The month of May is National Historic Preservation month. The Redlands Area Historical Society and the Redlands Conservancy will be sponsoring a series of events to highlight Redlands’ historic structures from May 14-27, 2018. The theme for this year’s fortnight is “Down to the Station” – railroad focused development around the turn of the last century.
Monday, May 14, 6:00-7:30 p.m. – Opening reception at the historic Santa Fe Depot on Orange Street. Announcement of the 2018 Adaptive Reuse Award winner and the introduction of the new Club 125 inductees. Free and open to the public.
Saturday, May 19, 9 a.m. – Walking tour of the historic Santa Fe Depot district with local historian, Tom Atchley. The tour will being at the depot located at 351 North Orange Street. Atchley will take participants through the National Register district that surrounds the 1909 depot building. The depot is slated to be reactivated with the future extension of the Metrolink train service to Redlands. Cost of the tour is $10 for Historical Society members, and $15 for non-members.
Thursday, May 24, 5:30 p.m. – “A Matter of Rails” will be the topic of the Redlands Forum presented by Nathan Gonzales, archivist at the A.K. Smiley Public Library. Access to transportation networks is as important for commerce today as it was in the 1880’s. Redlands flourished in the early years because railroads could transport “Redlands Gold” across the country and around the world. It also enable winter visitors to seek Redlands as a “tourist mecca”. Reservations can be made via the ESRI website.
Saturday, May 26, 8:00 a.m. – Field trip and tour of two Metrolink stations will start at the San Bernardino train depot. Participants will then take a Metrolink train to Claremont for a guided tour of the train station there. Participants will buy their own train tickets and return on their own schedule. No reservations are necessary.
Sunday, May 27, 9:00 a.m. – The final activity of the 2018 Fortnight will be a 5k “Walk on the Rails” Gather at the Santa Fe Depot and follow the 5k route east to the location of the University of Redlands future train stop before returning. Participants will be given a guidebook featuring the details of the history of sites along the route. The walk is free and open to the public. Register on EventBrite.com.
