The San Francisco call., 1898-03-06


 to realize that the beautiful little
 city, with it's many costly residences \ and cozy homes, its substantial busi-
 ness blocks, paved streets. parks and shade trees and many thousand acres ot orange groves, is only about twenty years old.
 AS early as 1874 however, a small set tlement was formed in what was known as Lugonia, which has since been ab- sorbed by Redlands. In that section an orchard was planted in "A, and by TT there was a population which warranted the opening of the first school. One hum dred acres was planted to grapes in 1879, and in so the first fruit-dryer was built, and store opened in 1881 Shortly after Judson and Brown laid off five and ten acre tracts in the amphitheater south of LugOnia, and a colony started there in 1886. In 1887 the township was laid out as city and the plat filed March 10, and the name of Redlands given it, suggested by the rich, red color of the fertile soil.
 The business part of Redlands is on the level shelf of the mesa, with the resi- dence portion and orange groves sloping upward to the north, east and south, forming an amphitheater.
 The altitude of Redlands varies from 1850 feet in the center of town to 100 feet on the heights of the rim. For miles from the summit of the crest of the city and below toward old San Bernardino there is a succession of orange groves. with here and there the gables and towers of a modern residence, with flowers group ed around or clambering over it; or the spire of a church rising out of the deep green of the orange
 The atmosphere of this region is re- markably pure and soft, ever laden with the most delicate odor eXhaled by the leaves of the citrus fruits at all seasons, augmented by the fragrance of thousands of varieties of flowers, which, at the time the orange trees are at the zenith of their Towering season, filled the air with sweetness.
 There is no black sky here and at night the scenery is beautiful, especially in mid winter when the summits of the noun tains are wrapped in their mantle of snow. Mount San Bernardino and be- yond Mount San Gorgonia, or Gray back" as it is popularly called, are espe- cially majestic upon moonlight night when wearing their white caps of snow, never entirely absent, but much heavier and winter in winter time.
 Coming from out the sleeping East into the dry atmosphere of Redlands even in midsummer, when people unac- quainted with the actual conditions say it is hot, one will always find the air re- freshng, especially at night, and here the mind not conscience pricked may ever find sleep and rest and refreshment.
 The average rainfall for the whole year Is about ten inches, occurring mostly at night. At one time last spring there fell in Central Massachusetts and at other Eastern points from tento fourteen inches in less than two weeks time. The rains here are usually gentle, the thirsty earth eagerly drinking in every drop that reaches her upturned face. As would nat urally follow, the Magic City is blest with freedom from fogs. Blest because of the advantage this condition offers for health and because of it's beneficial effect upon the orange, lemon and grape fruit crops. Occasionally slight sea breeze will bring in a fog from the coastward valleys; but these are of rare occurrence, as Redlands is on the hills above the usual fog line and above the damp air belt. But 1t is a common occurrence to behold the valley below hidden in a fog bank, out upon which one may gaze as over a bank of snow.
 The city of Redlands and the surround ing country are supplied with water for domestic purposes, for irrigation and for power purposes from the Santa Ana River, Mill Creek and the famous Bear Valley reservoir or lake. The dam across a canyon in Bear Valley for impoundil g the water and making the big lake was begun September T, 1883, and in November of the following year it was completed. This famous dam, designed and con- structed under the supervision of F. E. Brown, is unique in its structure, and the venture was daring feat Of engineering, because of Its form, height and the thin ness of its walls. Built to height of siXty-two feet, 1t arches inward toward the water to give 1t the greatest strength with the use of the least possible ma teriaI. The lake thus formed is five miles long and from half to a mile wide. This made Redlands possible by insuring water for irrigation.
 With all the advantages of climate, water, a soil the best known for the production of the finest of oranges, and a site unsurpassed for beauty of location and environment, is it any wonder that people of taste, of refinement ana or means were attracted to this spot? And is it any surprise that Redlands has grown so rapidly, so substantially and so beautifully as to be known as the Magic City?" No city in the West has so many natural attractions. None of its size has more beautiful and costly homes; and the rapidfty with which the slopes and hlll- tops are being covered with fine mansions Is increasing as time moves on apace. Within the past twelve months more money has been expended in the erection of palatial residences in Redlands than during any two years before. The am- phitheater-like contour of the country, with terrace-like trenches, broken by the
 zanJas' or streams flowing through the city and many small canyons, affords almost innumerable, desirable and com manding building sites. upon which the 'h homes are erected, surrounded by orange groves ana parks and gardens of flowers ana semi-tropic trees and shrubs.
 This rolling and broken condition of the