There were once many different Native American tribes living in Southern California, such as the Morongo, Aguas Calientes, and Chumash people. There were explorations by Pedro Fages and Francisco Garcés that sought to extend the Catholic influence over the native people and the rule of the Spanish crown in the 1770s.

 

The town of Redlands was established in the early 1820s when a Spanish missionary, Fr. Francisco Dumetz, set up a mission outpost there. It was the main stop along the El Camino Viejo or old road, which was used to link California’s missions together until it was replaced by a more direct route around San Bernardino Mountain.

The Dumetz reached the village on May 20, 1810, the feast day of San Bernardino of Siena, and named the region the San Bernardino Valley. The Franciscan friars from Mission 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.

 

The Lugo family bought Rancho San Bernardino Mexican land grant in 1842. This became the first fixed settlers in the area.

 

In 1851, the area was settled by the first Anglo settlers who arrived in the form of several hundred Mormon pioneers. They purchased the entire Rancho San Bernardino, founded the city of San Bernardino, and became successful farmers.

The Mormon community left for Utah in 1857 when they were asked to return by Brigham Young to Utah. Benjamin Barton bought land and planted vineyards and built a winery.

 

In the year 1865 the first settler, a sheep herder, 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. Barry Roberts was among the settlers drawn to Lugonia in 1869, and the Craw and Glover families arrived a year later. "Israel Beal, the town's first black settler, came to Lugonia shortly after George W. Beattie, the town's first schoolteacher, arrived in 1874.

 

When the Southern Pacific and Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroads connected Southern California to San Francisco and Salt Lake City in the 1880s, it caused a land boom, attracting investors like John W. North to the region that is now known as the Inland Empire.

 

With its hot, dry climate and easy access to water, North and others saw the region as the ideal location for citrus production. Soon after, civil engineer Frank E. Brown and New York stockbroker E. G. Judson founded Redlands to serve as a hub for the expanding citrus industry alongside North's nearby settlement at Riverside. In honor of the hue of the adobe soil, they gave their city the name "Redlands". By March 22, 1888, the city was incorporated and E. G. Judson served as the first mayor.

 

On July 27, 1892, the Electric Light & Power Co. received a franchise and started construction on a powerhouse in Mill Creek Canyon, making history in the electrical industry. The foundation was laid for the first (three-phase) transmission line in the history of the world, which later became a division of Southern California Edison Co. and brought electricity to Redlands. On August 5, 1893, the first electric arc lamps were placed above the streets of Redlands. The plan is largely credited to George B. Ellis, one of the seven men who led the initiative.

 

The first line was extended from the Mill Creek powerhouse to East Citrus avenue, to Mr. Ellis' Terracina hotel. The firm boasted of ability to supply current enough for 1,500 homes. When gas lighting became available in Redlands in 1900, many homes already had electricity.

 

The first orange grove in the city was planted in the spring of 1882 by Mr. E. J. Waite of Wisconsin. The city served as the hub of the world's largest navel orange-producing region for nearly 75 years. Redlands was a fruit-packing hub encircled by more than 15,000 acres of citrus groves by the late 1930s.

 

All three citrus packing houses (two in the downtown area and one on San Bernardino Avenue) had closed by the turn of the century as the local citrus industry suffered as more agricultural areas were replaced by subdivisions. For the roughly 2,500 acres of citrus that are still being produced in the area, there is currently only one packing house left to meet their needs.

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