On Saturday October 23 the Redlands Area Historical Society will conduct the eleventh annual walking tour of Hillside Memorial Park at 1540 Alessandro Road at 4:00 p.m. The tour will begin near the Egyptian Mausoleum and finishing before sundown. Society president, Tom Atchley will lead the tour assisted by Ron Running. Fee for the tour is $10 for Historical Society members and $15 for non-members. The walk will not be lengthy but uneven surfaces and moderate hills are abundant in the cemetery.
Judson and Brown, the founders of Redlands, never envisioned a cemetery in their preliminary map of Redlands in 1881. When their good friend and mentor, Myron Crafts, died in 1886 the event led to their purchase of 23.47 acres from the Southern Pacific Railroad Land Company. Judson and Brown then donated this Hillside Cemetery site to the Hillside Cemetery Association. The association consisted of six board members: John W. Edwards, Edward G. Judson, Charles Putnam, A.L. Park, Karl C. Wells and James S. Edwards. They met the first time June 8, 1886. The city did not take over management of the cemetery until February of 1918.
Gravestones themselves will be utilized to focus on the pioneer biographies of important people in Redlands history. The 1928 Egyptian Mausoleum reminds Redlanders of their fascination with the discovery of King Tut’s grave in Egypt in the 1920’s.
Join the tour and learn many other interesting facts on Hillside Memorial Cemetery, one of the few city-managed cemeteries in California.
