Photo of the Highland Historic District and surrounding orange groves.  Picture taken on January 11, 1940, after a heavy snowfall.

A Brief History of Highland

By Kay Beattie ( June 1994)

The Present City of Highland lies in the north and eastern part of the San Bernardino Valley. The land rises from the lowlands to 1600 feet on the slopes of the San Bernardino mountain range, and extends roughly from the west of Victoria Avenue, east to the mouth of the Santa Ana River, north to the United States National Forest line, and south to the Santa Ana River.

Today’s City has evolved from very different settlements that began in 1856 in the northeast at what is now The Village Lakes subdivision at Fifth and Orange Streets. This section came to be know as Cramville after the first white settlers, John Henry Cram and six of his eight sons.

To the west in 1857, the first white settler, Henry Rabel, first bought forty acres on Base Line (which had been set in 1852) west of the present Victoria Avenue. In 1859 he purchased 80 more acres, and the area became known as Rabel Springs because of the large pond filled with clear water from artesian and thermal wells. Rabel erected bath houses and an eleven-room hotel where guests could stay while they bathed in the medicinal springs. There were changes in Rable over the years, and the area became an even more popular recreation spot with the founding of Harlem Springs in 1887, just to the east of Victoria Avenue. With a swimming pool, bath houses, an entertainment hall, and picnic grounds, Harlem also attracted many guests.

The first county road into the eastern area was the Santa Ana Canyon road, built in 1860 to carry supplies to the gold mines in Bear Valley. This was a 12-mile road from San Bernardino, and was a southern route. It became known later as the Old County Road, Third Street, and is now Fifth Street.

In 1873 a settlement called Messina was established at Base Line and Palm Avenue. Located in the mid-section of the evolving area, commercial development began with the erection of business building. The first Post Office was established in 1887 in the grocery store, and mail was carried privately for five years to and from San Bernardino before government distribution began.