By John Murphy
About a half mile from where I live is the Historic District of Highland, one of the coolest places in San Bernardino County.
I headed there on foot Monday and arrived about 10 minutes later on a dark, overcast day.
There’s an ancient commercial building — now shuttered — on the corner of Palm and Main that has a mission vibe. It’s beige and has cool archways and glass at the top of the archways divided into small squares.
One of the squares was broken out, so I climbed onto a ledge a few feet above the sidewalk, hoisted myself up and peered in. Frozen in time is a small, weathered room where someone apparently once lived — complete with peeling walls, the remains of an old space heater and a framed print that provided decoration. I carefully angled my Smart phone through the missing window and took a photo (see below).
Jaywalking across Palm, I happened upon the Bella Highland Café & Bar, known to the locals simply as The Belle. It wasn’t opened on this dark, overcast day due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but I’ve been inside a time or two over the years and it’s a quaint place.
Highlights of The Belle are a century-old HIGHLAND sign from the old Highland Railroad Depot that was on the Northeast corner of Palm and Pacific (it’s long gone) and an actual bell from the El Camino Real.
A Belle tradition is that when somebody rings the bell, he had to buy a round for the house. But there was no house on this day, so I moved on — hanging a right on Pacific and ambling past an old house where a pair of pit bulls came bounding out to greet me. They were halted only by a sturdy fence, or else I’d be dead.
Next stop was the brick Sunkits Highland Orange Growers’ Association building that takes up much of the rest of Pacific Street. Oranges are not processed here anymore but some sort of business exists — judging by the workers in a large pick-up truck who delivered cargo.
Ahead I trudged, past the corner of Church and Pacific, which is the eastern border of the Historic District, a 290-acre area of vintage houses and some commerical buildings. It is recognized in the National Register of Historic Places.
Not recognized by much of anyone is the foot bridge across the 210 freeway that is just east of Church Street and outside the district. I headed up there to check it out and found lots of graffiti, some damp bits of clothing and your odd cigarette box and Dorito’s bag. I took a few selfies as 18-wheelers and cars whizzed by on the freeway below.
Retreating, I headed down Church and hung a right back onto Main. This is an interesting block, made up largely by the back of the sprawling Sunkist property. On the residential side of Main are old bungalows, some well maintained and some not.
There is a small street connecting Main and Pacific streets whose name I can’t remember. One house had a rusted smudge pot out in front and a sign on the mailbox saying, “Prayer is the Best Way to Meet the Lord, but Trespassing is Faster.” A caricature of a 44 magnum adorned the sign.
Between the pit bulls and the sign, my visit had ended. Best not to push my luck, but I will be back.
Main Street Dog 