How California Oranges Shaped the State: The Citrus History of Redlands

Drive through Redlands today, and you can still catch glimpses of the landscape that once defined much of Southern California: rows of dark green citrus trees, bright oranges hanging beneath the leaves, and mountains rising in the distance. A century ago, that scene was not a reminder of the past. It was the foundation of the local economy.

For decades, oranges helped shape where people lived, where railroads ran, what businesses opened, and even how Southern California presented itself to the rest of the country. Few communities were more closely connected to that story than Redlands.

The city became a major center of Washington navel orange production. Thousands of acres of citrus surrounded it, supported by packing houses, rail lines, growers, agricultural workers, and businesses tied to the industry. Although most of those groves have disappeared, citrus is still part of Redlands' landscape and identity. Understanding why starts with the orange that helped transform Southern California.

California had grown citrus long before Redlands existed. Spanish missionaries cultivated oranges in the region, and commercial citrus production began to develop in the 19th century. But one particular variety helped turn citrus into a major California industry: the Washington navel orange.

The story is closely tied to Riverside.

In the early 1870s, the U.S. Department of Agriculture obtained a seedless orange variety from Bahia, Brazil. USDA horticulturist William Saunders propagated the variety and eventually sent two trees to Eliza Tibbets in Riverside in 1873. Those trees thrived.

The fruit was large, sweet, seedless, and well suited to Southern California's growing conditions. Because Washington navels are seedless, growers had to propagate new trees through budding and grafting. The successful Riverside trees became the genetic foundation for an enormous new agricultural industry.

The USDA would later describe the introduction of the Washington navel as one of the important events in California's economic and social development. Southern California provided an unusually favorable environment. Long, hot summers, relatively mild winters, and the ability to bring irrigation water to otherwise dry land made inland valleys particularly productive citrus-growing regions. Areas such as Riverside, Redlands and surrounding communities could produce high-quality fruit while their proximity to developing rail networks opened access to customers thousands of miles away.

The railroad was essential.

Oranges might grow beautifully in Southern California, but growers needed a way to sell a perishable product nationwide. Expanding transcontinental railroad connections, improved packing techniques, and refrigerated railcars made it possible to move California citrus to markets in the Midwest and East.

Citrus and railroads consequently grew together. Research from the University of California describes the two industries as major forces shaping Southern California's economy, landscape, labor and culture between roughly 1870 and 1950.

Packing houses appeared near railroad lines. Growers organized cooperatives. Irrigation systems expanded. New communities formed around agricultural land. Businesses developed to supply boxes, machinery, transportation, and other services.

And oranges became more than an agricultural product. Images of fruit-laden trees beneath sunny skies helped market Southern California itself as a place of abundance, health, and opportunity. Redlands soon became one of the clearest examples of that transformation.

Redlands' citrus story traditionally begins in the spring of 1882, when E.J. Waite planted what is recognized as the first orange grove in Redlands proper. It was only 2½ acres on Center Street.

The experiment did not remain small for long.

Waite became heavily involved in local horticulture, operating an orange nursery and helping establish and cultivate other groves. Historical accounts indicate that he eventually had more than 60,000 nursery trees growing at one time. Other growers followed.

By 1889, approximately 1,238 acres in Redlands had already been planted, according to historical documentation prepared for the National Register of Historic Places. That same year, the Redlands Fruit Growers Association formed, and 41 railroad cars of fruit were shipped.

Then the numbers began climbing rapidly. By 1890, the region marketed 1,000 railroad cars of navels. By 1904, more than one million boxes were being shipped in more than 9,000 railroad cars from over 30 packing houses in the broader Redlands citrus district.

For almost three-quarters of a century, Redlands sat at the heart of what the City describes as the world's largest navel-orange-producing region. By the late 1930s, more than 15,000 acres of citrus surrounded Redlands. During the 1937–38 season alone, the city produced more than 4,200 railcars of navel oranges and about 1,300 cars of Valencia oranges.

Redlands had become far more than a place where oranges happened to grow. It was an orange town.

The success of citrus changed almost every part of Redlands. Groves needed workers to plant, irrigate, prune, and harvest trees. Packing houses required employees to sort, grade, wrap, pack, and prepare fruit for shipment. Railroads moved the finished product. Nurseries supplied trees. Other businesses provided agricultural equipment, lumber, boxes, irrigation supplies and professional services.

The industry also created work for mechanics, machinists, engineers, foremen, accountants and office employees. As citrus production increased, so did the city.

National Register research shows Redlands' population grew from approximately 1,900 in 1890 to more than 9,000 by 1907. The community's physical layout reflected its agricultural economy. Citrus ranches occupied much of the land, frequently on family-owned parcels of five to 10 acres, while residential and commercial development expanded around them.

Rail transportation became inseparable from this landscape. Packing houses clustered near tracks because fruit needed to move efficiently from grove to packing line to railroad car. At the industry's height, these buildings were major features of Redlands. In 1928, downtown Redlands alone had 14 packing houses.

One survives today in a very different form. The former Mutual Orange Distributors packing house, with portions dating to 1894, has been rehabilitated as the Redlands Public Market. The building offers a physical reminder of how deeply the citrus industry was once embedded in downtown.

Citrus also helps explain another feature Redlands is famous for: its historic architecture. The connection is not simply folklore. National Register documentation describes how profitable citrus ranching attracted settlers and investors to Redlands and helped support the development of the city's downtown, cultural institutions, residential neighborhoods, and civic organizations. Redlands eventually became known as both the "City of Millionaires" and the "City of Beautiful Homes."

Some of that wealth remains visible along the city's historic streets. The Morey Mansion provides one particularly direct example. David and Sarah Morey arrived in the area in 1882, and Sarah operated a citrus nursery. The Redlands Area Historical Society reports that money from selling her orange trees funded the construction of their elaborate Queen Anne home in 1890.

The broader relationship was just as important. Affluent Easterners were drawn to Redlands by its climate, scenery, agricultural opportunities, and reputation. Large homes and estates appeared among and above the groves, helping give Redlands an architectural character that remains one of the city's defining features.

In that sense, the orange groves did more than produce fruit. They helped produce Redlands.

What Happened to Southern California's Orange Groves?

For anyone familiar with modern Southern California, it can be difficult to imagine just how much land was once covered in citrus. The answer is visible in countless neighborhoods, shopping centers, streets, and commercial developments.

After World War II, Southern California experienced enormous population growth. At the same time, farming economics were changing. Land near growing cities became increasingly valuable for housing and commercial development. A parcel that generated agricultural income could potentially be worth far more when sold to a developer. Growers also faced rising labor, water, land, and operating costs, while citrus production increasingly shifted toward areas where larger tracts could be farmed more economically.

Research into Southern California's agricultural history describes citrus and real estate as closely connected from the beginning. Railroads and agricultural development helped create new towns; eventually, expanding towns consumed much of the surrounding agricultural land.

Redlands followed the same pattern. Groves that once separated houses gradually became subdivisions themselves. Roads widened. Commercial corridors expanded. Packing houses disappeared as nearby fruit production declined.

By the early 21st century, only a fraction of the historic citrus landscape remained. The transition can be striking. Places where generations once saw uninterrupted rows of orange trees are now neighborhoods whose street patterns may offer few clues that they were once farmland. But Redlands made a more deliberate effort than many Southern California communities to keep at least part of that landscape alive.

Today, the City of Redlands owns 16 citrus groves totaling approximately 184 acres. Those groves include Washington navels and Valencia oranges along with grapefruit varieties. Rather than functioning simply as decorative parks, they remain agricultural properties. The City's citrus operation functions as an enterprise fund, with money from harvested crops helping pay for continued grove maintenance.

Redlands' preservation efforts stretch back decades. The City acquired the Prospect Park Grove in 1968 with community donations and federal funding. The City acquired additional groves during the 1970s. In 1979, a City ordinance formally called for the historical preservation of citrus.

Then, in 1986, Redlands voters approved Measure O, providing funds to strategically acquire land to remain permanently as open space, including citrus groves. The Citrus Preservation Commission followed in 1996 to advise the City on acquiring, improving, and retaining citrus properties. That work continues.

One recent example is England Grove, a 6.84-acre property at Palm Avenue and Alvarado Street that was added to the City's Citrus Legacy Program. Plans include replanting and installing a modern irrigation system.

Preservation does not mean simply leaving old trees alone. Working citrus groves require water, pruning, pest management, harvesting, irrigation infrastructure, and ongoing replacement of aging or declining trees. Southern California citrus also faces biological threats, including the Asian citrus psyllid and Huanglongbing, or citrus greening disease.

That makes preserving citrus a form of active historic preservation. A Victorian house can be restored and maintained. A grove is different. It is a living agricultural landscape that has to keep being farmed.

That is precisely why the remaining groves are so valuable. They allow residents to experience Redlands' history at landscape scale. Rather than learning about it through photographs or museum exhibits, residents can experience it through the rows of trees, fruit, and orange blossoms that once surrounded the entire city.

Where Redlands Citrus History Is Still Alive

You do not have to look far to find pieces of that history.

Prospect Park is one of the most accessible of Redlands' orange groves. The City acquired the Prospect Park Grove in 1968, helping protect the area from development. Today visitors can walk through a landscape where citrus, historic architecture, and parkland come together near Kimberly Crest.

The area's agricultural heritage also survives through local growers and farms.

Old Grove Orange represents a modern approach to keeping small Southern California farms economically viable. The organization works with local growers and school districts through Farm to School programs, connecting surviving agricultural land with a new generation of consumers.

Jacinto Farms carries a multigenerational agricultural tradition. The Jacinto family has grown citrus in the Redlands and Craft

Places such as Rancho Oliveta and Garcia Ranch further demonstrate that citrus in Redlands isn't exclusively something preserved by museums or government programs. Privately owned agricultural properties and local growers remain an important part of the story.

Then there is Redlands Foothill Groves.

For years, Foothill Groves held an extraordinary distinction: it was identified as the last operating citrus packing house in Redlands and San Bernardino County. As recently as 2013, journalists visiting the facility described it that way.

That chapter has now changed. Packing operations ended in 2023, and the Redlands Unified School District acquired the property. The packing house itself remains, however, providing another opportunity to preserve and interpret the infrastructure behind the citrus industry rather than only the groves.

For visitors looking for local farms, growers, and seasonal produce today, the About Redlands Local Produce & Growers directory offers a useful starting point for exploring current listings and learning where Redlands' agricultural traditions continue.

It is easy to look at Redlands' remaining citrus trees and see them simply as attractive reminders of an earlier California. Their history is much longer. The Washington navel orange helped create an agricultural economy that transformed Southern California. Citrus encouraged the construction of irrigation systems and packing houses, strengthened the demand for railroad transportation, generated thousands of jobs, attracted investment, and helped establish communities throughout the region.

In Redlands, those effects became especially concentrated. A 2½-acre orange grove planted on Center Street in 1882 was followed by thousands of acres of trees. Packing houses appeared beside railroad tracks. Workers arrived. Businesses opened. Homes were built. Wealth generated by agriculture helped support architecture, cultural institutions, and civic improvements.

Eventually, the same forces of growth that citrus helped set in motion contributed to its disappearance. Agricultural land became valuable development land, and thousands of acres of orange trees gave way to houses, streets and businesses.

Yet Redlands never completely severed that connection. The remaining groves scattered through the city are living pieces of a much larger landscape. Every surviving row of citrus offers a glimpse of a time when the scent of orange blossoms filled entire neighborhoods and railroad cars loaded with Redlands oranges headed east by the thousands.

The orange isn't simply part of Redlands' agricultural history. It is part of the reason Redlands became Redlands.

Do you want to experience Redlands' orange history personally? Take a self-guided tour of the city’s citrus on your next visit.