The City of Banning is located in the San Gorgonio Pass, between Mt. San Gorgonio on the north and Mt. San Jacinto to the south in Riverside County, California. Various tribes of Indians, notably the Serano and Cahuilla, were well established in the region when Mexican and Spanish expedition reached the area around 1774.

The City is named in honor of General Phineas T. Banning, who freighted over the Mormon trail from Salt Lake to San Bernardino and Los Angeles. General Banning also figures prominently in the history of the town of Wilmington, California. He developed a shipping company there between San Pedro and Los Angeles, as well as operating the stage line from Wilmington to Yuma, Arizona through the Banning Pass.