A Look Back By Kay Beattie Vol.1
Announcing the publication of the first volume of Kay Beattie's A Look Back columns, (originally published in the Highland Community News), as part of a Highland Area Historical Society fund raising project.
Kay spent many, many hours pouring over old newspapers, visiting the Highland Library, the Smiley Library in Redlands, the San Bernardino Feldhym Library and the San Bernardino Historic Archives, as well as her father-in-law's, George W. Beattie, work, to find information for her "stories".
This body of work is an invaluable resource for the history of Highland and the surrounding area, and is deserving of being preserved in enduring and readily available format. It would be impossible to include all her columns in a single volume, so they have been divided into several.
The collection was compiled, edited and indexed by Nancy Alexander, President of the Highland Area Historical Society and City Historian.
The cost is $40 and can be pre-ordered by contacting Nancy Alexander at . The first volume will be available in November and will make the perfect Christmas gift for anyone who is interested in Highland's rich history.
A Look Back...
By Kay Beattie
Volume I
Historical columns published in
the Highland Community News
From October 29, 1994 to December 28, 1995
Compiled, Edited and Indexed
by
Nancy Alexander
A Look Back...
By Kay Beattie
Vol.1
Copyright © 2009
Nancy Alexander
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced. stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means--electronic, mechanical, photocopying. recording. or
otherwise--without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
Published by
Highland Area Historical Society
P.O. Box 353
Highland. CA 92346-0353
vvw.highlandhistorv.org
Printed in the United States of America
by Harper’s Printing
1956 North E Street
San Bernardino, CA 92404
ISBN 97g-l-61623-025-8
Dedication
This collection of Kay Beatties’s “A Look Back” articles, originally published in the Highland Community News, is dedicated to her family, friends, readers, and to those who have an interest in the history of Highland, California.
Preface
Kay Beattie's historical articles, published in the Highland Community News, are of great value and interest to those desiring to know more about the history of Highland. Kay's diligence in research and her written contributions to the preservation of Highland's history cannot, in my estimation, be matched and are deserving of being preserved as a volume of work that can be readily accessed for study and enjoyment.
Many of Kay's readers will have copies of her newspaper articles in their possession, however, newspapers by their very nature are not meant to last, and become very fragile quickly. With the cooperation of the Highland Community News and the "Blessing" of her daughter, Karen, the task was undertaken to collect, edit and publish, and index this body of work in book form.
While transcribing these articles, I had some discussion with my daughter, Amanda, and Bill Calvert, a close friend of Kay's and former City Historian, as to whether the articles should be published chronologically or by subject matter to aid those researching a particular subject. While I see the value of the latter, I came to the conclusion that these article should be reprinted as they were originally offered by the author.
The date of the original article appears directly under the title. Minor editing was done to correct small errors. Where possible, the original photos have been scanned for better quality. Where these were not available, the photos were scanned from the newspaper, and therefore, the quality is somewhat diminished.
It is my hope and desire that this first volume of Kay Beattie's historical articles on Highland's history be informative as well as enjoyable, and that you will look forward to the volumes containing her "stories" from the years 1996-2001
Nancy Alexander, Highland City Historian
Table of Contents
Katherine Cross Beattie: A Short biography .
1994
Molino. Fredalba. the Chumash Indians and the Beaver Clinic. Part I Page 1Molino. Fredalba. The Chumash Indians and the Beaver Clinic Part II Page 5
An Elegant House and its Story Part I Page 10
An Elegant House and its Story Part 11 Page 14
Christmas In the Highlands Page 19
1995
The Highland-East Highlands Historical Society Page 27John Muir Page 30
Did Wyatt’s horse Drink Here? Page 35
The Naming of Mt. Harrison Page 37
Historic Stidham House Called ‘One of a kind’ Page 39
A Story About Three Prominent Doctors in Highland’s History Page 41
The Development of Highland Schools Page 44
The Story of Base Line’s Origin Page 48
Floods And Washed Out Roads Are Common In Highland’s History Page 51
Daffodils and a Centennial Page 54
Highland’s First Bank and Its History Page 57
A Scary Story of a Mountain Lion Page 60
Highland Area Chamber of Commerce Page 63
Highland Heritage Reunion Page 66
The Earp Family and Orange Crates Page 69
Some Very Unusual Weather Page 71
An Indian Scare Page 74
East Highland Area School Is Sworn In Page 76
One Hundred and Two Years Ago. A Library In the Making Page 78
An Afternoon With Ailene Cram Geib Page 81
An Ancient and Honorable Order. E. Clarnpu Vitus Page 83
What a Celebration...July 4th 1895 Remembered Page 85
1895-1995...Oranges to Skates Page 87
From a LOOP to a Metro LINK 1892-1993 Page 90
A Bond of Friendship (The Knights of Pythias and the Sisters of Pythias) Page 92
Annie Lee Hatch Celebrates 98th Birthday Page 95
Dutch John and the City Creek Road Page 98
Ah Sing Chung: Highland’s Chinese Merchant Page 101
103 Years Ago. Highland’s First Newspaper Published Page 104
Submerged Bridges Page 107
How To Keep the Trade in Highland... Sprinkle the Base Line Page 109
History of the Highland Messenger Newspaper Page 111
A History of Fire Service in Highland Page 114
Stories of How a City Grew Page 117
Katherine Cross Beattie: A Short biography
Katherine Cross was born August 2, 1910 in Utah. After her father died in 1918 during the influenza epidemic, Kay’s grandfather brought the family to San Bernardino.
She attended the Fourth Street Elementary School in San Bernardino, graduating from the sixth grade in 1921. She attended San Bernardino High School, San Bernardino Valley College, and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, with a degree in Physical Education and English.
After receiving her teaching credential from the University of Redlands, she began teaching at San Bernardino High School and later at San Bernardino Valley College.
It was at San Bernardino Valley college that she met her future husband, George F. Beattie, who taught mathematics and astronomy. The planetarium at Valley College is named in his honor, and Kay maintained an active interest in the planetarium.
Kay’s father-in-law was George W. Beattie, an early pioneer in the San Bernardino, Redlands, and Highland area. At age 16, he was the first teacher in Redlands. He wrote extensively about history and daily life in San Bernardino County. Upon his death in 1949, Kay, George, and their two children moved to the ranch in East Highlands. Kay became an active participant in running the orange grove, and was involved in community affairs and at the Redlands schools, including serving as President of the Redlands High School PTA.
Kay has always been a history buff and became active in the Highland Area Historical Society. At age 80 she started a new career as the “unofficial” Historian of Highland”. In the next 14 years she went through two computers and numerous keyboards in her literary endeavors.
In 1981, she was given a Highland Area Chamber of Commerce Honorary Life membership for her work in preserving local history.
Starting in 1994, she wrote articles for the Highland Community News. She had been involved in journalism while at San Bernardino High School, even writing for the San Bernardino Sun Telegram, so this was a normal progression. Besides working on several other projects, including, “What happened to Cramville?”, she worked on dedications of historic sites in the area.
She also completed G.W. Beattie’s memoirs. For many years she researched his life and dug further into Redlands and Highland history. In 1998, the result of her labors was published by the A.K. Smiley Library, “George William Beattie-An Uncommon Man-His Life and Times.
In 1998, Kay was inducted into the San Bernardino Valley College Hall of Fame for her pioneering role in women’s sports. She was also inducted into the University of Redlands Town and Gown Society. She was a long time member of Chapter GH, PEO, in San Bernardino.
In March, 2005, she was able to attend the dedication of Beattie Middle School in Highland. She was very proud that the new school had been named for the Beattie family, pioneers in the area.
After the East Highlands ranch was sold in 1978, Kay lived at Valencia Lea Mobile Home Park
Kay Beattie passed away Thursday, November 20, 2005 at the age of 95.