Atchley to discuss history of Lugonia in Redlands Posted: 09/21/13 Redlands historian Tom Atchley will present a program on the history of Lugonia, the area that is now north Redlands, when the Redlands Area Historical Society meets at 7 p.m. Monday in the Assembly Room of the A.K. Smiley Public Library, 125 W. Vine St., Redlands. Atchley’s presentation will go back to the beginning of Redlands, starting in the 1860s with the Berry Roberts ditch bringing water to the north bench along Pioneer Avenue. Atchley said most of the information he will present has been researched this past year and will change the perspective of local history. The north Redlands area was originally called Sunnyside, and it slowly evolved into Lugonia after Charles Paine suggested the name for the 1877 school, Atchley said. The name Lugonia had previously been on the wine labels of Crafton resident Dr. William Craig. Edward Judson, who named Redlands from the color of the soil, also insisted that the Riverside Press and Horticulturalist call the community Lugonia rather than Sunnyside, Atchley said. Judson made that request in 1881 just as the Redlands Tract in Lugonia was being advertised for sale. Newspapers in San Bernardino and Riverside respected the request, and Lugonia was the name until 1888. During the incorporation debate between the competing communities of Redlands and Lugonia, Judson quietly favored the historical Lugonia name but wanted the Redlands name to prevail, because the name advertised soil of the firm of Judson and Brown, Atchley said. Warren Wilson gave the first short history of Lugonia in the “History of San Bernardino County” published by Wallace W. Elliott & Co. of Oakland in 1883. The half-page review of the Lugonia “village” mentioned the fruit colony with emphasis on the Judson & Brown fruit dryer. The section on Redlands included a bird’s-eye-view two-page map with another page of description. Wilson never intended to write a real history, Atchley said. His book was written to propel real estate values in Southern California. The Judson & Brown purchase of the fold-out page insured better coverage for the Redlands colony in the book, Atchley said. “Ingersoll’s Century Annals” (1904) gave a five-page history of Lugonia that every local history book copied thereafter, Atchley said. Atchley, a board member of the Historical Society, said he intends to fill in the blanks of an incomplete history, with photos to illustrate some key points. The program is free and open to the public. Information regarding membership is available at the meeting. The Redlands Area Historical Society also offers Redlands history bus tours 9 to 11 a.m. Nov. 2. Redlands historians Larry Burgess, Tom Atchley and Nathan Gonzales will conduct the tours, which begin on the north side of the Redlands mall, facing Redlands Boulevard. The $25 fee will be donated to the A.K. Smiley Public Library Heritage Room endowment fund. Only 80 seats are available for this event celebrating Redlands’ 125th anniversary. Paid reservations are required in advance. Call 909-307-6060 and, once reservations are confirmed, mail a check to the Redlands Area Historical Society Inc., P.O. Box 8775, Redlands, CA 92375. Redlands Area Historical Society members should note the new post office box. SOURCE: Redlands Area Historical Society redlandsdailyfacts/social-affairs/20130921/atchley-to-discuss-history-of-lugonia-in-redlands
Posted on: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 19:36:41 +0000
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