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Banning, California
Banning in Riverside County, California, is situated in the San Gorgonio Pass, also known as Banning Pass. It is named for Phineas Banning, stagecoach line owner and the "Father of the Port of Los Angeles."
Banning has a western neighbor, the city of Beaumont, which shares geographic and regional features. Beaumont has been rapidly growing in size and population since the 1980s. Both Banning and Beaumont are about 100 miles east of downtown Los Angeles and 25 miles west of Palm Springs, each connected by freeway and railroad.
City-owned Banning Municipal Airport, (FAA designator: BNG), has a 5,200-foot (1,600 m) runway. San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital is a General Acute Care Hospital in Banning with Basic Emergency Services as of 2005.
History
The area, up to the mid-19th century, was inhabited by the Cahuilla people, though the region around Banning was originally Maringayam (Serrano), and the Cahuilla expanded into the pass only in historic times. In 1824 it became part of the Mission San Gabriel Arcangel, and then the Rancho San Gorgonio. The first Anglo to settle in the area was Dr. Isaac Smith in 1853. In 1863 a smallpox epidemic further diminished the Cahuilla. The government created Indian reservations for the Cahuilla in 1877.
The first stagecoach line came through in 1862, and the railroad followed in 1876. U.S. Route 99 was built in 1923, followed by U.S. Route 60/70 in 1936, and subsequently Interstate 10. The Southern Pacific (later purchased by Union Pacific) railroad, laid down in 1881, was a major contributor to the area's growth.
Banning borders the Morongo Indian Reservation, home to the Morongo Band of Cahuilla (Mission) Indians. Relations with reservation residents have been stressed by such actions as disputes over water rights. See Dorothy Ramon's book (published 2000) "Always Believe" for a Maringayam's views on Banning and reservation life.
Banning is named after famed L.A. entrepreneur Phinneas Banning, yet he never set foot in the city, nor anywhere in the San Gorgonio Pass area. Between the years 1880 and 1980, it was the largest city in year-round population between Redlands and the Colorado River.
The early western poet and author Henry Herbert Knibbs lived his last years in Banning.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 23.0 square miles (59.7 kmē), all of it land.
The city's elevation is approximately 2,600 feet (790 m) above sea level, which gives it a cooler climate in contrast to the county seat Riverside at 800 feet (240 m) above sea level and definitely the Coachella Valley of the Colorado Desert to the east.
Public Safety
Banning has had its own police force since shortly after its 1912 incorporation, and for many years also had a regional station of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department (which has moved eastward to neighboring Cabazon). The Beaumont, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, and Desert Hot Springs Police Departments also provide assistance in a major emergency, as well as the California Highway Patrol out of the Beaumont regional station.
Like its western neighbor, Beaumont, Banning disbanded its fire department in 2000 and now contracts for fire protection and emergency medical services (EMS) with the Riverside County Fire Department through a cooperative agreement with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
Politics
In the state legislature Banning is located in the 37th Senate District, represented by Republican John J. Benoit, and in the 65th Assembly District, represented by Republican Paul Cook. Federally, Banning is located in California's 41st congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +9 and is represented by Republican Jerry Lewis.
City of Banning is proposing to raise funds to offset the deficit. Measure L would double the Transient Occupancy Tax from 6% to 12%.
Local Economy
Education
The city is served by the Banning Unified School District and nearby Beaumont has the Beaumont Unified School District, both districts serve the area.
Schools in the Banning USD:
Banning High School
Cabazon Elementary
Central Elementary
Coombs Intermediate
Hemmerling Elementary
Hoffer Elementary
New Horizons High (Independent Studies)
Nicolet Middle
External Links
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