U.S. Post Office: Redlands Main

The first post office in what would become the City of Redlands was established in 1882 and located in George Cook's store on Colton Avenue at Orange Street in the Lugonia settlement, which was north of the Zanja. Ed Judson and Frank brown began the Red Lands Colony in 1881, and by 1887 the new settlement had grown large enough, complete with a platted central business district, that Redlands wanted its own post office. At that time, Post Office rules required a certain minimum distance of two miles between post offices, but the new downtown Redlands centered at State and Orange Streets was much too close to the Lugonia post office..

A great rivalry between the two communities ensued, which resulted in the Redlands contingent applying for a post office in a house located at Palm Avenue and Center Street which satisfied the distance requirement The US Postal Service granted the request and established the Redlands Post Office in 1887. Rivalry continued and the Redlands boosters moved the post office to a small house in April, 1888, that was soon, and conveniently, rolled to a lot downtown. Redlands grew over the course of that year, and its post office did more business than its Lugonia counterpart. By October, the Lugonia Post Office closed. In November, an election was held to incorporate the City of Redlands, combining both Lugonia and Redlands into the new municipality.

The post office occupied several location through the 1890s, and in 1903 a new post office was built as the ground floor of an impressive structure at the northeast corner of State and Fifth Streets. The post office remained in that location until a new building was completed on Brookside Avenue at Eureka Street in 1934.

Civic leaders lobbied the postal service for a new facility through the 1920s, and in December, 1931 the Brookside Avenue site was selected - the only problem was the owner wanted $35,000 for it but the postal service would only pay $25,000. Negotiations commenced, and the owner lowered the price some, with citizens contributing the remainder.

The Riverside architectural firm G. Stanley Wilson was commissioned to design the new post office. Born in England; Wilson and his family moved to Riverside in 1895. In 1901, he began his career as a carpenter and built many residences in Riverside under the firm of Donald J. McLeod. He later opened his own office and worked on projects for Frank Miller at the Mission Inn. Over the course of his career, Wilson worked on many other public buildings in the area such as the Mission Inn, Corona High School, and Fullerton City Hall. Wilson's firm, with chief designer Peter J. Weber, often used elements of Mission and Spanish Revival styles, reflecting an early twentieth century design aesthetic which hearkened back to a mythologized Spanish history of California. The Redlands Post Office included many of these design elements.. At the dedication for the building, Wilson said that

“the responsibility of architects here should be to follow the early California type of architecture such as used in this structure”. (1)

Unlike most post office buildings, this building has an asymmetrical layout. Situated on top of the square tower on the front left of the building, the octagonal dome covered by tiles in a zig-zag pattern and topped by a concrete lantern is the most prominent feature of the building. The Rotunda Wing at Riverside's Mission Inn, also designed by Wilson's firm, includes a very similar tile dome. This particular element is inspired by Moorish style architecture. Other unique features of this post office building include dormer windows which light the lobby and wrought iron grill work that fills the span of the interior arches. White plaster walls, the use of red tiles, and the layout of the arcade are all elements that add to the building’s Mission/Spanish Revival style. The exterior arcade is supported by piers that have simple impost molding and features five arches.

 In 1982, minor renovations were made to the building by architects Clare Henry Day and Leon Armantrout. These included the placement of a wheelchair accessible ramp on the outside of the building and reconfiguring the lobby to include more post office boxes.

The Redlands Post Office was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Inside, the former postmaster's office below the tile dome is a small postal museum.

A.K. Smiley Public Library, Heritage Room, Historic Resources Inventory, Historic Survey Form Scans

"Hundreds See Laying of Postoffice Cornerstone." the San Bernardino County Sun (San Bernardino, CA) July 23rd 1933.

(1) "Government's New Building is Celebrated." the San Bernardino Daily Sun (San Bernardino, CA) July 15th 1934.

National Archives Catalogue, National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: California, California MPS U.S. Post Office- Redlands Main, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123857749