Banning, California

T he City of Banning is located in Riverside County, California, in the San Gorgonio Pass, between Mt. San Gorgonio on the north and Mt. San Jacinto to the south. Various tribes of Indians, notably the Serano and Cahuilla, were well established in the region when Mexican and Spanish expeditions reached the area around 1774. By 1824, the San Gabriel Mission Fathers established a branch of the Mission at the highest point in the Pass, along the foothills northwest of Banning, where they raised cattle, sheep and pursued land cultivation. By that time, the area was known as Rancho San Gorgonio. The first Anglo to settle in the area was Dr. Isaac Smith, who brought his wife and seven children to the rancho to live in 1853, and built a house known as Smith’s Station. The following year, Banning’s first permanent landmark, the Gilman Ranch adobe, was built and ultimately used as a stage stop by the Colorado Stage & Express Line on its route to the Colorado River, where gold had been discovered. The city was named in honor of General Phineas T. Banning, an American businessman, financier, and entrepreneur who operated a freighting business and a stage coach line between the city and Yuma, Arizona. The railroad replaced the stagecoach in 1876, but Banning is still known as “Stagecoach Town USA,” and is famous for its annual Stagecoach Days Celebration featuring a parade, carnival, and rodeo. The city officially incorporated in 1913. BANNING, California NO MORE TOUGH TIMES