Before Our Time: By Robert B. Smith

With Avery Field’s photography, others saw Idyllwild … Picture postcards are an ever-popular item in scenic areas such as Idyllwild. We certainly have had our...

Before Our Time: Before Kwikset came

You can’t commute from Fern Valley or walk about town these mild summer mornings for very long without noticing the seemingly abandoned scatter of...

Before our time: Another Mountain Center Fire — 1943 …

The fire erupted unseen in dried-out brush, and wind drove it through Mountain Center before the first fire crew arrived. As flames raced down...

Before our time: An Idyllwild institution — the Chamber of Commerce …

An Idyllwild Chamber of Commerce with 700 members? Dream on! And yet..... Our Chamber’s recent demise piqued my curiosity about its origin. I found evidence...

Before Our Time: Idyllwild School …

Most of us with careers in education know the sense of relief that comes with the end of a school year. I suspect that...

Before Our Time: Lakes on the Hill …

The absence of a local lake has helped shape Idyllwild’s lasting character, a fact for which many Hill residents are grateful. But as with...

Before Our Time: The Chef in the Forest …

A Minnesota reader, fondly recalling childhood vacations here, recently sparked my curiosity about one of Idyllwild’s more outlandish characters. In January 1966, Warren Jacober...

Before Our Time: Idyllwild furniture …

Between 1925 and 1960, Idyllwild became widely known as a center for the manufacture of craftsman-style furniture. Hal Holcomb, “the Rustic Man,” started it...

Before Our Time: Photographers record history …

Fortunately for present and future Idyllwild residents, much of the Hill’s history is preserved in photographs. We’ve seen more than our share of outstanding...

Before Our Time: Pines to Palms before the highway …

As winter wears on, Hill residents occasionally escape the cold with a jaunt down California Scenic Highway 74 to the desert. Driving it today,...
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