65 years ago – 1946
The new electrical substation was almost ready for service. It was expected to greatly improve power service for the Hill.
55 years ago – 1956
Some Banning youngsters took a one-day outdoor education course at the Arts Foundation. One of them later wrote the instructor (Emax), “I enjoyed hiking with you. Your job was to make us hungry and you sure did it.”
50 years ago – 1961
Residents were grumbling as they received their tax bills. The county rate rose from $1.86 to $2.07 per $100 of assessed valuation.
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Two young men were injured, one seriously, in a fall while descending Tahquitz Rock. Besides that, their companion rolled his car while racing from Humber Park to summon aid.
45 years ago – 1966
On a snowy election day, Idyllwild and Pine Cove voted overwhelmingly Republican. Reagan received 565 votes in four precincts, against 156 for Brown.
40 years ago – 1971
Markers went up on Highway 74 designating it a State Scenic Highway, the longest stretch of Scenic Highway in Southern California.
35 years ago – 1976
Trailfinders alumni, including a sprinkling of celebrities, attended a ground breaking at the James San Jacinto Mountains Reserve near Lake Fulmor. A 2,400-square-foot multipurpose lodge was to be built on the property.
30 years ago – 1981
Hunters spied the wreckage of an airplane at the 3,500-foot level on Rouse Hill. It turned out to be a training plane lost during World War II when Hemet-Ryan Field was an Air Corps training site.
25 years ago – 1986
A Veterans Day buffet luncheon and display of artifacts from the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War were the main Veterans Day events on the Hill at the American Legion Post 800.
20 years ago – 1991
The Coordinated Resource Management and Planning group decided at its monthly meeting to coordinate the fire-hazard abatement programs on the Hill so they were uniformly interpreted.
15 years ago – 1996
Thirty-five-year-old Twila Wellman won third place in a world mountain bike championship in Australia.
10 years ago – 2001
The Idyllwild Chamber of Commerce received $25,000 from Riverside County Economic Development Agency to help stimulate tourism.
1 year ago – 2010
The initial community workshops on the proposed designation of Highway 74 as the Palms to Pines National Scenic Byway began.
