February 27, 2023 Program: “Before & After, Part II”

Tom Atchley will return for “Part II Before and After” for the Redlands Area Historical Society program on February 27 at 7:00 p.m. in the Contemporary Club.  The program will show slides of Redlands’ homes when they were first built and then changes that have taken place. 

      Redlands began near the end of the Victorian architecture period.  The fanciful bargeboard, towers, brackets and decorative motifs gave way to more practical displays of wood decorations. Home maintenance required painting about every five to ten years.  The elaborate woodwork proved difficult to maintain requiring extensive scraping and sanding to remove the old brittle paint. 

     The San Jacinto earthquake in 1898 increased the fear that tall towers brought potential damage to Victorian homes.  Home owners began to remove the towers and in the process renovate homes into the Classic Box style of the early 1900s.

     The Mr. Atchley’s power point show will present original photos of numerous homes with photos taken later that indicate the changes.  Home owners influenced by architecture in the period applied versions of style that applied to the new age.  Redlands slowly changed as these Victorian gems took on new versions of themselves with the original versions forgotten over the years. 

    Tom Atchley is the current president of the Historical Society.  He continues to present the History of Redlands with Dr. Larry Burgess and Dr. Nathan Gonzales with a spring class organizing now at A.K. Smiley Public Library.  The 50^th Anniversary of the class was celebrated last year. 

 Historical Society programs are free and open to the general public. To register to attend the meeting in person or via Zoom please go to the following link: www.rahs.org/calendar

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Zoom webinar.