Banning, California

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The City of Banning is strategically located astride Interstate 10 in the San Gorgonio Pass. The City, incorporated in 1913, has a rich and colorful history. Initially, Banning served as a stagecoach and railroad stop between the Arizona territories and Los Angeles.

Banning is a friendly and wholesome place to work and raise a family. Our City features clean air, ample water supplies and the memorable and inspiring scenic vistas of Mt. San Gorgonio and Mt. San Jacinto.

The area, up to the mid-19th century, was inhabited by the Cahuilla people, though the region around Banning was originally Maringayam (Serrano), and the Cahuilla expanded into the pass only in historic times. In 1824 it became part of the Mission San Gabriel Arcangel, and then the Rancho San Gorgonio. The first Anglo to settle in the area was Dr. Isaac Smith in 1853. In 1863 a smallpox epidemic further diminished the Cahuilla. The government created Indian reservations for the Cahuilla in 1877.

The first stagecoach line came through in 1862, and the railroad followed in 1876. U.S. Route 99 was built in 1923, followed by U.S. Route 60/70 in 1936, and subsequently Interstate 10. The Southern Pacific (later purchased by Union Pacific) railroad, laid down in 1881, was a major contributor to the area's growth.

Banning borders the Morongo Indian Reservation. Relations with reservation residents have been stressed by such actions as disputes over water rights. See Dorothy Ramon's book (published 2000) "Always Believe" for a Maringayam's views on Banning and reservation life.

Banning is named after famed L.A. entrepreneur Phinneas Banning, yet he never set foot in the city, nor anywhere in the San Gorgonio Pass area.

The early western poet and author Henry Herbert Knibbs lived his last years in Banning.



www.ci.banning.ca.us/index.asp