence reached the inland area, and lands previously claimed by Spain passed to the custody of the Mexican government.
In 1842, the Lugo family received a grant to a large tract in the area and this became the first fixed settler civilization. The area northwest of current Redlands, astride the Santa Ana River, would become known as Lugonia. In 1851, the area received its first Anglo inhabitants in the form of several hundred Mormon pioneers, who purchased the entire Rancho San Bernardino, founded nearby San Bernardino, and established a prosperous farming community watered by the many lakes and streams of the San Bernardino Mountains. The Mormon community left wholesale in 1857, recalled to Utah by Brigham Young during the tensions with the federal government that ultimately led to the brief Utah War. Benjamin Barton purchased 1,000 acres from the Latter-day Saints and planted extensive vineyards and built a winery.
The first settler on the site of the present Redlands is recorded to have erected a hut at the corner of what is now Cajon St. and Cypress Ave.; he was a sheep herder, and the year, 1865, reported Ira L. Swett in 'Tractions of the Orange Empire.' Lugonia attracted settlers, in 1869, Barry Roberts, followed a year later by the Craw and Glover families. The first school teacher in Lugonia, George W. Beattie, arrived in 1874- shortly followed by the town's first negro settler, Israel Beal.
Railroads
In the 1880s, the arrival of the Southern Pacific and Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroads, connecting Southern California to San Francisco and Salt Lake touched of a land boom, with land speculators such as John W. North flooding into the area now known as the Inland Empire. North and others saw the area, with its hot, dry climate and ready access to water supplies, as an ideal center for citrus production. The city of Redlands was soon established by Frank E. Brown, a civil engineer, and E. G. Judson, a New York Stock broker, to provide a center (along with North's nearby settlement at Riverside) for the burgeoning citrus industy. They named their city "Redlands" after the color of the adobe soil. So large had the area grown by 1888 that it was decided to incorporate. 'A red-letter day in the Annals of Redlands,' pronounced Scipio Craig, editor of The Citrograph newspaper, of the November 26 incorporation. The original community of Lugonia was absorbed at this time.
The Redlands Street Railway Company was incorporated on March 22, 1888, acquiring on June 5th a franchise from the San Bernardino County Supervisors dating to December 1887, conveying the right to construct, operate and maintain for a term of 50 years a line of street railways in Redlands, Terracina and vicinity. The initial operations began in June 1889 with a single-track line operating two-mule-team cars, the first street railway company of several to provide service to the growing community. Electrification and new rails replaced the mules in 1899. Most Redlands street railways would pass to the San Bernardino Valley Traction Company in a consolidation on June 3rd, 1903, and thence to the Pacific Electric in the 'Great Merger' of Huntington properties under new ownerships by the Southern Pacific Railway on Febraury 8th, 1911. Henry E. Huntington, nephew of late Southern Pacific president Collis P. Huntington, had gained control of the four-mile-long streetcar line of the Redlands Central Railway Company in 1908.
The Pacific Electric Railway completed an interurban connection between Los Angeles and San Bernardino in 1914, providing a convenient, speedy connection to the fast-growing city of Los Angeles and its new port at San Pedro, bringing even greater to the town and a new role as a vacation destination for wealthy Angelenos. Redlands was, in fact, the eastern-most point of the 'Big Red Car' system. At its peak, the PE operated five individual local routes in Redlands, with trolleys running up to Smiley Heights, and on Orange, Olive, and Citrus Avenues. Pacific Electric interurban service to Redlands was finally abandoned on July 20th, 1936, although PE and Southern Pacific (parent company of PE) provided freight service as far as the Sunkist packing plant on San Bernardino Avenue into at least the 1970s. The abandoned Pacific Electric La Quinta trestle over the Santa Ana River still stands today, immediately south of San Bernardino Airport.
Redlands, California Peak Period
At the turn of the 1900s, Redlands was the 'Palm Springs' of the next century, with roses being planted along many city thoroughfares. Some of these plantings would survive as wild thickets into the 1970s, especially adjacent to orange groves where property management was lax. Washingtonian palms were planted along many main avenues. In fact, Redlands was the first city to have center medians with trees or gardens in between roads. So beautifully kept was the area, with dramatic mountain backdrops, that for several years the Santa Fe Railroad operated excursion trains along the loop that passed through the orange groves of Redlands and Mentone, across the Santa Ana River, and back into San Bernardino via East Highlands, Highlands and Patton, and advertised as the 'Kite Route' due to its multi-sided alignment. The trestle over 'the Wash' north of Mentone was carried away during a flood in 1938 and never replaced, the line being truncated there. The Southern Pacific branch line from the San Timoteo Canyon to Crafton was abandoned after the packing house business died. A thru-truss bridge over the Zanja (locally pronounced 'Zank-ee') exists today, abandoned in place. Burlington Northern Santa Fe, result of the AT&SF-Burlington Northern merger, applied to abandon its San Bernardino-connected branch line east of downtown Redlands in 2007. A move was made by transit activists to have this branch revitalized as part of the Southern California transit districts, but it came to nothing.
The city Redlands has been visited by three Presidents- President McKinley was the first in 1901, followed by President Teddy Roosevelt in 1903 and President William H. Taft. Local landmarks include the A.K. Smiley Public Library, a Moorish-style library built in 1898, and the Redlands Bowl, built in 1930 and home of the oldest continuously free outdoor concert series in the United States. Located behind Smiley Library is the Lincoln Shrine, the only memorial honoring the 'Great Emancipator', the sixteenth president, west of the Mississippi River.
Famous homes include "America's Favorite Victorian," the Morey Mansion, on Terracina Boulevard, and the Kimberly Crest House and Gardens, a home museum featured on the PBS series "America's Castles." Named after the family that purchased the house, the owners of Kimberly-Clark (makers of paper goods and Kleenex), it is a beautiful mansion set high on a hill overlooking the whole valley. Redlands is still regarded as the 'Jewel of the Inland Empire.'
Government Buildings
Post Office, built in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration.
Federal
Redlands is located in California's 41st congressional district, which is represented by Republican Jerry Lewis.
State
In the state legislature Redlands is located in the 31st Senate District, represented by Republican Robert Dutton, and in the 59th, 63rd, and 65th Assembly Districts, represented by Republicans Anthony Adams, Bill Emmerson, and Paul Cook respectively.
Local
City Hall
The city uses a Mayor and City-Council system, each serving a four year term.
Education
Higher Education
- University of Redlands
- Crafton Hills College
- ESRI Learning Center
- Community Christian College
Public Education
Redlands Unified School District
- Redlands East Valley High School
- Redlands Citrus Valley High School
- Redlands High School
- Orangewood High School (Continuation)
- The Grove School (Charter)
- Beattie Middle School
- Cope Middle School
- Clement Middle School
- Moore Middle School
Private Education
- Christ the King Lutheran Church & School
- Arrowhead Christian Academy
- The Packinghouse Christian Academy
- Chartwell School
- Hope Christian School
- Redlands Adventist Academy
- Redlands Christian School
- Valley Preparatory School
- Montessori in Redlands
- Sacred Heart Academy
Transportation
Redlands, California AT&SF train station, designed in 1909 by architect Arthur Brown, Jr.
Coming west from Los Angeles and heading east toward Palm Springs, Interstate 10 bisect Redlands. A tempestuous political battle occurred in the 1950s when three routes for the new freeway were considered, one north of town through the Lugonia district, the center route through the city, and a southern alignment through San Timoteo Canyon, paralleling the Southern Pacific railroad tracks. The central route was finalized in 1957 and Redlands Mayor Charles Parker cut the ceremonial ribbon to open the new interstate on August 28th, 1962. The new State Route 210, or Foothill Freeway ends at Interstate 10 in Redlands, then heads west toward Pasadena and Los Angeles. The San Bernardino line of the Greater Los Angeles regional transportation system called Metrolink has a stop in nearby San Bernardino. The San Bernardino based Omnitrans bus system which handles the bus service for the area serves Redlands.
Airports
- Los Angeles International Airport, 59 miles west.
- Redlands Municipal Airport is a general aviation airport located on the Northeastern end of the city.
- L.A./Ontario International Airport is about 20 miles west of Redlands.
- San Bernardino International Airport, the former Norton Air Force Base.
Economy
- Five Ten Footwear Headquarters.
- ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) - Worldwide Headquarters and Learning Center Campus.
- La-Z-Boy - Western U.S. Headquarters Distribution and manufacturing center.
- Salton Inc. - General Contractors-Industrial Buildings and Warehouses. (George Foreman Grills)
- Hydro Tek Systems - A manufacturer of high pressure washers and industrial cleaning equipment
- Gill Batteries - Manufacturer of Aviation Batteries, used in everything from General Aviation aircraft to Airliners.
- Todd and Devona Garrigus - Agent/REALTOR - Certified Foreclosure Agent and Short Sale Specialists - Specializes in Short Sales and Bank-Owned REO Foreclosures in the Redlands and Mentone, CA areas. Codlwell Banker Kivett-Teeters. http://www.GarrigusRealEstate.com
Culture
Redlands Bowl
Museums
- Redlands Historical Museum, located inside the A.K. Smiley Library on the grounds of Smiley Park in downtown Redlands. The Museum will refurbish the old 1940 City Hall, now used as the Redlands Police Department, as their Museum Center. The Heritage Center holds various pictures, pamphlets, maps, yearbooks, newspapers, manuscripts and books all relating to the rise of Redlands as a navel orange producing mecca, to the close knit community it has become today.
- San Bernardino County Museum (SBCM), is a regional museum with exhibits and collections in the cultural and natural history. Special exhibits, the Exploration Station live animal discovery center, extensive research collections, and public programs for adults, families, students, and children are all part of the museum experience. The SBCM also runs the San Bernardino de Sena Estancia.
- Redlands Historical Glass Museum holds displays of American Glassware dating from the early 1800s to contemporary times. Displays include glass from Heisey, Cambridge, Fento Art Glass Company, Fostoria, and Sandwich factories, as well as those that produced depression-era glassware. Items on display include candlesticks, compotes, milk glass, stems, bowls, historical plates, salts, kerosene lamps and several items from the estate of Liberace.
IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE in compliance with the FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ("FTC") MORTGAGE ASSISTANCE RELIEF SERVICE ("MARS"): Before using this service, consider the following information - Coldwell Banker Kivett-Teeters Associates are not associated with the government and our services are not approved by the government. Seller acknowledges that the Broker/Agent is not qualified to provide financial, legal or tax advice regarding short sale transactions. Therefore, the seller is advised to obtain professional tax advice and consult independent legal counsel immediately regarding the tax implications and advisability of entering into a short sale agreement with their lender/servicer. If you stop paying your mortgage, you could lose your home and damage your credit rating.
