Program will show how Victorian houses have changed

REDLANDS AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

This undated photo from the archives of the A.K. Smiley Public Library shows the Russell J. Waters house at the southwest corner of Palm Avenue and Center Street as it looked when it was constructed. Waters was the first city attorney for Redlands. COURTESY PHOTOS

This photo shows how the Russell J. Waters house at the southwest corner of Palm Avenue and Center Street in Redlands has changed since it was built.

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Tom Atchley, president of the Redlands Area Historical Society, will present the second part of his program showing how some early Redlands houses have changed over the years when the Historical Society meets 7 p.m. Monday at the Contemporary Club, 173 S. Eureka St., in Redlands.

Atchley presented the first part of the program in March 2022.

Redlands, which was incorporated in 1888, was founded near the end of the Victorian architecture period, and over the years some of the town’s Victorian houses changed to make maintenance easier.

After an earthquake in San Jacinto, people also began to remove tall towers from Victorian houses, renovating the houses into the Classic Box style of the early 1900s.

Atchley’s PowerPoint program will show photos of many Redlands houses as they looked when they were built, paired with more recent photos showing how the houses have changed, according to a news release.

Atchley taught in the social studies department at Cope Junior High School — now Cope Middle School — beginning in 1973 and later at Redlands High School, retiring in 2011.

He continues to present a Redlands history class with Larry Burgess, director emeritus of the A.K. Smiley Public Library, and Nathan Gonzales, archivist at the library,

There is no charge to attend the program, and it is also available via Zoom. To register for the Zoom presentation, go to rahs.org/calendar">rahs.org/calendar.

For information about the Redlands Area Historical Society, go to rahs.org.