Nathan Gonzales will be the Redlands Area Historical Society speaker at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 28, at the A.K. Smiley Public Library Contemporary Clubhouse.

The Museum of Redlands recently received a box of records and ephemera from Serr’s Stationery Store. Edward J. and Donna Serr moved to Redlands in 1928 when they opened their store at 208 E. State Street where Daryl’s Pet Shop is now located. For many decades, Serr’s was the go-to place for …

The Museum of Redlands recently received a Redlands Fire Department badge owned by Howard Fletcher. Sometimes an item from the past raises more questions than it answers. This is one of those.

When Redlands celebrates a birthday, many come forward with ideas to celebrate the occasion.

1866: First Mill Creek Zanja water suit pits Old San Bernardino settlers vs. Upper Settlement farmers.  Compromise is met.  

Redlands usually counts Edward G. Judson and Frank E. Brown as the founders of Redlands. Certainly the Smiley brothers are esteemed for giving Redlands a cultural soul.  

In 1819, Serrano Indians dug a ditch that ran for 12 miles. Today through what is now Redlands, it is a symbol of history and nostalgia.

 When the Burrage Mansion was sold in 1924, who was the buyer? Most will answer Edgar Pratt or Arthur Gregory after whom Lake Gregory was named. Although both are cited in various magazines, books and records about Redlands as the second owner both are incorrect. The right answer is an inter…

Writing the Mill Creek Zanja Driving Tour in 2009 and serving on the Redlands Conservancy Zanja Committee, the pronunciation and spelling of the Mill Creek Zanja came up at each meeting with advocates for each side aligned in friendly disagreement. Zanja is the Spanish word for ditch.

The Museum of Redlands recently received four stitcheries of Redlands and Yucaipa scenes, held here by donor Kathy Presnell-Best.

Phase II of the Packinghouse District shopping center led to the excavation of China Town in Redlands.  

Tom Fontanes of Redlands has donated a wood-burned portrait of Albert Cameron Burrage, the copper magnate who built the mansion in 1901.

The Redlands Horticultural and Improvement Society was founded in 1889. The founders of the town and its early leaders understood that trees and other plantings would add value and beauty to the new city.

The Redlands Area Historical Society, Contemporary Club and Redlands Conservancy wish to invite the public, City Council members and history lovers to Sylvan Park from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the Mill Creek Zanja.

Larry E. Burgess, director emeritus of the A.K. Smiley Public Library and a local historian, will discuss the “the perceptions and realities in the history and present-day of Redlands, at a Chamber of Commerce meeting at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10, at CalWest Bank, 408 E. State St., Redlands.

The Museum of Redlands continues to receive Redlands posters from Al Hernandez, co-owner of the Citrograph on State Street.

Civil aviation took off in Redlands in 1911 — eight years after the Wright brothers’ famous flight on Dec. 17, 1903, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina — when the first known “air meet” was held at the University of Redlands.  

Redlands architect Clare Day has donated his many architectural drawings he has donated to the A.K. Smiley Public Library Heritage Room, sharing specific historical information and experiences involved with these buildings

1858: Ben Barton builds his first home in the future Redlands on Barton hill.  He builds a winery and expands the vineyard to 80 acres.

Even before the city took shape, Redlanders often created service clubs, political associations and hobby groups.    

Brochures, water bottles, and pottery pieces from Crystal Springs Ranch are recent donations to the Museum of Redlands collection.

    Larry Burgess and Tom Atchley will offer their Redlands local history clas from 7 to 9 p.m. beginning Sept. 17, for eight consecutive Tuesdays ending on Nov. 5 and is held in the Assembly Room of the Smiley Library.    

On Saturday, Oct. 5, guests will gather at the beautiful and historic Asistencia on Barton Road in Redlands to enjoy twilight at the Asistencia, Redlands Conservancy’s 2019 Annual Social.

A “Perry Mason” episode, “The Case of the Brazen Bequest” was filmed on location in Redlands.

  G. M. Anderson, manager of the Essanay Film Co., arrived in Redlands in January 1911. He sought out film locations for the Chicago-based film company to produce one 10-minute to 15-minute film western per day.

One by one, the names of almost 7,000 deceased people were digitized at Hillside Memorial Park in Redlands by a handful of volunteers, a painstaking task that took two-and-a-half years to complete.

Downtown Redlands grew from three separate locations and one had a saloon. Both Edward Judson and Frank Brown, Redlands co-founders, opposed the introduction of saloons in the East San Bernardino Valley. In one of the early temperance meetings the Riverside Press and Horticulturalist reporte…

Just before the groundbreaking for the Redlands Passenger Rail Project on Friday, July 19, former state Sen. Bill Emmerson, a member of the Museum of Redlands board, asked Rep. Pete Aguilar for the shovel he used in the ceremony. City videographer Cheryl Williams arranged for three former Re…

To demolish and build new, or not to demolish: that is the question faced by owners of some old buildings in historic Redlands where many old buildings still grace the downtown streets.

The Arrowhead Valley chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)  gathered on July 2, at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery to recognize Laura Baker Strong and Malvina Jerusha Chapin Rowell as Real Daughters.  

The Museum of Redlands has received the 1943 Redlands Fox Theater metal Employee Badge No. 1, which was worn by Ruby Kruse (later Pigott) when she was cashier there from 1943-45.

Redlands’ service organizations handle almost every aspect of life in Redlands, from giving a hand up to the needy, to preserving an extraordinary museum, to funding fine music and music workshops, to providing sports activities for Redlands’ youth. Redlanders and their organizations step fo…

REDLANDS — Receiving an autographed book is not an unusual acquisition for the Museum of Redlands, but the recent gift of “Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations” from University of Redlands graduate Betty Kikumi (now Meltzer) is.

In 1942 Redlands placed observers along Sunset Drive watching for enemy planes. This felt-material U.S. Army Air Force Observer armband worn by those civilian watchmen was donated by Chet and Sherril of Mendocino and was among several Redlands items that belonged to Louis Rabenstein includin…

Ninety Redlanders celebrate the 150 anniversary of the Smiley’s New York resort

The Redlands Area Historical Society will continue a 44-year tradition when it recognizes six homeowners for the care and stewardship of their architecturally and historically significant structures in the Redlands area at 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 17, in the Great Hall at Trinity Episcopal Chu…

One of the items in the A.K. Smiley Public Library Heritage Room collection awaiting display opportunity following the renovation and opening of the Museum of Redlands is a Lois Lauer Realty sign — from the days before the company affiliated with Century 21 in 1998.

The remarkable life of Israel Beal demonstrates much of the American Dream – the opportunity to start with nothing and yet attain great things, even in the face of adversity. The most dramatic example is Abraham Lincoln, who was born in a log cabin and died president of the United States.  I…

Janet and Fred Edwards recently donated to the Museum of Redlands a framed giclee of her 1950s original watercolor of a house on Cajon Street.

The Museum of Redlands recently received from Diana Holmes this small bureau from the estate of Redlands schoolteacher Mary Fackler, who received national prominence for originating the saying of the Pledge of Allegiance daily in her classroom in the old Kingsbury School.

It has been known as the San Gabriel Mission Asistencia, San Bernardino Asistencia, Mission Asistencia, an estancia, San Bernardino Rancho and Lugo Rancho.

“Los Caballeros” is a Leo Politi painting recently donated to the Museum of Redlands.

The Museum of Redlands recently received from David Northrop two Redlands Centennial banners and one flag from the Redlands 1988 centennial celebrations.

Redlands will hold a Juneteenth event on Saturday, June 15, in celebration of the abolition of slavery in June 1865.

Museum of Redlands Capital Campaign chairwomen Marilyn Solter, left, and Linda Serros, center, display items which artist Carol Rochford, right, has designed to debut at the Redlands Festival of the Arts booth the weekend of May 25 and 26 in Smiley Park.