THE HISTORY OF OCEANSIDE

A new book highlighting our city's past

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF THE OCEANSIDE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

I’m so excited for the Oceanside Historical Society’s newest book, simply titled The History of Oceanside to make its debut. With so many changes in Oceanside over the last few years, it felt like an opportunity to take another look back at our history. With approval and support of our Board of Directors, I met with The Osider crew to collaborate on a new book project. With their talents of design and layout, and historic images from our collection mixed with current ones—this history comes alive.

Few may know or realize that when Oceanside was established in 1883, our founder dreamed of and advertised it as a “seaside resort.” Today, that dream is realized! We went from a small beach town of less than 4,000 residents to a military town seemingly overnight in the 1940s, but that’s not even half of the story.

While this is our third published history in 34 years, there’s always a different perspective from which to tell our story—another opportunity to include more accounts of our residents, of yesterday and today. This new history book includes in depth accounts of some of our iconic landmarks and historic buildings, as well as a concerted effort to share the diversity of peoples that make Oceanside what it is today.

—Kristi Hawthorne Author & Oceanside Historian

A man surveys the astounding damage by the 1916 San Luis Rey River flood—twisted railroad tracks and the collapse of the railroad bridge.

A Fourth of July parade in 1893 travels east up Second Street (present-day Mission Avenue) from the train depot.

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Anna Farrell Tapsico holds her baby daughter while enjoying a visit to the Oceanside Pier in 1917.

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN OCEANSIDE

African Americans have played an important role, helping to shape our city and better our community. Their contribution to Oceanside’s history, present, and future is valuable and significant. Below are just a few notable men and women who have a place in the history of our city.

When Oceanside incorporated in 1888, it most likely had just one Black resident. The local paper announced in July of that year “Charley Saunders, the ‘gentleman of color’ has opened a coffee stand next to the Express office.” In 1910, the U.S. Census enumerated 687 Black persons in San Diego County, with just two living in Oceanside: William M. Jackson, age 36, native of Missouri and Alfred Fry, age 26, native of Texas. Alfred “Jack” Fry was a bootblack at Scott’s Shaving Parlors. Black men who held “menial” positions were often given nicknames of “Johnny” or “Jack.” Charles William Fletcher Tapsico was a native of Ohio who came to live in Oceanside in about 1915. He worked at the Mission Garage on North Hill Street. Charles and his wife Anna Tapsico lived on North Tremont Street, and were the parents of three children—the first Black children born in Oceanside. The Tapsicos lived in Oceanside for nearly ten years before moving to San Bernardino. One of the most remembered early African Americans to live in Oceanside was John “Johnnie” Mann. Mann lived on North Cleveland Street in the 1930s, and worked at the bus and train depot for over two decades shining shoes. He was known for his amiable and outgoing personality. Former Congressmen Lionel VanDeerlin remembered Johnnie: “He was not sub-servient. I certainly wouldn’t describe him as that. But he shined shoes and that maybe that’s as high up the ladder as he was likely to go, not because he wasn’t a man of intense great ability and certain great sociability, I think maybe in today’s world he’d be doing something a lot more favorably viewed than shining shoes. I just knew him, and to stop and converse with Johnnie was a high point of any day.”

Charles Etta Reece married John Mann in 1938, and they eventually moved to 214 San Diego Street in the Eastside neighborhood. Charles Etta was a fabulous cook and local caterer who worked at the Casa Blanca restaurant on Hill Street (now Coast Highway). After her husband’s death, she married Rev. Wesley H. Allen. Charles Etta became an important community activist for the minority residents of the Eastside neighborhood, was elected the first president of the North County NAACP in 1965, and she was recognized for her contributions to her community in 1969 by the San Diego Negro Business and Professional Women’s Club. Founder of the Oceanside Girls

The History of Oceanside

CHAPTER 4

1940 to 1959 A Time of War & Reconstruction

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The History of Oceanside

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Marines train on an M45 Quadmount anti-aircraft gun during World War II. Charles William Tapsico poses by his car in 1920.

The History of Oceanside 1940-1959

As Oceanside entered 1940, no one could predict the vast changes it would experience in the new decade. Continuing a steady economic recovery since the Depression, Oceanside’s population continued to rise with over 4,600 people, and demand for housing persisted.

Despite a war being waged in Europe, most Americans were enjoying peace and tranquility, which all but came to an end on December 7, 1941 with the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. As the United States was thrust into World War II, the historic Rancho Santa Margarita north of Oceanside was taken over by the Department of the Navy to be used as a training base for the Marine Corps.

The Oceanside Blade Tribune reported that 20,000 Marines would soon be training on the sprawling rancho: “Present construction work will include all facilities required to house 20,000 men, including water development, shops, barracks, highways, training centers and training grounds, amphibian base, hospitals, and airport. This development is going to require a great many men and women in all classifications of work; laborers, plumbers, carpenters, steel men, painters, electricians, caterpillar operators, truck drivers, motor cycle messengers, stenographers, clerical help, dishwashers, etc.”

With thousands of Marines arriving to train and 5,000 civilians to aid in construction and support, Oceanside was the nearest town to accommodate the great influx of people. While barracks were built for the military on the new military base, there was no housing to accommodate the civilian contractors and laborers, along with their families in Oceanside. The City was hard pressed to meet the other essentials the military and civilian personnel demanded—with restaurants, schools, and hotels bursting at the seams. In 1940, there were just over 600 students enrolled in Oceanside elementary schools. That number nearly doubled by 1946, and classrooms were also bursting at the seams.

The City and the Chamber of Commerce urged homeowners to rent any available room out to those needing a living space. It was common for people to knock on doors of residents, asking for a room to rent or a place to sleep. Out of town property owners were contacted by the Chamber and asked to rent their summer homes to help with the housing crisis.

Detached garages in the rear of many downtown homes were converted to small houses or apartments to accommodate the growing population. Trailer parks that were once used by tourists and summer visitors now were used as permanent homes due to the housing shortage.

The City of Oceanside requested federal help with the housing shortage that had become an emergency, but the request seemed to fall on deaf ears. The Oceanside Blade Tribune reported, “Oceanside’s housing shortage is becoming more acute every day. More and more men are being employed at Camp Pendleton. They bring their families here, expecting to find accommodations, and are sorely disappointed to find nothing available in the entire northern county area. Many become bitter over what seems to them as unconcern for

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Four aged Native American women sit at the ruins of Mission San Luis Rey in the 1880s. History of The Luiseno Women

THE LUISEÑO WOMEN

The Luiseño Indians, a name given to them by Franciscan priests when establishing the San Luis Rey Mission, are an indigenous people of Southern California. In the Luiseño language, the people call themselves Payómkawichum meaning “People of the West.” There are six federally recognized tribes of Luiseño bands based in Southern California with reservations, but the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians remain unrecognized.

The San Luis Rey Mission was the eighteenth of 21 original missions established by the Spanish throughout California. Known as the “King of the Missions,” the building is one of the best existing examples of Spanish-Colonial architecture in the state of California. Along with others, the San Luis Rey Mission was built primarily by the Luiseño Indians who lived in the area. In the 1880s, specific attention was given to four elderly Luiseño women who lived near the Mission and were left indigent. The San Diego Union reported in 1885 that “Indian Agent McCallum has allowed the old Indian women of San Luis Rey Mission rations from Government appropriations” after county supervisors had “refused to act in the matter.” The account continued to say that “The women are over 90 years old, and we are glad to see Mr. McCallum’s prompt action in the matter.”

These women were photographed and their images published in newspapers and made into postcards (that they likely did not benefit from). In some images, there are four women, and others, just three. A photo taken by Charles C. Pierce in 1893 features just three women. They were identified in the Oceanside Blade newspaper in 1895 as Rosaria, Tomasa, and Vaselia. A fourth woman featured in other photos remains unidentified. The women attracted visitors from Oceanside and beyond who would bring them food and clothing, while they were said to have recounted stories of the Mission and their younger years.

A caption provided this narrative: At the time the photograph was taken, the combined ages of the trio exceeded 300 years. So far as we can learn, no one knows just how old they were. Rosaria came from the Santa Margarita and for years lived at San Luis Rey until her death last year. Tomasa is known to be more than a hundred years old and is put by some above 130. She claims that she packed “dobes” when the mission was built, and, as its construction was begun the first decade of the present century, there is little ground for doubting that she is, at least, in her second century teens. She was the mother of a large progeny, some of who lived to be very old, she surviving them all, as is the case with Rosaria and Vaselia. At the present time she is totally blind and has been for several years. Vaselia is the youngest. They live by themselves at the rancheria on the north side of the river near San Luis Rey mission,

The History of Oceanside

HISTORY OF SAMOANS IN OCEANSIDE

Samoan festival at the Beach Community Center in August 13, 1982. History of Samoans in Oceanside

The History of Oceanside

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The last combat Marines returned to San Diego on the USS St. Louis in July of 1971, marking the end of an unstable and explosive time for the country and a turbulent time for the city of Oceanside. In 1970, Oceanside’s population reached 38,000. That year, the historic Mission San Luis Rey received National Landmark status. Other developments included a new Fire Station on Thunder Drive, the opening of Joe Balderrama Park in the Eastside Neighborhood, the paving of Oceanside Boulevard from El Camino Real to Thunder Drive, and plans for a 300,000 square-foot shopping center in the San Luis Rey Valley located at the intersection of El Camino Real and Mission Avenue were approved by the planning commission. The landscape of the business district in Oceanside continued to change with the departure of car dealerships such as Weseloh Chevrolet, Dixon Ford, and Rorick Buick and others. Car Country Carlsbad opened in 1972 and eventually nearly every new car dealership would move away from Hill Street (now Coast Highway) to Carlsbad. One of the “Nation’s first planned residential estates community” was developed in 1974. While many custom homes had been built years prior on the subdivision bearing Sonja Henie’s name, Henie Hills Estates was a new housing development. It featured 112 home sites on 60 acres that were advertised as “estate-size lots averaging one-half acre with views of the sea, mountains, and golf fairways in the valley below.” Homes ranged from 1,604 to 2,693 square feet and were priced from $54,000 to $81,000.

In 1974, the Oceanside Redevelopment Agency was organized with a budget of $40,000. The following year, the Oceanside City Council unanimously approved a redevelopment plan of 60 blocks—calling it the “greatest thing in the world that’ll ever happen to Oceanside.” It’d take more than a decade to see the renovation of downtown Oceanside.

History of Eastside

THE HISTORY OF EASTSIDE

The common name for the neighborhood east

of Interstate 5 and north of Mission Avenue is “Eastside.” Today, this would puzzle many people because Oceanside city limits go much farther east than the Eastside neighborhood. However, after the turn of the century when the area was being developed and populated, this neighborhood was near the most eastern city limits.

Families from Mexico who came to Oceanside in the 1910s and 1920s settled in Eastside, which included the subdivisions of Mingus & Overman, Reece, Spencer, and Higgins & Puls. Most of the early residents were laborers who worked in the fields of the San Luis Rey Valley, and Rancho Santa Margarita (now Camp Pendleton).

The over 240-page book will be on sale in mid-July at oceansidehistoricalsociety.org

Eastside residents gather to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Joaquin Vasquez is standing center with sombrero in 1937.