This pink Queen Anne-style cottage is the highlight of East Main Street.
By John Murphy
Monday was unusual in Highland as a cloud of brownish-orange smoke from the Apple Fire in Cherry Valley appeared. It drifted over the mountains in East Highland.
I crossed Base Line Street and photographed the plume from the middle of the Smart & Final parking lot. Then I headed for my favorite part of Highland, the Historic District.
I entered from Church Street and hiked along pock-marked Pacific Street toward the old Sunkist building. It’s the last of the many packing-shed buildings that dotted the area. I took a few photos of it and one of a guy running with his dog, just for the heck of it.
The historic district has a mix of impressive homes and modest cottages. Back in the old days the wealthy citrus growers lived in the mansions and the citrus workers in the cottages. Funny how that works.
I then took a left on Palm and found the Bella-Highland Cafe & Bar, better known to locals as “The Belle.” The place has always fascinated.
The Belle is closed now due to COVID-19, but it’s normally open and the last I knew was run by a vivacious woman named Martha. Peer inside and you’ll see a U-shaped bar where locals normally gather.
The Belle has a Facebook page and I perused it. It includes an entry from one Mick Beeson of Yountville. Mick grew up nearby at 27164 Pacific Avenue. He recalled his youth, scurrying around The Belle’s rooftop with his little playmates — much to the chagrin of its grumpy owner, Fuzzy Lawson.
Beeson later became a janitor at The Belle which was then owned by a chap named Steve. Well, ol’ Mick buys and customizes a 1955 Pontiac Chieftain, drives it for three months and then rolls it on the way back from a party in Redlands. He was driving 100 mph, took out 600 feet of fence and emerged with only a scratch!
So Mick hitch-hikes to The Belle where Steve is working. The proprietor wisely urges Mick to call the cops, then pours coffee down him for two hours until the gendarmes finally arrive.
Said Mick, “I make the mistake of admitting I had ‘one’ beer before I assaulted the highway fence. Triple-A cancels my insurance, but at least I am not charged with a DUI. Will always appreciate Steve’s fatherly support that night. I was 24 but still had a lot of growing up to do.”
Leaving the Belle, I took a left on Main Street and saw the Gleason, an old boarding house established in 1890. It’s an apartment building now. Then I spied a long row of small cottages where, as I said, citrus workers of yore lived.
After that I looped around to East Main Street which also features an array of homes. My favorite is a pink Queen Anne-style cottage toward the end of the street.
Eventually I wound up behind the shuttered Messiah Lutheran Church, one of four churches in the district. I found an opening in the fence behind the church and strode right across its campus. Then, glancing to my left, I saw a battered metal basketball backboard with its hoop missing. Decorating it was the Bible verse John 3:16, along with WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) and a caricature of a hand shooting a ball.
I loved this scene and snapped more photos while I heard a Chris Stapleton song pouring through by earbuds:
“Angels come down from the heavens
Just to help us on our way
Come to teach us, then they leave us
And then find some other soul to save.”
Whoa, what did all this mean — this shuttered church, its basket with Bible verse and a soulful song of redemption? Nothing, I decided. Just a coincidence. Plus, my pen was running out of ink, so I left the Historic District and headed home.
Main Street Dog 