USA > California > San Diego County > San Diego > City of San Diego and San Diego County : the birthplace of California, Volume I > Part 46
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Mention has already been made of the many who came to San Diego and vicinity in 1869. that year having been marked as one of the most fruitful for all of Southern California in that respect. Na- tional City got its share of the new residents, and by the end of the year there had grown a demand for better mail service. A postoffice was opened in the home of George 1. Kimball. who became post -
380 CITY OF SAN DIEGO AND SAN DIEGO COUNTY
master. His salary was $12 a year. Three mails a week from Fort Yuma to San Diego passed through National City, and mail had to be changed at all hours, for the stages were often delayed by bad weather, washouts and sandstorms on the desert of what is now the garden spot, Imperial Valley.
The Kimballs were among the first to realize that unless San Diego and its neighboring towns had a direct railroad connection with the East the community would not gain much importance, and Frank A. Kimball and his brother Warren C. worked through many years to bring that railroad. In 1869, when there were only about a dozen homes at National City, John C. Fremont, head of the Memphis & El Paso road, sent Morton C. Hunter to the place to see what induce- ments would be held out if the road should be built from Memphis to National City. The Kimballs offered 10,000 acres of the National Ranch, but the railroad plan was soon abandoned because the neces- sary money could not be obtained. Two years later the Texas & Pacific plan was started by Thomas A. Scott, as related somewhat fully in an earlier chapter of this book; to this enterprise the Kim- balls offered a rich subsidy-11,000 acres of the ranch and nearly half of National City, with a forfeiture clause in case the railroad should not actually be built. Scott's failure caused about half of National City's people to leave for other places. Those who remained, how- ever, did not give up hope of a railroad connection with the rest of the country, and in 1878 Frank A. Kimball opened correspondence with a number of eastern railway men. In the following year, as the result of a meeting in which he was joined by Elizur Steele of Na- tional City and E. W. Morse of San Diego, a plan was drawn up to get a railroad into San Diego's bay region. Kimball left on June 29, going to Philadelphia and then Boston, where he began negotiations with the directors of the Santa Fe line. This conference ended with an agreement on the part of the Santa Fe interests to build forty miles of road directly east from San Diego Bay within eight months and to continue the road by way of Fort Yuma as a trans-continental road. Many people came to San Diego and vicinity as the result of this project, but again disappointment came, as related elsewhere in this history, the Santa Fe being diverted from its original plan by a deal with the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway. On May 5. 1880, Kimball again started back East, mortgaging his home for funds to pay his way, and that trip East resulted in the signing of the articles of agreement by which the Santa Fe interests joined in with Kimball and others of National City and San Diego to have the California Southern Railway built. To the railway company were conveyed 10,000 acres of the Rancho de la Nacion, and about half of the unsold blocks in National City as against 4,500 acres and 300 blocks in the City of San Diego. On December 6, 1882, with Kimball at the throttle the first locomotive ever seen in the bay region was run in National City, a short distance from the wharf to the engine shed, the engine having been brought from San Francisco on the deck of a schooner. The first through train from the north arrived on November 21, 1885, its coming being the occasion for a demonstration. The plans of the Santa Fe, as then announced, were for a great terminal at National City. Four large wooden buildings were erected in 1881 for tem-
CITY OF SAN DIEGO AND SAN DIEGO COUNTY 381
porary use, while nine brick structures, each to be at least 250 feet long, were to be put up, with fifty-two tracks abreast, to handle the great traffic which was expected to materialize from the ambitious railroad and steamship plans that had been made. The steamship plan never was carried out. and although nearly 3,000 tons of modern ma- chinery were shipped to National City, none of the brick buildings ex- cept one was started and that was small and was torn down almost as soon as it was erected. The four wooden buildings did service as car and machine shops for some time, and at one period about 350 men were employed in the National City yards. This caused the city to grow fast. Much repair work was done in the Santa Fe shops. and about 500 cars, ranging from common flat cars to passenger coaches, were built there. When the land grants had actually become the property of the railroad. the shops were dismantled and the ma- chinery was sent away, part of it going to San Bernardino, where shops were erected, and part of it to Mexico City, where the Santa Fe syndicate had interests. Some 500 families were forced to leave National City, and some of their homes, after standing idle for several years, were taken to San Diego. Kimball, to quote Mrs. E. Thelen. who has written a valuable sketch of the Kimball family. "lost the little remnant he had hitherto saved." National City had received : blow which will not be forgotten by her people for many a year. When Kimball had lost that little all, he was appointed a commis- sioner to the fair at St. Louis, and it is recorded that from his pay he saved $430 with which he began life anew, going into the real estate business and at the age of eighty facing the future with a smile and saying to his friends, "What do I want of much money?" Frank A. Kimball died in August. 1913, a year after his wife had passed away. Warren Kimball died in 1911: his wife. known widely a- Flora Kimball, who wrote for many readers in her life time. died in 1898. In her sketch of the Kimball family Mrs. Thelen pays a notable tribute to the two wives. In it she says :
"What were they doing while their husbands were bending every effort to accomplish the Herculean task of connecting National City and San Diego with the rest of the world? Were they grumbling and fretting because their holdings were gradually but surely shrinking ? Not so. Although the manner of their laboring was widely different. both were laboring for the happiness and the uplift of the inhabitants of National City. Mrs. Flora Kimball, from her beautiful home at Olivewood, where she cultivated a profusion of flowers, many of them rare exotics, gathered by friends in tropical countries, was a great worker in the public schools, encouraging the children by the deep interest she took in their personal welfare, as well as by many a little address in which self-helpfulness was ever the keynote. Mrs. Flora Kimball was deeply interested in civics. It is owing to her persistent urging that the city fathers finally planted, under her supervision, the shade trees which make ours a city beautiful. To the regret of all who knew her, Mrs. Flora Kimball several years ago passed over into the Great Beyond, leaving her husband to pass the evening of his life at Olivewood. alone. except for the strangers who care for his house.
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"Mrs. Frank A. Kimball confined her labors to her home. During those early days of hardship, when so many families had found it much easier to come here than to get away, when there was abso- lutely no work for wages to be found, many and many a one would have suffered hunger over and again, had it not been for this kindly, hard-working woman, who, aided by her mother and Miss Sherman, thought nothing of preparing food for sixty during one day ; not for one day alone but for day after day, and never a cent did she receive in return. And more than this, there was a certain drawer in the escritoire into which all the rent money went-at one time there were thirty-nine houses from each of which more or less rent came in. This money was never counted. When a case of distress came, it was re- lieved out of that drawer. If the drawer was empty before the end of the month, the man of the house replenished it from other sources. When suffering became unbearably great, these charitable people devised a way to furnish wages to the men. They had National Avenue smoothed off and then they gave it to the town. And when the last great smash-up came, and all the property went, Mrs. Frank A. Kimball shed never a tear."
Mrs. Warren C. Kimball wrote many magazine articles descrip- tive of Southern California and of the San Diego Bay region. Her articles on woman suffrage also attracted much attention. She was the first woman elected to the school board of National City and also was active in the establishment of the city's free public library. She was born at Warner, New Hampshire, July 24, 1829, her maiden name being Flora Morrill. Her early life was spent in teaching.
A list has been compiled of many of the early settlers of National City. In 1868 there came Frank A. Kimball, who landed at San Diego on June 1 : Warren C. and Levi W. Kimball, who arrived late in June : George S. Morrill, who also came in June, and Mrs. Frank A. Kimball, who arrived in July and was the first American woman to live on the great Rancho de la Nacion. Those who came in 1869 included the following: Mr. and Mrs. Theron Parsons and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Walker, who arrived on January 27; Mr. and Mrs. E. Pinney, Mr. and Mrs. L. L. Roberts, Mr. and Mrs. Luzerne Roberts, Mr. and Mrs. Valentine, Elizur Steele, George Kimball and his fam- ily, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Copeland, Mr. and Mrs. Gary, Mr. and Mrs. Evans, the Wincapaw family, the Gentry family, the Littleton family and the Tipton family. In 1869 there also came a number of emi- grants from Texas who put up temporary shelter and later moved on to Potrero, in San Diego County, settling at that point. In the '70s came Charles Kimball with his wife and daughter, Mrs. Warren C. Kimball, the Floyd family from New England, John Steele, whose daughter was Mrs. J. A. Rice. Herman Shole and the Misses Maria and Deborah Steele arrived from Milwaukee in the late '70s or early '80s. Henry Schaubut came from Mankato, Minnesota, in the early '80s. Charles Gifford came from Vermont in the '80s. Mr. and Mrs. F. Thelen, for many years prominent in National City, came from Nebraska in January, 1888. The Kimballs came from, New England, and the large number of New Englanders who followed them to this far western corner of the nation made quite a settlement by them- selves.
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Ward Boyd and his family went to the Otay Valley, not far from National City, in September, 1876. Mr. Boyd died there on April 28, 1879. Mrs. Boyd and her children moved to National City in 1883, where she died on June 26, 1909. The family was active in National City's affairs. Another National City family which has been closely identified with National City for many years is that of Mr. and Mrs. A. P. Alexander, who came from San Bernardino in 1889. Mr. Alexander has been in the employ of the Santa Fe for many years and he and his wife have eight children living. all of whom are in California, four being residents of National City ; one, Kyle William Alexander, was for several years editor and owner of the National City newspaper, for which he rendered fearless service, while another, Leon R. Alexander, did distinguished service in the World war. Reference has been made to the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. E. E. Thelen in National City. Mr. Thelen was for years cashier of the Peoples' State Bank. Deeply interested in civics, he did yeoman work as city trustee; also for the schools and the library. One of their three sons, Max Thelen, made a remarkable record as a student at the University of California, later became president of the State Railroad Commission, during the war rendered valuable services to the administration board in Washington, D. C., and then began the prac- tice of law in San Francisco. Mrs. Thelen has been one of the most active women of San Diego County in civic, war work, exposition and other lines and is recognized as one of the foremost citizens of the county. She is now preparing National City's war record. Another woman resident of National City who has given much of her time for the community is Miss Laura Kimball, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. George Kimball. She served at one time as postmistress of National City, has kept many valuable historical records, has long kept records for La Vista Cemetery Association and is known widely for her contributions to the American Fern Society.
National City was incorporated in 1887. A petition for an elec- tion to incorporate was presented to the county supervisors on August 23. of that year, among the signers being Frank A. and Warren C. Kimball, J. C. Ball, J. A. Rice, S. S. Johnston, O. E. M. Howard, S. E. Harris, Lynn Boyd, H. H. Rice, F. P. Reed, G. W. Beermaker and C. L. Josselyn. The election, held September 10, resulted in a vote of 190 for incorporation and ninteen opposed to it. The first trustees were George W. Chase, O. E. M. Howard, Daniel Hawkes, Julius A. Rice and Frank P. Burgess. Other officers elected were Levi N. Stevens, treasurer ; George H. Hancock, clerk : Eugene E. Baker, marshal. The town at that time had a population of about 1,000.
The population of the city from 1890 to 1920, is shown in the Federal census reports as follows :
1890
1,353
1900
1,086
1910
1,733
1920
3,116
The earliest settlers of National City-those who lived there and were men grown when there was no building nearer than the military barracks in San Diego and who journeyed their way undis-
384 CITY OF SAN DIEGO AND SAN DIEGO COUNTY
mayed from that city to National City over paths that followed natural contours, as there were no roads-all those have been gathered in. In their place now is another set of men, some following close on the heels of the original settlers, other lately arrived, who are helping to carry National City toward the goal of which the Kimballs so con- fidently dreamed. Mentioned somewhat in the order of their arrival at National City, their numbers includes the following: Dr. T. F. Johnson, E. Thelen, John E. Boal, Ernest Bullen, the Rev. E. S. Hill, James Burnham, J. J. Skinner, Edward Willoughby, A. A. Jerauld, Daniel E. Lozier, Dr. E. M. Fly, Dr. Carl S. Owen, Dr. Arza J. Noble, Dr. E. E. Coburn, the Rev. Hector Clowes, R. E. Smith, John Becker, Arthur C. Blackman. The city officers of 1921 are: Fred Hertel, mayor : other trustees, G. A. Boulette, William Cordingly, Miles S. Edgerton, J. C. Snook ; city clerk, James Mullen ; city engineer, C. B. Ireland ; city justice, F. B. Meriam ; city treasurer, Mrs. Lillian K. Ogden city auditor, Miss Mary Bowman.
The war record of National City, as is the case with many other communities in San Diego County, is still far from complete, although Mrs. E. Thelen, has done much to bring it to a state approxi- mating completeness. From these lists it appears that at least 120 men from National City entered the service and that as many as fifty enlisted before the selective draft.
National City lost the following :
By death in action-Grover T. Porter.
By death of disease-Kenneth L. Blanchard, Henry Edwin Kuykendahl, Arthur Kimball Patterson, Preston A. Roberts.
By death through accident-Arthur L. Holmes.
Disappeared-Ernest W. Huey, discharged from Camp Taylor, Kentucky, March 5, 1919. No word has been received from him by his family since January, 1919.
The National City Post of the American Legion, known as South- west Post, No. 255, was organized February 10, 1921, with a member- ship of fifteen. A number of National City men who were eligible to membership had already joined the San Diego Post, which was organ- ized much earlier . In July of 1921, the National City Post had a membership of twenty-three. Officers of the post in that year are: Commander, John F. Covert; vice commander, Joseph A. Burke; adjutant-treasurer, Edgar D. Boal.
The National City branch of the San Diego Red Cross was established April 18, 1917, in the basement of the newly completed Methodist church building and maintained headquarters there as long as it was in active work. The first officers were: Mrs. John Burnham, chairman ; Mrs. Joseph O. Herbert, secretary : Miss Mabel Raymond, treasurer. In many ways especially in the influenza epi- demic, the officers and members did valiant service. In this period a hospital was operated in several buildings on the high school grounds, and the local doctors, already rushed by private cares, rendered praise- worthy service. Once a month for twenty-seven months an automobile loaded to the top with such things as men in a hospital enjoy was sent to Camp Kearny. During the first six months Mrs. Arza Noble was manager of this branch of the work and was assisted by Mrs. E. Thelen. When Mrs. Noble was elected chairman of the Red Cross,
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Mrs. Thelen was put in charge of the enterprise, the automobiles being lent and driven by various members. The ladies engaged in this work received many expressions of gratitude from the men at camp. The work was continued as long as the hospital at Camp Kearny re- mained open. The average membership of the National City Red Cross was about 400. The Junior Red Cross of National City rendered valuable assistance. In November, 1919, Mrs. E. S. Coburn was elected chairman of the Red Cross, Miss Lula Riggle, secretary and Mrs. Currier, treasurer. They are still in office. The service flag of the local Red Cross contains 108 stars. An idea of the work done by loyal members may be had from the fact that they made more than 20.254 surgical dressings, and several thousand other pieces of work were turned out, that hundreds of magazines and books were collected by them and that in many other ways they did valiant service during the period of the great war. No other community with the means at hand could have done more.
That the work was well done was proven by the fact that almost from the first it was accepted by the parent chapter without inspec- tion.
The first post office was started in 1870, with George Kimball as postmaster. It was located at the corner of National Avenue and Eleventh Street, in the front room of Mr. Kimball's home, in a drygoods box draped with a shawl. The mail came by coach from San Diego. Mr. Kimball received $12 as his salary for his first year's work. He was often assisted by his daughter. Miss Laura Kimball, who several years later became postmistress, replacing her cousin, Levi Dimond who was stricken with a fatal illness in 1876. At a later period, the post office was moved to Seventh Avenue, into the grocery store of George Parsons, then postmaster, and long lines of people waited for their mail in front of the store in the boom days of '87 and '88.
The post office was later brought back to National Avenue, being at the present time just off the avenue, on Eighth Street East. It has come to be of the third class, falling just short of the second. The office occupies unsuitable, cramped quarters; the postmaster, P. T. Mizony, brought this to the attention of his superiors. . \ call for bids for a new home for the office was issued and the Masonic Temple Association of National City is erecting a concrete building on the west side of National Avenue, under lease to the Federal Government. It adjoins their new temple. Mr. Mizony has one assistant, Miss Helen Leffert.
Mrs. M. B. Starr, wife of the then Congregational minister. taught the first school in National City. It was a private school : land, schoolhouse and salary were donated by the Kimball brothers. The building was situated on the west side of National Avenue and was eventually moved to Sixth Avenue and Eighteenth Street, where it was conducted as a boarding house. Several of the families coming here in 1869 and the early '70s had four or five children each. Among successors to Mrs. Starr, were Miss Millicent Birchfield who later became the Mrs. Bacon who until a few years ago was one of the well-known teachers of this county : also. Miss Clara Wall and a Miss Skinner.
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386 CITY OF SAN DIEGO AND SAN DIEGO COUNTY
The first public school opened in the fall of 1880, in a frame building on the east side of National Avenue, near the site of the present firehall. J. A. Rice was the teacher. He had fourteen pupils with an average attendance of twelve. Mr. Rice taught one year only, as the new San Diego High School had need of him.
Soon after this, the growth of the town demanded more school facilities. The Sixteenth Street schoolhouse was built to accommodate the younger children of "Tar Flats," as that part of town in the vicinity of the Santa Fe yards was then called. The usefulness of this building was increased later on, by the addition of open-air schools.
A four room two-story building was erected where the present high school stands and was an "old building" when the local high school was first organized in 1895, a three year course having been planned. A year or two later, it was reorganized into a full- fledged high school and was accredited to the State University in 1898 under the principalship of Mrs. Gertrude Wilson.
Almost from the inception of the high school, it drew young people from the adjacent districts, the school money for whom enabled the trustees to hire the added teachers needed under the law. In time, it became evident that a much larger schoolhouse was a necessity, and the central part of the present fine Mission style build- ing was erected in 1907, being completed in 1911, by the addition of wings. The student capacity of this building is 350. The high school this year taught 290 pupils, of whom 110 came from the outside. At the time this building was being planned, the southern part of town wanted very much to have it. In order to smooth the ruffled feathers, a primary grade building was erected on High- land Avenue near Sixteenth Street and was later augmented by an open-air building ; the first building of this nature, locally, was built in 1912.
Continually greater demands have been made upon the seating capacity of the public schools of the town, until, even with a little village of open-air buildings, the situation was no longer tenable. Everything considered, it was deemed wise to form a Union High School and thus erect buildings and shops sufficient and suitable that those attending it could have elbow room and have the full advantage of all the new ideas in school-work. With this in view, a board has been working for practically two years and has succeeded in forming a union of ten districts with National City at the north, Bonita at the east and including the entire strip south to the Mexican line. All the other preliminary steps were taken and in 1921, the new building was erected in the southern part of National City, on the northern edge of the Sweetwater Valley. It is to be known as the Sweetwater Union High School. It stands on the old E. C. Forbes place, and is a building of which any town might well be proud.
National City has six churches: The Congregational, Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, and the Spiritualist. All congrega- tions are well housed at present, the Baptists having just completed a fine, modern building, on F Avenne and Seventh Street, at a cost of between $14,000 and $15,000.
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The first church established was organized November 14, 1869, as an independent Congregational church with eleven charter mem- bers. Rev John Price was its pastor. E. S. Hill is the present pastor.
St. Matthew's Episcopal Church was consecrated in 1890. The building is very fine and cost $5,000, while the rectory adjoining cost $2,200. Elizur Steele donated the land for the purpose. F. A. and W. C. Kimball furnished nearly all the money. The present rector is Hector E. Clowes, formerly of Mexico and Montana.
First steps toward the organization of a Baptist Church were taken November 6, 1887. In July 1888, J. F. Childs was invited to become pastor. The present pastor is G. M. Parks. Mrs. T. F. Johnson is the only present member of the original fifteen members.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was started in 1886, and com- pleted in 1887, when on July 31. it was dedicated, free of debt, by Bishop Fowler. None of the names of charter members are now found on the roster. It was apparent, some ten years ago, that a larger church was needed and a fine building, modern in all respects, and costing $20,000, was erected on Eighth Street East, at C Avenue. It had been dedicated and was housing a large congregation when the local branch of the Red Cross was established, April 18, 1917. The church offered its modern basement to the Red Cross for a meeting place, and the offer was gratefully accepted. Last year ( 1920) a comfortable six-room parsonage was erected on lots adjacent to the church, costing $5,000. Rev. Frank P. Morgan is the present pastor.
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