The name, Frink, still rings loudly in San Timoteo Canyon. John R. Frink and his younger brother, Horace, were among the early canyon settlers of American heritage. John and his wife, Sarah, were known as the first “white” settlers in the canyon, so had an outsized influence on the canyon’s development. John homesteaded near El Casco, donated land for the San Timoteo Canyon School, and also for the El Casco train station.
Younger brother Horace helped John set up the Frink ranch near El Casco and together they raised sheep and cattle. In the 1860s he set up his ranch on Mission Road and built an adobe house there. He planted Washington navel orange trees on 100 acres next to his home, giving him claiming rights to the first citrus grower in the area. He died just before he completed his adobe house in 1874.
The Frink brothers ran Frink Freight from the inland area to Arizona until the Southern Pacific Railway was completed in 1875, at which time the freight business evaporated.
John and Sarah’s home at El Casco, with six bedrooms on the second floor, was the showplace in the canyon. Fragrant rose bushes surrounded the veranda on three sides of the house, and three fan palm trees graced the yard. Today, the only remnants of the Frink Ranch at El Casco are the burned out skeletons of the three palms.
Many American settlers followed suit to settle in the canyons, leaving behind a legacy that earned them the right to have their names in the history books or on streets: Earp, Clanton, Singleton and Roberts, among others.
- Discovery Highlights and Destinations
Frink Adobe – Horace Frink’s adobe house on Mission Road was finished in 1874, shortly after the man’s death. It stands today, and is (will be) the western-most anchor of Two Canyons Parklands. Direct descendant and Redlands resident Joe Frink has led the effort to preserve the house which had been continuously occupied until the 1990s. Two Canyons Conservancy participates in the effort to restore the house to become a living history site for individuals, groups, and school classes to visit and learn about the early pioneers.
Three Palms at El Casco – Immediately west of the (now dry) El Casco Lakes, the three palms are all that remain of the John Frink Ranch house which once held court for stage coach riders, cowboys moving herds through the canyon, and numerous travelers through the canyon.
San Timoteo Canyon Schoolhouse
El Casco Lakes and Resort
Singleton Road
Citrus Groves planted early 1900s