Redlands, CA

Citrus in Redlands remains an operating landscape. E.J. Waite planted the first orange grove in Redlands proper in 1882, and Washington navel oranges soon made the city part of the world's leading navel-producing region. Packing houses and rail spurs once organized the local economy. Redlands incorporated on November 26, 1888. As of July 2026, the city itself owned 16 citrus groves totaling 184 acres, with Valencia and navel oranges plus grapefruit. Crop revenue goes back into maintaining those groves. A municipal Citrus Division and preservation commission keep commercial cultivation visible among later neighborhoods, so the agricultural past survives in harvested trees as well as street names and historic buildings. Private gifts created an equally lasting civic cluster beside downtown. In 1897, Albert K.

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Smiley bought 16 acres and financed a library and surrounding park, both dedicated in 1898. The Moorish-style A.K. Smiley Public Library is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Smiley Park also contains the Lincoln Memorial Shrine and the Redlands Bowl. Grace Stewart Mullen founded the Redlands Community Music Association in 1923, and performances began in 1924. The Bowl describes its summer festival as the country's oldest continuously operated music festival with no admission charge. As of July 2026, concerts were scheduled there on Tuesday and Friday evenings during July and August. Within one park, residents still use the library, the Civil War research collection, and a free outdoor concert series created by philanthropy nearly a century ago. Education and mapping software give modern Redlands two distinctive institutions.

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The University of Redlands incorporated in 1907 and held its first classes in 1909 on a former vineyard at the east side of town. Jack and Laura Dangermond founded Esri in Redlands in 1969 after working with computer mapping and spatial analysis; its headquarters remains on New York Street, and ArcGIS is its principal mapping and analytics software. The university and software company make education, geographic information systems, research, and professional work visible parts of the local economy. Downtown adds a smaller-scale commercial setting. Along Orange and State streets, historic buildings contain present-day shops and restaurants, while surviving packing-house and depot buildings recall the period when citrus moved out by rail. Passenger rail now traces that institutional geography.

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Metrolink's Arrow service runs between San Bernardino and Redlands, with city stations named Redlands–Esri, Redlands–Downtown, and Redlands–University. Riders continuing on most San Bernardino Line trains transfer at San Bernardino–Downtown, while one weekday round trip runs between Redlands–Downtown and Los Angeles Union Station under the current service pattern. The downtown stop also sits near the historic depot district and State Street. In 2026, the city's Downtown Morning Market operated on Saturdays from March into November in a lot between Fifth and Sixth streets, bringing farmers, bakers, artisans, and entertainers near East State Street. The three station names—Esri, Downtown, and University—serve as a compact index to present-day Redlands, with citrus-era buildings and a weekly growers' market near the middle stop.