"My Little House on Stuart"

It was not an odd occurrence for Ruth Avila and her sisters to walk down E. Stuart Avenue towards Second Baptist, a local Black church, and stand outside the building to listen to the choir's melodic voices coming from inside. These moments in time would be what Ruth considered one of her fondest memories of the E. Stuart Community. (Ruth Avila Personal Communication)

If one wants to visit the E. Stuart community now, they will no longer have the same experience as Ruth. They will not have the opportunity to listen to the Church choir as Second Baptist Church moved locations. Now one will have to pass through on the I-10 freeway and the Trader Joe's Shopping Center to see the remnants of the community.

Ruth silently mourns her home and her small, vibrant neighborhood, which was lost to commercial development. Ruth Avila was born in November 1934 in Redlands, California to Joseph Maria Avila and Alvina Sanchez-Avila. Her family lived in their beloved home located at 544 E. Stuart Avenue, “ Oh, East Stuart. I loved my little house on Stuart.”

These maps illustrate a side by side comparison of the E. Stuart community in 1940 and today. Right before E. Stuart becomes W. Stuart, there are about three blocks of businesses. Located below E. Stuart Street in 1940 are Fruit Packing Houses and the Santa Fe Railroad Line. By the 1940s, E. Stuart community had solidified besides the railroad tracks and the packing house. However as of 2022, only as many as 5 residential blocks remain. The block of businesses and the remaining 4 residential lots were knocked down to either accommodate the freeway or the Trader Joe’s Shopping Center. Additionally, the packing houses and empty lots are no longer there, and they have been replaced with businesses. 

By the 1920s, the East Stuart community, its name derived from its former residents, was a dynamic and flourishing multiracial neighborhood. Although E. Stuart’s residents were not inseparable or attached at the hip, they created a neighborhood where people of different origins meshed together and created life-lasting bonds and memories. One neighbor, Fannie Sargeant, thinks back to how the neighbors would talk,  “...we didn't visit. But we talked all the time, when we see each other out, you know?” (Fannie Sargeant Oral History) Another E. Stuart resident reminisces about when she was a little girl, she adored her house,  “Oh, East Stuart. I loved my little house on Stuart.” (Ruth Avila Oral History)

Ruth describes her neighborhood as a place where, “...everybody got along. We didn't…actually visit.” (Ruth Avila Oral History) She reminds herself of how Church Street used to look like, 

“[y]ou know how Church is, it goes through now, you know, it runs all the way through from Orange to to Church. Well, back then, it ended right there with orange groves, you know, and they were the same. We were right. If you come down the terrace down 11th Street, you'd go right smack into our house. But it's not there anymore.”

Despite the numerous changes and redevelopment this neighborhood endured, Ruth still holds her memories dear to her. “We used to have a lot of fun, and it was so different, you know it beautiful back in my in my time.” (Ruth Avila Oral History) Ruth’s memories allow us to see how this multiracial neighborhood functioned and how people and businesses aided the life of these people and shaped their experiences. 

We aim to celebrate the lives, memories and businesses that Ruth Avila remembers of growing up in the E. Stuart community. We wish to show how this early Redlands's community was a representation of an integrated neighborhood that supported each other during a time when much of Redlands was deeply racially divided. 

Many people began to live on the E. Stuart block because of the jobs that were available at the railroads and a few Fruit Packing Houses. One former resident of the E. Stuart community remembers the location, E. Stuart, of these businesses, “[s]o many of the packing houses were on Sixth Street and Stuart Street and also on 7th Street." (Clarence Butler Oral History)

Ruth Avila was born in Redlands, California, however her family’s origin did not start there. Her older siblings, parents, and uncle were born in Mexico and immigrated to Redlands within the 1920s/1930s. Ruth remembers how her aunt, Vicenta Guerrero, and her uncle, Jose Guerrero, were the first of her family to migrate to Redlands, California. The Guerreros’ chose to reside in Redlands since there were many jobs available at Fruit Packing Houses and the citrus industry near the Santa Fe Railroad.

The Fruit Packing Houses and citrus industry attracted many different migrant workers because those jobs were easily accessible in the 1930s. Through dedication, hard work and perseverance at the packing house Jose worked at, he was promoted to being a boss or "el jefe" as Ruth likes to remember. Ruth remembers how, “...my uncle was the one with the little gold watch… Making out the checks and all this. That was my uncle, he was more of a businessman.” (Ruth Avila Oral History)

Ruth’s parents and older siblings did not migrate to Redlands until Ruth's father, Jose Maria Avila, was almost killed in Mexico. Although Jose Maria passed away when Ruth was a young girl, her parent’s immigration story is kept alive by her older sisters. She remembers how her father had worked for the Mexican government during the Mexican Revolution. One day, Jose Maria was in front of a shooting squad after being accused of helping Pancho Villa or another conspirator against the Mexican Government. Ruth’s mother, Adrina Sanchez-Avila, ran to the shooting squad with evidence of her husband’s job in her hand, pleading for them to release him. Fortunately, the shooting squad released Jose Avila and “[y]ou know, but they just like ran, you know. They just left.” (Ruth Avila Oral History) From the memories and photos left by Ruth’s immediate family members from Mexico, the Avila family was well off in Mexico. However, they were forced to start from scratch as they fled for their families’ survival. 

Working in the packing houses was a respectable job and one that was open to everyone–regardless of gender or race. Ruth looks back on how her older sisters worked at the packing houses picking oranges and they would constantly talk about how they were fast at picking. The packing house’s wages were based on how much fruit they got packed during their shift. The goal at the packing houses was to be the fastest packer, which is why Ruth’s sisters would always boast about the fastest packers being from Redlands yet Ruth did not believe that for a second, “I used to hear [her sisters] saying about the fastest girls, you know? …That they lived here in Redlands. They were just really fast at packing oranges. They weren't.” (Ruth Avila Oral History)

The Black population of residents in Redlands grew throughout the 1920's and 1930's with many settling in the E. Stuart neighborhood. The Bullard family was one Ruth remembers that immigrated to the E. Stuart Neighborhood. They were a well-known Black family who lived on 511 11th Street. She reminisces about how she went to school with the Bullard children at Franklin Elementary School and how the Bullard children knew Spanish as a result of growing up in the E. Stuart neighborhood. David and Beatrice Bullard were both born in Texas in the early 1900s. They and their two children would move to Redlands by 1923. When they finally settled in their 11th Street house, they had seven more children. By 1940, David worked on the W.P.A Project and his son, Leroy, worked as a shoe shiner at a barbershop. Clarence Butler, a Redlands native, recalls David working as a switchman controlling train cars for the packing houses near Second Baptist church, a local Black Church.

This neighborhood was not just composed of Mexican families and Black families. The neighborhood included Japanese families, Italian families, White families and Filipino workers. Since a few community-owned general stores and Packing Houses were located in the neighborhood. They offered readily available jobs for people of different origins. There were boarding houses to give workers a place to live as well as homeowners allowing migrant workers to board in their homes. More often than not, migrant workers were housed in boarding houses. On 324 E High Street, there was most likely a Filipino Boarding House that housed 7 workers who all worked at a general store. Another possible boarding house could be located on 07 E. Stuart Ave. Pete Cabo was the renter of the home and 4 other Filipino men boarded with him. These five men worked at a fruit farm. (1940 Census)

When all’s said and done, Ruth’s memories of the different people and families on E. Stuart block represents a holistic community. During a time of racial policies surrounding public places and housing, E. Stuart reveals its people were able to acknowledge the demoralizing policies and forge their own were a close-knit group of people who were able to create successful businesses and live in solidarity with one another. 

When asked about the children in the neighborhood Ruth answered, “Okay, I had some really nice kids that I went to school with: the Bullards, the Butlers, the Vegas, the Martinezs. We all got along really well. Nobody ever fought or anything like that.”

The Vega’s were another family that Ruth Avila remembers as being important members of the E. Stuart community. They rented a home at 405 E. Stuart Avenue according to the 1940 census. Epifano Moreno was the head of the household, and he was married to Irene Moreno. The two of them had two children together and six step-children. Epifano worked in general labor. Ruth recalls the Vega children all attending Franklin school with her and her siblings. The Vega’s were among the families that Ruth remembers Mr. Pry selecting to live in the Texonia Housing Project with her family. (Redlands, 1940 Census) (Ruth Avila Oral History).

The Bullard children also attended Franklin School, and were great friends with Ruth and some of her siblings. Ruth says, “... in the evening we would go and play hide and seek and tag and kick the ball and rover rover mag come over. And that was our entertainment. We didn't have a television, you know, we didn't have TV.” Ruth remembers Mrs. Bullard would fry fish every Friday and share some with the neighborhood children before giving the rest to Mr. Sousa, owner of a fish market on Colton. Ruth also remembers that she spoke Spanish with the Bullard children, sharing that in the community it was often common for African American parents to have their children learn Spanish. (Ruth Avila Oral History).

These close neighborhood relations led to advocacy as Clarence Butler remembers Mr. Bullard was a key figure in the desegregation of the Sylvan park pool,  "He went down to the city and said, we're not going to have this. If our kids want to go down and swim, they should be able to go down any day of the week. And we were allowed to do that mainly because he went down and protested.” (Clarence Butler Oral History).

Clarence Butler also remembers a very tight knit community with lots of support and respect for one another. (Clarence Butler Oral History). Butler recalls the Scotland's as being prominent people in Redlands, Mr. Scotland teaching at the University of Redlands as well as the Sunday School Superintendent at Second Baptist. Butler describes him as a poet, as he always had wise words to share.

The community is located in North Redlands, which is generally considered the “poor and unfortunate” side of Redlands. However, the former residents of E. Stuart Avenue would not consider their neighborhood “poor and unfortunate.”  Rather, it was a vibrant multiracial community committed to supporting one another. The stereotype of North and South Redlands started emerging in the late 1800s and was solidified in 1940, where redlining was more frequent.

It was very clear how close the community was based on the businesses and the connections people had with each other.

Tommy’s market was a little market that is across the street from a neighborhood, the neighborhood happened to be across the street from where Ruth Avila was born.  It was known by the locals for being the place to go for the essential groceries when families might not have been able to afford it. The market was run based on a trusting system where shoppers could write down what they took and pay the owner back later once they had the money. This market was able to stay up and running because of the tight-knit community. People were trusted to pay late, and because of that the market was able to help many families in their times of need. (Ruth Avila Oral History) 

Unfortunately, Ruth’s parents would pass away within three years of each other. Her father passed away in 1943 and her mother passed away in 1946. After the Avila family lost their parents, Ruth reflects on how her and her siblings realized they had to support one another and lean on the community to survive, “[w]e just stuck together." (Ruth Avila Oral History) 

Burton Grocery was located at 310 East High Ave, and was one of the businesses run by Robert Burton before he got into real estate and development in the 1960s. When Ruth Avila and her siblings were displaced to the Texonia housing projects on Lugonia they started borrowing from Mr. Burton’s store and were met with great kindness from the Burton family. The two families were close, oftentimes the Burton’s would bring over food to help out. Ruth reminisces about how after she had lost her father, neighborhood grocery shops  would often help her family with groceries, “ [w]e did that after when we didn't have our parents. He let us, you know, go and get the necessities what we need and you know, and then all we had to do was sign a little piece of paper and we'd go and pay him whenever my sister got paid.”(Ruth Avila Oral History)

"he'd tell my sister, "Lucy, you take anything you want, anything you want, you take it." And sometimes, you know, he'd say, "You need any of this?"

Ruth remembers going to this store often. "he had a little market right there. And that's who we used to go in when we lived on Stuart." She tell a little story she remembers about her sisters. "My sisters, well, they didn't like going because they were in high school and Jimmy and Reuben went to high school with them... "Yeah, they were embarrassed that they had to ask for credit." the older sisters didn't want to go into the store because they didn't want other people knowing they couldn't pay. (Ruth Avila Oral History)

Ruth has fond memories of the packing houses, claiming that a couple of her sisters packed oranges. She remembers that her sisters used to talk about the fastest packers, and became very fast at packing oranges themselves. The faster the workers packed, the higher their wages were. It often could become somewhat of a family business, because the men of the house would go and have the picking jobs getting as many oranges as they could and then the rest of the family would pack the oranges collected. It was hard labor with bad working conditions, but reliable so many decided they would take the risks and wanted to do it. Former members of E. Stuart remember how the Redlands Pawn & Jewelry located at 410 N 6th St was where the Western Fruit Growers packing house used to be before it burnt down. “It's kind of like a Pawn Shop. The back portion of it, the front, front portion of it caught fire and it burned until the back portion. They saved it. And it is now the Redlands' Pawn Shop, basically.” (Fannie Sargeant & Clarence Butler Oral History)

In 1933, the minimum wage was raised to $.28 an hour or $2.20 per day for women and minors. There was hope that this was a great step for much more change in the right direction. Sadly, not much continued to change. In 1968, 60 packing house women went on strike for wage discrimination, and over time the packing houses needed less and less people as more machines started being built and utilized in these businesses. (coastdaylight)

Ruth Avila worked at Norton for 38 years while raising her three children as a single mother. She managed the arrival of all the goods coming in. She says that none of her coworkers were from her neighborhood, most coming from San Bernardino. “[00:44:21] I never had one problem all those 38 years. I loved everybody that I worked with and all my bosses and I had plenty of them because they were military and then different ones, different personalities, you know! [00:44:39][17.5].”

Additionally one of Ruth’s sisters worked at Norton to help support their family and did house work, “Ruth Avila: [00:04:13] Well, she was doing the housework and she worked at Norton also. [00:04:16][3.1]”

Later when the E. Stuart neighborhood began to get redeveloped Ruth and her siblings moved to the Texonia Housing Projects. She remembers how excited she was to move, “That's the way [the redevelopment] started. He picked my brother. He picked a couple of our neighbors to go and move there… we had a job: pick any house we wanted, any duplex. They were duplexes and a beautiful, beautiful place there. Oh, we were all excited…” (Ruth Avila Oral History)

After the freeway and the Trader Joe's plaza was built, this negatively affected the East Stuart Ave neighborhood since it was directly within and next to the area where these two developments occurred. This displaced many within these communities to other parts of Redlands, as well as affecting many of the core industries in the area. The individuals affected were predominantly moved to two communities: the Texonia housing projects and Carlotta Ct. Other individuals were displaced from the Redlands community entirely and wound up in other areas like San Bernardino.

In addition to the movement of people, this also altered the movement of goods in the area.