Gilman Ranch

Gilman Ranch in Banning, California, began in 1879 when James Marshall Gilman started building a board-and-batten cottage beside a natural spring. Around 1883 a larger Victorian front section was added, and a bungalow-style porch followed about 1922. The ranch once covered more than 500 acres producing grain, nuts, fruit, horses, pigs and cattle. Today the house, part of a long shed, an adobe milkhouse, a cement-walled barn and remnant olive and citrus orchards survive on about 126 acres. The site was an Indian village location and lay beside the Bradshaw Road, where Gilman kept a stage stop and general store. Gilman also served on the first Banning city council. His son Marshall French Gilman became a mayor, newspaper editor and horticultural expert. The ranch was also the scene of the 1909 killing that set off the Willie Boy manhunt. The house is described as the best Victorian ranch house in the San Gorgonio Pass area.