Visitors often speculate aloud whether the place was originally built as a church or a mission.
One of the few buildings on the National Register of Historic and Scenic Properties, Smiley Library was indeed originally built as a public library. The tile floors in the front of the library, nearly a century old, are patterned in a sometimes controversial reverse swastika pattern, a symbol used by the Navajo Indians for 5,000 years. Smiley Library makes an excellent jumping-off point for learning about the history of Redlands. Don McCue, archivist for the Heritage Room, and Christie Hammond, associate archivist, are almost always able to stop and talk with visitors about Redlands, past and present. They will give short tours of the library to those who call first to make an appointment to do so.