Highland

History

Located at the southern base of the San Bernardino Mountains lies the city of Highland. The city is divided into three main areas including Highland, East Highland and West Highland. Henry Rabel, one of the area’s first settlers, bought over 100 acres of land in 1857 and built an 11-room hotel with bath houses for guests. The area became known as Rabel Springs. In 1858, pioneers Lewis Cram and Frederick Van Leuven arrived and constructed the Cram-Van Leuven ditch, extending from the Santa Ana River entrance to their land in East Highland. They began planting orchards of seedling oranges and other fruit trees in the early 1880s. Santa Ana Canyon Road was the first road in the area, stretching 12 miles from San Bernardino and primarily used to transport supplies to the gold mines in Bear Valley. Today, the road is known as Fifth Street. Significant development in the area continued and was fueled by the citrus industry, a major economic driver in Southern California at the time. In 1875, the Southern Pacific Railroad reached the valley, and by the following year, it crossed the southern portion of the valley. The first steam-powered line, which began serving the Highland area in 1888, ran from downtown San Bernardino to Harlem Springs in Highland. The railroad brought more people and industries to the area, which led to the construction of orange and lemon packing houses at depots to prepare the harvests for transport. The town’s orange groves became plentiful due to the presence of railroads for transporting crops and access to water for irrigation. Highland became known for sourcing some of the finest navel oranges in the world because they were sweet and without seeds. Many orange varieties at that time were sour and used for making marmalade. In 1891, Highland…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  20,645
• Lesser Goldfinch

  Spinus psaltria (Say, 1822) · Aves
  15,791
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  15,142
• California Towhee

  Melozone crissalis (Vigors, 1839) · Aves
  14,403
• Anna's Hummingbird

  Calypte anna (R.Lesson, 1829) · Aves
  14,103
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,699
• Black Phoebe

  Sayornis nigricans (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  12,571
• California/Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay

  Aphelocoma californica (Vigors, 1839) · Aves
  11,872

Largest nearby schools

• Sage Oak Charter
  Other · Redlands · 3,048 students · 21.3:1 ratio
• Arroyo Valley High
  High · San Bernardino · 2,785 students · 24.2:1 ratio
• Cajon High
  High · San Bernardino · 2,750 students · 24.8:1 ratio
• Redlands Senior High
  High · Redlands · 2,232 students · 21.7:1 ratio
• Citrus Valley High
  High · Redlands · 2,150 students · 22.2:1 ratio
• Indian Springs High
  High · San Bernardino · 1,901 students · 22.9:1 ratio
• Redlands East Valley High
  High · Redlands · 1,853 students · 20.1:1 ratio
• San Gorgonio High
  High · San Bernardino · 1,542 students · 20:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.77 — 2026-10-15
  3 km NNW of San Jacinto, CA
• M 2.71 — 2026-10-11
  4 km E of San Jacinto, CA
• M 2.7 — 2026-10-08
  2 km WNW of Fontana, CA
• M 2.6 — 2026-10-06
  4 km NNW of Big Bear City, CA
• M 3.08 — 2026-10-01
  20 km ESE of Anza, CA
• M 2.63 — 2026-09-23
  9 km WNW of Anza, CA