Horace Cowan Rolfe was born on January 2, 1834 in Rumford, Maine. He arrived in San Bernardino in 1851 driving an ox team. He had a carpenter shop on 4th Street to the west of the adobe school rooms. He helped to erect the first houses in San Bernardino. He studied law in 1858 and then established a law library. In 1861 Rolfe was elected district attorney of the county and then re-elected in 1863. In February, 1872, he was appointed as judge of the eighteenth judicial district. Rolfe was elected Superior Judge in 1879. He died in October 1906 and is buried in the San Bernardino Pioneer Cemetery.
Photo courtesy of City of San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society