From behind the Post-It marked pages of her new book, Joan Hedges McCall told a handful of people the story of Redlands Tuesday as they gathered at the local library.
A born and bred middle school teacher, her own history in Redlands goes back just a little more than 30 years. But after countless columns on area history written for the local paper, The History Press publishing company thought she knew enough to write a pretty good book.
The local A.K. Smiley library thought she might know a thing or two as well. So on a lazy Tuesday afternoon, about 20 members of the older generation, two elementary school children with reports due and one curious newcomer (aka Moi) sat down to hear her history of the area.
Between its official birth in 1888 to the modern-day, Redlands has a history of just plain niceness.
It all started with the Mormons. On orders from the prophet, many moved to the San Bernardino valley and settled it. Redlands was a part of that settlement and also felt the loss when all the upstanding citizens were told to trek on back to Salt Lake City in 1857.
Her narrative then wandered through the story of the railroad, the water supply and the area’s first high schools. As remarkable as she thought those stories were, they were trumped by another revelation.
Redlands has a culture of intense community involvement.
When she asked how many in the room remembered the petition to save Prospect Park, about five gray-haired people raised their hands. The little town was tasked with raising more than $500,000 as the decade of the 1960s dawned. If it didn’t, the city could not purchase the unspoiled land where Prospect Park now sits and the area would be subdivided into a sprawling suburbia. After dozens of fundraising fairs, carnivals and a super-human effort, the little town that could had only raised $102,000. The federal department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) stepped in and said it would match any additional money through a grant program. So the fervor started again. Every family in Redlands would have to give $400 if this was going to work. The deadline ticked down and with moments to spare the small city was still $40,000 away from its goal.
Saving the day, the heiress of Kimberly Clark products fame stepped in and donated her house and lands “to the future enjoyment of the citizens of Redlands and to the memory of [her] mother.”
Prospect park was saved and is now the gorgeous romping grounds of runners, thespians, high school track athletes and lunch-hour picnickers.
Before the there was the park, or even paved roads, Redlands citizens raised enough private money to bring the railroad to town. About 1,000 turn-of-the-century people scraped together $42,000 for the project.
The foundation they laid still thrives today.
“It is not unusual to see hundreds of people volunteering at a community clean up day,” Shirley Harry, a lifetime resident told me later at another city function. “What makes Redlands unique is the involvement of the people who live here. We are all very invested in our community.”
