Author: K Hawthorne

I’ve been an Oceanside local since 1983 and Oceanside history is my favorite subject. As the Director of the Oceanside Historical Society, in Oceanside, California and Oceanside's historian after 35+ years of research, I know lots of interesting and (sometimes useless) information on people, places and things. My blog gives me the opportunity to share some of the back story on events, forgotten people, and sometimes a bit darker but interesting view of my hometown. When I read on a particular person, subject or incident, I want all the details...so I endeavor to write that way. True stories have always intrigued me, they’re far more fascinating than fiction. Do you have a local story you would like me to research? I would love to hear from you.

The History of Eastside

This narrative captures but a fraction of the rich history of the neighborhood we know as Eastside. I have mentioned just a few of the many notable and longtime residents and no one is left out intentionally. A larger and more in depth story will one day be written.

The original Eastside Neighborhood is made up of four small subdivisions, three of which were recorded in 1886 and one in 1887: Mingus and Overman Subdivision, Spencer, Higgins and Puls’ Subdivision, Kellogg and Sinclair’s Addition and Reece’s Addition.

One of four subdivisions that make up the original Eastside neighborhood.

Decades before the term “Eastside” was used, the area was largely referred to by the name of the subdivisions, i.e. “Reece’s Addition.”

Eastside was not a name used until 1948 when the Eastside Sewer Improvement District was formed. For decades the area had no sewer system and homes were without proper bathroom facilities, relying on outhouses.

In the 1930s and early 1940s it was called “Mexican Town” or “Spanish Village.” But Eastside is often referred to by long-time residents as “Posole” and that name is attributed to a woman who epitomizes the hardworking residents of Eastside.

1923 Map showing original boundaries of Eastside

Anita Cruz Romero came to the United States from Mexico in 1910 with her son Ralph Romero. Mrs. Romero was one of the first residents in the Eastside neighborhood and purchased property and lived in a home on Higgins Street in 1914. Romero was a widow and made a living as a housekeeper for affluent Oceanside residents. To supplement her income, she sold her home-made soup. According to Eastside resident Aurora Soto Badillo, Mrs. Romero placed her soup in a hot pot on top of a little red wagon and walked throughout the barrio, shouting “Posole, posole!”

Anita “Anna” Cruz Romero, right. Early property owner

Oceanside had a population of less than 400 persons in 1900, and the area what we know as Eastside had no homes or buildings erected and remained “unimproved.” However, by 1910 many of the lots were used for agriculture or small crops by area residents and landowners.

One of the first houses built was the Mayhew house that fronted Mission Avenue in about 1912. Two years later Anita Cruz Romero would have a house built on her Higgins Street property.

This house fronting Mission Avenue was one of the earliest homes built within the boundaries of Eastside and was owned by the Mayhew family.

The population of Eastside began to increase as Mexican immigrant families slowly begin to settle in what would be known as Eastside. The 1920 US census shows that approximately 14 Mexican families were living on or near Bush Street.

In 1930 Jemmie Berry Hayes was one of the largest property owners in Eastside. She was the wife of Fred Hayes, who was the son of John Chauncey Hayes, one of the earliest residents of Oceanside and a long-time realtor. Another large property owner was Anna Curran. She, too, was the wife of a realtor. These two women bought and then sold lots to many of the families that settled in Eastside over the years.

Eastside residents celebrating.

Early residents, settling in the 1920s and the 1930s, included Zeferino Nares, Ramon Sanchez, Victoriano Ruiz, Joaquin Vasquez, Atenogenes Magana, Jesus Valenzuela, Salvador Gonzalez, Santiago Gomez, Felipe Badillo, Jacinto Soto, Jose Lopez and others.

Guillermo Aguilera came to the US from Mexico in 1914 arriving in Oceanside about 1926. He and his wife Petra had ten children. He supported his large family by working in agriculture but also built several homes in Eastside even though he was missing a hand. They lived in a home at 402 San Diego Street, which he built.

Guillermo Aguilera with wife and child

By the late 1920s, the necessity for a proper sewer system for the areas outside of downtown Oceanside was evident. Eastside and other sections were lacking sanitary services. In the March 29, 1929 edition of the Oceanside Blade Tribune newspaper was this report:

WILL MAKE A SEWER EXTENSION.

Unsanitary conditions existing in a portion of the eastern part of the city where the subject of a communication to the city council from inspector W. P. Jensen at their meeting Wednesday evening.

It was stated that in that territory included in Spencer, Higgins and Puls Addition, Reese’s Addition, Wilder Tract, Wilson & Patton Addition, Mingus and Overman Addition, Kellogg & Sinclair Addition, portions of Butler, Groves, and Gleichner’s Addition, Boheim Tract, and Timken & O’Bear’s Addition, that the soil is of such character, underlaid by a hard pan, that the effluent from septic tanks will not penetrate and seep away, but remains on the surface and eventually creates an unsanitary and dangerous condition.

It would take two more decades for Eastside to have a sewer system in place. When it rained the septic tank systems and outhouses would overflow, filling yards and running down streets.

Muddy streets, Bush Street at San Diego looking East
Outhouse on San Diego Street

In 1930 the first known Black residents moved to Eastside. Orange Hinkle and his wife Irene were renting a home on Lemon Street. His neighbor was Casimiro Soto, who was a property owner.

In 1938 John and Charles Etta Mann moved to 214 San Diego Street, the first known Black property owners in Eastside and long-time residents.

During and after World War II, the Black population increased due to the military and more job opportunities. Early Black residents were told to live in Eastside. C. R. Roberts remembered that his father was a railroad worker and they first lived on South Cleveland Street when his parents were told to move to “Mexican Town.”

The Eastside Neighborhood was segregated and separated in many ways. Eastside was separated from the rest of Oceanside by a large canyon or gully (now Interstate 5). In the 1930s their children, many of whom spoke only Spanish, were sent to the Americanization School on Division Street where they were immersed in English. Pete Magana recalled that teacher Mrs. Beth French was beloved by the students.

Americanization School on Division Street (designed by architect Irving J. Gill)

In 1939 the original St. Mary’s church was moved to Lemon Street. This became an important addition to the neighborhood for Catholic parishioners.

The Mission Market, on the corner of San Diego and Mission, was established in 1937 and was owned by Manuel Castorena, who purchased the land and a small house from Leslie Carter.

Mission Market at San Diego Street and Mission Avenue, 1937

Bartolome Chavez opened a bake shop as early as 1930 on the corner of San Diego and Bush Streets. This would later become known as the East Star Market and operated by sisters Marie and Lucy.

East Star Market owned by Marie and Lucy Chavez corner of San Diego and Bush Streets.

Ygnacio and Socorro (Duarte) Adame migrated to Oceanside from Michoacan, Mexico in 1926. They moved to the “Eastside” community, also known as “Barrio Posole”, and established a home at 408 San Diego Street. In 1945 they established the La Chiquita Market next door at 410 San Diego Street where Socorro cooked and sold fresh tortillas and tamales.

La Chaquita Market at 410 San Diego Street.

These markets were important to residents because the owners were their neighbors and they sold products that were desirable by the neighborhood and not available in other local stores.

Sterling Housing was a large Federal Housing development for the military and their families built in 1948. 648 units were built on 45 acres and was nearly the size of Eastside itself.

Sterling Housing was built just to the east of Eastside, with paved street, sidewalks and sewer system.

This military housing complex impacted the neighborhood with construction work, increased traffic, etc. But even though Sterling Homes was connected to a brand-new sewer line, Eastside was bypassed altogether leaving residents dismayed.

As the Black population continued to increase in Eastside, a need to congregate and worship became paramount. In 1945 the Friendly Church of God in Christ was established at 1015 San Diego Street.

Some of the congregation of the Friendly Church of God in Christ. Charles Etta Mann top right.

Walker Chapel AME was established in 1949 on Laurel Street. Two additional Black churches were founded in Eastside: St. John’s Missionary Baptist and Shiloh Church of God in Christ.

Walker AME Chapel on Laurel Street circa 1949

These four houses of worship attested to the growing Black population, and their roots in the Eastside neighborhood.

In 1948, Charles Etta Mann opened a restaurant at 214 San Diego Street. It would later become a small market which doubled as a meeting place for Eastside’s Black residents. (After her first husband’s death, Charles Etta would later remarry to Wesley Allen and most remember her as Charles Etta Allen.)

Mann’s Food Shop on San Diego Street, owned by Charles Etta Mann, first Black owned business in Oceanside

In 1948, Lucy Chavez, an advocate for the neighborhood formed the Eastside Association. At a city council meeting she argued that “east side” taxpayers had paid taxes on sanitary facilities for 20 years, but they still had no sewage facilities. She alleged that a fund that was once set aside for the work was used elsewhere.

In June of 1949 Joaquin Vasquez, president of the Eastside club, implored the council with the urgency and said that nearly every lot in the east side had “13 holes dug in it, and we can’t dig anymore.”

Higgins and Santa Barbara Street, dirt streets, outhouses and homes on cement blocks to help prevent mud and sewage in homes.

Even after a proper sewer system was approved and installed in 1949, three streets were left out, Dubuque, Shoshone and Marquette. These streets were largely inhabited by Black residents. Gilbert Woods petitioned the City Council in 1954 to get the needed sewer lines installed which was approved that October…. but they had to wait an additional five years for equal facilities!

Gilbert Wood and son. Gilbert petitioned for sewer system for last three remaining streets in Eastside.

In 1953, a new subdivision was built just northeast of the original Eastside neighborhood. 200 two-and-three-bedroom homes, built for military personnel and civil service workers at Camp Pendleton by the Mongollon Construction Co. opened that year. This new subdivision included sidewalks, paved streets and a sewer system. However, residents had to drive on dirt roads through Eastside to arrive at his new subdivision that was connected to their neighborhood. The dust and dirt construction crews and passenger traffic would fill the homes of residents, coat their vehicles and even the laundry that was left out to dry on clotheslines.

Map of Eastside, showing Sterling Housing as well as the “new” Eastside neighborhood (Lorreta, Kraft, Langford Streets and more.)

As late as 1954, the Eastside Neighborhood did not have paved streets or sidewalks.

Construction for Laurel Elementary School began in 1954, which opened in 1955. Prior to this, elementary students went to what was called Mission Road School.

Laurel Street looking west, Laurel School being built to the right.

Before Laurel School could be built the Kosaka house and farm had to be removed from the site. The Kosaka family had been interred in camps during World War II and settled in Eastside in the late 1940s. There were many Japanese families living in and around Oceanside before and after the War.

Eastside continued to diversify with addition of Samoan and Filipino residents. Florrie and Amio Faumuina came to Oceanside in 1958 and were among the early Samoan families to live in Eastside. Samoan families lived in homes in the “new” Eastside in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Junior Seau and his family lived in this home at 1424 Zeiss Street.

Faumuina family first settled in Eastside when coming to Oceanside.

In 1957 Eastside dedicated its own community center. It was noted that the building was “begun by a group of people – not officials, not councilmen, not rich men, not poor men, but citizens who lived in the neighborhood.” Residents took it upon themselves to build, plaster, pour cement and raise funds to make the center a reality.

In April of 1969 a groundbreaking was held for the new $300,000 Eastside Neighborhood Center. It would become the Balderrama Recreation Center.

At the request of the American G.I. Forum, the name of the park was changed by the city council on Aug. 9, 1967 from the Eastside Recreation Park, to the Joe Balderrama Recreation Park in honor of John “Joe” Balderrama who was killed in action during World War II on October 13, 1944.

Dedication of new Balderrama Recreation Center

Dedication of the new rec center was held in January 1970 with a diverse and inclusive program featuring “rock music, an Afro-American Club program, a karate demonstration, a Polynesian show and a program presented by the Golden Age Club.”

The Gobbi family opened El Charrito Restaurant in 1966 at 1426 Mission Avenue and about a year later moved it to 218 San Diego Street. This restaurant was a neighborhood focal point, much like the new recreation center, but it also brought customers from outside the boundaries of Eastside, for the authentic food and welcoming atmosphere.

In 1968 Roosevelt Campbell had this retail building built at 401-409 San Diego Street. It originally housed three Black owned businesses: The Progressive Barber Shop, The Progressive Café and the Progressive Beauty Shop.

401-409 San Diego Street, built by Black businessman Roosevelt Campbell.

Roosevelt Campbell and two other Black businessmen, George Mitchell and Oscar Culp, joined together to open GEBS and later CMC Furniture.

George Mitchell, top, Roosevelt Campbell and Oscar Culp

Along with community advocates such as Lucy, Marie and Joe Chavez, Eastside had a number of devoted residents including Concha Hernandez Greene, who became one of its most dedicated residents known for her community activism.

Isabel and Jesus Hernandez with daughters Julie and Concha on Bush Street 1950s

Pete Magana, born 1928, was a lifelong resident of Eastside. He founded the local chapter of the American GI Forum, a group comprised mainly of Latino veterans who raised scholarship funds for needy students. He was twice named Oceanside Citizen of the Year, first in 1972 and again in 1983. For 15 years he was the Laurel Elementary School PTA President.

Beloved Eastside resident and civic leader Pete Magana

Two of Oceanside’s mayors have roots in Eastside, Terry Johnson and Esther Sanchez, and Laurel Elementary School has a Hall of Fame which celebrates the achievements of Eastside students who have excelled, even in the hardest of times of inequity.

Refugio, Lupe and Baleria Magana and Genny Gobbi Magana making tamales at their hone at 306 San Diego Street, circa 1965

Eastside is a unique neighborhood with its own history within and apart from Oceanside. It reflects the diversity and tenacity of its residents, who were separated from a quality-of-life afforded others, but lived their lives in dignity and determination, often unseen, but who have their rightful place in our history.

Murder at the Hill Top Motel – The Unsolved Murder of Rocco Pittro

The Hill Top Motel at 1607 South Coast Highway in Oceanside, California has been described as an “okay place if you’re running out of options.” It has become sort of a fixture in the South Oceanside neighborhood. Far from a vacation destination resort, the Hill Top Motel is a low budget option for travelers and locals.

The Hill Top Motel, (Google view 2025)

Regardless of its less than stellar reputation, the Hill Top has a history dating back to 1948 and includes two tragic events, a suicide and an unsolved murder.

The first deadly incident was the suicide of Flora Dodson in 1954. She and her husband were the original owners of the motel property.

Forrest Leroy and Flora (Kettering) Dodson were both natives of Illinois, married in 1907. The couple had two daughters, Marie and Edith. In 1948 the Dodsons purchased property on the southwest corner of Morse and Hill Streets (Coast Highway) from Clifford Brodie. In June of that year a permit was issued to build a small motel called Dodson’s Motel at 1607 South Hill Street for a cost of $19,000. A neon sign was erected in December 1948 and the motel was completed and ready for guests.

Flora and Forrest led quiet lives on the busy Highway 101. They lived on the property while managing the auto court and visited often with their children and grandchildren.

Sadly, Forrest Dodson died suddenly on May 29, 1954. After 47 years of marriage, Flora was distraught and despondent with grief. She told her daughter Edith Lipman that she did not care to live any longer and that she had contemplated jumping off the end of the Oceanside pier.

On December 12th, just seven months after the death of her beloved husband, Flora ended her life. She was discovered by her son-in-law Othel Bert, who was visiting from the Midwest. He found her lifeless body lying on the floor in front of the kitchen gas range. Detectives from the Oceanside Police Department responded to the call and as they examined the scene, they noted that Flora had cut her left wrist with a safety razor blade, which was found on the floor near her right hand. A rifle and .22 cartridges were also found but unused. Instead, Flora had turned off the pilot lights in her wall heaters and stove, turned on the gas and positioned herself on a kitchen stool until she was overcome by fumes. The coroner ruled her death a suicide.

The Hill Top Motel, 1607 South Hill Street (Coast Highway) in early 1960s.

After her mother’s death, daughter Edith Lipman acquired the motel property which had since been renamed the Hill Top Motel. It was sold to Leonard and Bessie Robinson in 1957. The Robinsons lived on the property in the “owner apartment” and managed the 8-unit motel, which advertised “all the comforts at home” including carpet, kitchens and free TV.

By the mid 1960s the Hilltop Motel was expanded with a two-story unit on the north end of the property. The Robinsons sold the property to Mr. and Mrs. William and Virginia Giffin who sold it to Dwight M. Pankey in 1970.

The Hill Top Motel in the 1970s.

It was purchased by Larry and Twyla Shaffer in 1974 and by 1976 the Hilltop Motel was offering daily rates of $10 and a weekly rate of $63. In 1976, the property was purchased by Joe C. Iski and John Isky. They sold the property to Yee Chen Yeh of San Diego in 1979.

Aerial view of the Hill Top Motel, corner of Morse and Hill Streets (Coast Highway) upper right in the 1970s.

The clientele in the 1970s and 1980s were much different than the guests who stayed in the Dodson Motel in the 1940s and 1950s. Things were changing in Oceanside with a rising crime rate, even in South Oceanside, which is a vibrant and trendy neighborhood today. In 1988 the crime rate had increased 24 percent and it was reported that Oceanside had the biggest increase in violent crime in the entire state for the first six months of the year.

Violent crime which included Oceanside’s first reported homicide of the year – at the Hilltop Motel. On January 22, 1988 Rocco Anthony William Pittro, Jr. (aka Pietro) was found murdered in Room No. 8. Pittro had been discovered by the motel’s manager. Left in a pool of blood, he had been stabbed seven times.

The manager told police that Pittro and a man by the name of Carl had been seen together, and that Pittro had told him he would have a male friend visiting. Carl was described as a black male 25 to 30 years of age, 160 pounds 5’10“. The manager of the motel had gone to the room to check on him the following day, presumably after Pittro missed check out, entered the room with a pass key and discovered the dead guest. The Oceanside Police Department was notified and Officer P. Coppack arrived at 12:43 PM.

Pittro was born August 7, 1927 in Illinois. He was divorced and living in Mission Viejo. Differing reports list his occupation as an interior decorator to construction.

The coroner’s report stated that he was found in “a prone position on the bed and his body was cold to the touch.” There were three stab wounds to the back of his body and multiple stab wounds to his chest and abdomen, as well as a laceration to his left hand. The bedding under his body was blood soaked, and there was dried blood spattered on the wall opposite the foot of the bed and on the head of the bed. More specifically, Pittro was stabbed in the heart as well as in the lungs and suffered from multiple blunt injuries. The coroner also noted that no drugs were detected.

The murder weapon was not found but Homicide Detective Sheila Hancock reported “I think we’ve got some good physical evidence.” The victim’s 1985 Nissan pickup truck had been stolen and later recovered abandoned in central Los Angeles.

In March of that year, a 16-year-old Oceanside youth was arrested. He was booked into juvenile hall, but his name was withheld because of his age. Three days later, he was released. Detective Hancock said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the teenager at the time. Police said the teen lived with his parents on nearby Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and they continued to look for information linking the teenager to the killing.

In September of 1988 Oceanside detectives released a crude sketch looking for someone by the name of Chris or Carl. But with no suspects in custody, the case eventually went cold and then forgotten.

However, with properly stored evidence, this case could likely be solved today with DNA or even fingerprinting.

The murder of Rocco Pittro is one of several unsolved cases in the files of the Oceanside Police Department, including Zelda Lamore found murdered in a downtown hotel in 1953, the murder of cab driver Ray Davis in 1962, the murder of Charlleen Saunders in 1986, the kidnapping and murder of 7-year-old Leticia Hernandez in 1989, the missing persons case of Mary Rico-Webber in 1992, the murder of retired school teacher Margaret Yossa in 1994, and the murder of Rachel Pauline Rivera found in the alley of the 600 block of South Coast Highway in 2001.

As each year passes these cases only grow colder, including Rocco Pittro’s murder in Room 8 at the Hill Top Motel. Is the DNA evidence just waiting to be tested? Is there anyone who remembers, or has information to help solve this case and others?

Revealing History – The Man Trap

South Oceanside’s popular health food store “Cream of the Crop” has been around for nearly 40 years. But the history of the building is a colorful one beginning in the 1940s …. once occupied by a fish grotto, cocktail bar and later a gentlemen’s club called the “Man Trap.”

Built in 1944, the building was owned by Dr. Clifford and Cora Brodie and housed Brodie’s Fish Grotto which opened in the summer of 1945.  The Brodies had an auto court-style motel on the southwest corner of Vista Way and Hill Street (Coast Highway) in South Oceanside. They also owned an apartment building at 2012 South Tremont.

The Ellis Motel was built in 1939 as the Brodie O Tel at 2001 South Hill Street (Coast Highway)

Clifford Brodie was married up to five times and Cora may have been wife number two. They were married in about 1930 and had one son, Elwood. The couple divorced and Cora remarried, her new married name was Shuey. Cora received the Tremont Street apartment building where she resided, along with the building located at 2009 South Hill Street a.k.a. Coast Highway, in the divorce settlement.

Dr. Clifford E. Brodie

Cora Shuey opened a new restaurant in her building on Hill Street called “The Port Hole.” It operated from 1947 to 1952. Athur Vitello then opened a restaurant and cocktail bar called Diana’s, in mid-1952, while Cora retained ownership of the building.

Diana’s was a popular hangout for several years along the historic Highway 101, on the outskirts of Oceanside. Clientele came from both Oceanside and Carlsbad and beyond.

In 1955 a shocking incident occurred there when a man shot his wife, killing her instantly, and then turned the gun on himself. James and Joyce Nolan were living in the motel next to Diana’s at 2001 South Hill (Coast Highway). The couple had entered the establishment and had a noticeable disagreement or fight then left. Joyce Nolan returned alone to the cocktail bar and her husband re-entered and asked her to come home. She refused saying she wanted to finish her drink. Soon after James Nolan approached his wife and without a word shot her in the throat with a 38-caliber pistol. He then shot himself in the head.

Detectives enter Diana’s restaurant and bar to investigate the murder-suicide.

Oceanside Police were summoned by shocked bar staff. In his pocket police found a tattered letter written by James Nolan to his parents. It read: “I can’t take it anymore. The only one I ever loved is Joyce and we just can’t seem to get along so I’m ready to call this life to a finish.” They had only been married a few months.

In June 1959, Cora Shuey had the building “completely redecorated” and opened “The Coral Reef, Oceanside’s newest restaurant and supper club.” Cora Shuey died in 1960 and was buried in Eternal Hills.

By 1961 the bar/restaurant was owned by Marvin Burke and for a time it was called “Marv’s Coral Reef.” It remained the Coral Reef through the mid-1960s when it was later renamed by owner Robert F. Blanas as the “Pink Kitten” from 1967 to 1968. The Pink Kitten was no supper club but an establishment known as a “go-go bar” featuring topless dancers.

The name “Pink Kitten” did not last long and the tamer, if not ambiguous name, “Coral Reef” was returned by 1970, but the topless dancers remained. Help wanted ads ran in the local paper offering $3.25 an hour for single or married go-go girls. (The state minimum wage was then just $1.60.) “Earn while you learn” was the headline, but it was unclear what the women would be learning.

But by 1972, the adult venue was renamed “The Man Trap” leaving little to the imagination. Its clientele were often rowdy marines, who would get into fights with each other and or the locals. On one occasion Marine officers were relieved of their commands because of a bar fight at the Man Trap.

In 1974 three Marine officers faced charges after a brawl that left a bouncer injured. Lt. Colonel Robert Hicketheir was charged with felony assault, while Major Patrick Collins and Col. John I. Hopkins were charged with battery and misdemeanor assault. The doorman of the Man Trap, James Weaver, was struck on the head with a drinking glass and suffered cuts and bruises.

Newspaper accounts reported that Hicketheir had taken a doorman’s flashlight and tried to shine it at a dancer. When Weaver attempted to retrieve the flashlight, he was struck in the head. Collins then allegedly struck Weaver continually with this fist “about the head and upper body while suspect number one held him.”

Hopkins was later acquitted by a judge after he determined the Marine officer had simply tried to intervene in the melee. In July 1974, Hicketheir and Collins were declared innocent on all counts by a jury of four women and eight men. Their accounts were vastly different from the original reports, and stated that Weaver was the aggressor.

Their testimony was that Hicketheir had used the flashlight to view a vending machine, when the doorman picked Hicketheir up and shoved him against the wall, which started the physical altercation. Collins testified that he was simply coming to the aid of Hicketheir.  The newspaper noted that the prosecution witnesses were “flamboyantly dressed” with “contemporary hairstyles” and were bartenders and topless dancers.

There was considerable controversy of having a topless bar in quiet South Oceanside, and it turned even more controversial when the dancers went from topless to totally nude in 1978. Owners Herbert Lowe and Robert Gautereaux Sr., defied the City and offered total nudity, despite the fact that they were not licensed to do so.

The Man Trap was open 11 AM to 2 AM during the week and Saturday and Sunday from 2 PM to 2 AM. Starting pay for dancers was $5.00 an hour with the promise of “excellent tips and good working conditions.”

An employee of the Man Trop reported that two girls had been hired specifically to dance nude on Thursday nights, because the regular top topless dancers were reluctant to remove their G-strings.

A court case ensued and a hearing was held on October 14, 1978 in Superior Court where Judge Michael Greer ruled that the Man Trap “could continue to feature topless and bottomless female dancers” until December 4th of that year, but “called for changes.”

The bar was ordered to place the stage area 12 feet away from customer seating and to prohibit dancers from socializing with customers or serving them alcoholic beverages. Joshua Kaplan, attorney for the owners declared “we will remain totally nude until December 4 and then after that forever.” Oceanside Deputy City Attorney Warren Diven said that the Man Trap was in violation of a city ordinance that prohibits topless or nude dancing in bars.

Kaplan argued that the Man Trap was a “theater” and therefore exempt from the ordinance. He said owners Lowe and Gautereaux (who also owned the Playgirl Club in downtown Oceanside) had made improvements of more than $60,000 to assure that the established met the “legal definition of a theater.” But City Attorney Divon countered that “the primary purpose of the man trap was to serve alcoholic beverages and not to provide entertainment” and added that the type of entertainment offered by the Man Trap “does not rise to the dignity of a theatrical performance.”

The Playgirl Club on Third Street (now Pier View Way)

Mayor Pro-tem Bill Bell said, “We will pull out all the stops to close both of them, the Man Trap and the Playgirl. Enough is enough.” But both establishments continued operating. In 1979 the Man Trap Theater began to featured ladies’ night, Wednesday night with male dancers. Saturday was couples’ night with male and female dancers.

Skip Arthur, purchased the Man Trap, as well as the Playgirl. But the Man Trap was closed after the Alcohol Beverage Control board pulled its license for having nude dancers.

The 3,300 square foot building at 2009 South Hill Street (South Coast Highway) remained vacant while the owner offered it for rent. In June of 1980 the building was leased to the FVW Post 9747, a largely Black Veterans’ organization of 200 members, who had faced protests when trying to lease a different location on Mission Avenue. (FVW Post 9747 later merged with VFW Post 10577 to become Oceanside Memorial Post 10577.)

In March 1987 the building that had once housed restaurants, served cocktails and offered adult entertainment, became a health and gourmet food store called “Cream of the Crop.” For nearly four decades the health food store has flourished with a faithful clientele of its own, albeit a bit more “wholesome.”

Google Street View of Cream of the Crop at 2009 South Coast Highway in 2021

History of the Barnard House at 1111 South Ditmar Street

Many neighbors are lamenting the loss of a historic home on the southwest corner of Eucalyptus and South Ditmar Streets next to the former Ditmar Elementary School, now Surfside Educational Academy. The house was recently demolished to make way for improvements and expansion at the school site.

1111 South Ditmar Street, circa 1990

Before a house was built on the site, the area was one large undeveloped 10 acre tract that was bordered by Eucalyptus to the north, South Ditmar to the east, Short Street (Oceanside Blvd) to the south and Hill Street (Coast Highway) to the west. In the early 1910’s the tract was entirely laid out in carnations and in the 1920s it was used for growing vegetables.

Barnard Home at 1111 South Ditmar, upper left hand corner, 1932

Fred Gardner Barnard, Sr. purchased the property in 1927 from Dr. Robert S. Reid.  F. G. Barnard “pioneered the planting of lima beans in San Diego County” and made lima beans a staple crop in Oceanside and surrounding area.

Barnard’s bean thresher on the Rancho Santa Margarita

A native of Ventura, California, born April 5, 1872, Barnard came to Las Flores on the Santa Margarita rancho in 1907. Prior to his arrival, he married Neta Bonita Lamb in 1899 and the couple had three children:  Fred Gardner Barnard, Jr., Harriett and Maryline. 

Fred Gardner Barnard, Sr.

Barnard was said to be the first farmer to plant a vegetable crop on the Rancho Santa Margarita.  His lima bean crops even inspired an Oceanside festival in 1913, Bean Day, which was celebrated at the Oceanside Pier band shell. Barnard is also credited with having “pioneered irrigation” on the Santa Margarita, having drilled many of the first wells on the ranch.

Bean Day at the Oceanside Pier in 1913

According to an interview with a family member, Barnard built the house in 1929. The house was the only structure on the entire ten-acre property for twenty years and the remaining land was farmed. The house was originally a one-story structure with an additional level being added in the 1940s.

The Barnard’s owned the acreage until a large portion of the tract was sold to the school district for Ditmar Elementary School, built in 1949. Fred and his wife, Neta lived at the home until he died in 1953 and she passed 8 years later in 1961.

House at 1111 South Ditmar and Ditmar Elementary School in 1965

After Barnard Sr.’s death his daughters Harriett and Maryline were deeded the property and in 1962 it was sold to J. Maxey Witman and Lillian E. Witman. 

Jackson Maxey Witman was the son of Harry Witman and Ruth Maxey. His father Harry Witman was the foreman at the historic Rancho Santa Margarita. After the rancho was purchased by the Navy Department to establish Marine Corps Base Camp Joseph H. Pendleton, Witman received a commission as a captain and served with the Marines throughout World War II.  J. Maxey Witman worked in real estate for decades.

In 1964 the property was purchased by H. Glen and Jean Guyer.  Glen Guyer worked at US Silica in the early 1960s and later went into partnership with Irby Mandrell in the Oceanside Music Company.  Irby Mandrell was the father of Barbara Mandrell who would later become a well-known country western singer. The Mandrell’s performed in Oceanside at the Normandy Bar and the 101 Club and even recorded a single with O-side Records.

Jean Guyer, seated left, along with school board members, 1981

Jean Guyer was a registered dental hygienist and worked part time for well known dentist Dr. Tom Melbourne. Jean Guyer was later elected to the Oceanside School Board where she served several years.

The Guyer’s raised their children at 1111 South Ditmar Street and in an interview Jean remembered some of the unique circumstances of living in a home in close proximity to an elementary school as children would sometimes crawl through the hedge and hide in their backyard.

She noted that there had been no heat in the house except for the gas fireplace and remarked that the second story addition was “poorly planned” but it afforded the family a view of the fireworks on the 4th of July. The original entrance was on the north end at Eucalyptus but had been changed.

In 2001 the house was acquired by the Oceanside Unified School District.

Barnard Drive in Oceanside that leads to the MiraCosta College Campus is named in memory of Fred Gardner Barnard, Jr. Active in the community, Barnard, Jr. was committed to education. He served on the Oceanside-Carlsbad High School board of trustees for 30 years, from 1934 to 1964 and over the years the Barnard family has contributed over $200,000 to the college.

The house was photographed in 2013. Below are some interior scenes after the house had been vacant. The house had been remodeled over the years but there were still original features.

Front room, first floor
Fireplace, first floor
Staircase
First floor bathroom
Portion of second floor bedroom (addition) and view of en suite
1111 South Ditmar in 2013

Oceanside Neighborhoods

Our City is made up of many different neighborhoods, often with their own unique characteristics, history and even architecture. As Oceanside’s population grew, its borders expanded with various subdivisions and new housing developments. From the exclusive enclave of St. Malo to Potter homes in South Oceanside and Francine Villa in North Oceanside, Oceanside neighborhoods are as diverse as the people who live here. Here are a few neighborhoods, some forgotten and others well remembered.

Guidottiville

Guidottiville was named by and after Amerigo Edwardo Guidotti. The area was near what is referred to as Lawrence Canyon just south of present Highway 76.  Guidotti built his residence there along with several rentals and lived there for many years. The homes were removed by the 1980s to make way for the Highway construction.

Guidottiville in Lawrence Canyon, south of present day Highway 76

Pine Heights

Pine Heights was a rather remote area of Oceanside, accessible only via Eighth Street, now called Neptune Way. Pine Heights provided expansive view of Oceanside and panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean.  Niels Hansen, a local grocer, built a large Craftsman style home designed by noted architects the Quale Brothers in 1908.  Also that year, Attorney John Johnston hired prominent Chicago and San Diego architect Henry Lord Gay, to design his $10,000 home in Pine Heights.  The Hansen house was later moved to North Clementine Street but the Johnston home was demolished. Pine Heights is now the location of a 15-acre condo development by Evening Star Development.

The Hansen Home in Pine Heights.

North Oceanside Terrace

A new subdivision established in the late 1940s was situated along the northern most border of Oceanside along Camp Pendleton. North Oceanside Terrace includes Capistrano Drive, San Luis Rey Drive, Monterey and Sunset and other streets. Many of the homes built there were built in the early to mid 1950s and purchased by the military families that were stationed at Camp Pendleton. In 1953 the City approved Francine Villas to the east, adding over 300 homes. These homes were introduced as rentals to military and civilians with a two bedroom home renting for $72.75 and a three bedroom for $82.75. Because of the growing density and traffic, an additional entry into the neighborhood was provided, initially called “River Road”. Later Loretta Street from the Eastside neighborhood would be built across the San Luis Rey River to provide residents access. In 1955, construction of North Terrace Elementary School began, opening the following year. Today the area is more commonly referred to as Capistrano because of the area park.

1974 aerial of a portion of North Terrace neighborhood, school and Loretta Street crossing.

South Oceanside

John Chauncey Hayes established South Oceanside, a small township just south of the City of Oceanside in the 1880s.  In the earliest days it had its own bank, a school building, cemetery, several brick residences and a newspaper, the South Oceanside Diamond.  This largely rural area included the Spaulding Dairy (established about 1913) and was home to acres of flower fields owned by the Frazee family and others. It turned residential when Walter H. Potter, “the man who built South Oceanside” began building dozens of small homes in 1947 that stretched from Morse Street to Vista Way.

Aerial view of South Oceanside looking west, circa 1970

Eastside

The Eastside neighborhood is just east of Interstate 5 and north of Mission Avenue, with entrance by Bush or San Diego Streets. The subdivisions of Mingus & Overman, Reece, Spencer, Higgins & Puls, which encompass the area, were mostly farmland when families from Mexico began settling there in the 1910s and 1920s.  Most of the early residents were laborers who worked in the fields of the San Luis Rey Valley and the Rancho Santa Margarita (now Camp Pendleton). Many of the homes were built between 1920 and 1940 by the hardworking fathers and grandfathers of the families that still call Eastside their home. This neighborhood was referred to as “Mexican Village” by local officials but residents called it Posole. It was last neighborhood to have paved streets and a sewer system, which were not added until the late 1940s! Eastside was also the home of Oceanside’s first growing Black population in the 1940s and 1950s, along with Samoan and Filipino families.

Higgins and Santa Barbara Streets in Eastside shows dirt streets and houses on blocks because of the lack of sewer system.

Mesa Margarita

As Oceanside’s population grew at steady pace in the 1950s and 1960s, its borders continued to extend eastward. New housing was always in demand. Sproul Homes developed many new neighborhoods including Mesa Margarita, which is often referred as the “Back Gate” area because of its proximity to northeast entrance to Camp Pendleton.   In 1965, 62 acres along North River Road were purchased by Fred C. Sproul Homes, Inc., a residential development firm, from Harold Stokes and Joe Higley.  The Stokes and Higley families were long time dairy farmers in the San Luis Rey Valley. With the plan to build 275 new homes on the property it was one of several developments that changed the landscape of rural to suburban.

Sproul Homes ad in 1963

Oceana

One of the first adult only communities built in Southern California was that of Oceana. Situated east of El Camino Real and south of Mission Avenue, this planned community was built in 1964 at a cost of $25 million.  It was touted as being “a city within a city” built on 180 acres with 1,500 lanai cottages and 300 apartments.  At the time it was built it required that at least one adult be age 40 or over. A two bedroom, two bath model was listed at $16,995 and the community offered a variety of amenities which included a pool, golfing, library and restaurant.

Oceana development in 1960s

Henie Hills

Henie Hills was owned by figure-skater Sonja Henie. Sonja and her brother Lief purchased 1,600 acres of ranch land in about 1941 which included the present day El Camino Country Club. In the early 1950’s the Henies began subdividing part of the land near El Camino Real at which time some of the first custom homes were built. A portion of this land was sold to Tri-City Hospital and eventually acquired by MiraCosta College. Miss Henie built a large house on Oceanview Drive, which she used during her visits here from her native Norway.  She continued ownership of 350 acres until 1968.  In the 1974 Henie Hills opened as one of the nation’s first planned residential estates community, offering homes on estate-size lots averaging one-half acre with views of the sea, mountains and golf fairways in the valley below. Home prices ranged from $54,000 to $81,000.

Driving Range at golf course, Henie Hills sign in background

Fire Mountain

Fire Mountain was at one time called “North Carlsbad”.  It was a largely rural area planted with avocado and citrus groves, consisting of approximately 338 acres. While the town of Carlsbad eventually grew and incorporated, North Carlsbad remained an unincorporated area of San Diego County, an island surrounded by the city limits of Oceanside. The City of Oceanside annexed the area in the 1960s. It has developed into a desirable neighborhood simply named after the road traveling through it, consisting of middle-class homes, tract and custom homes, many of which sit on large lots, some offering views of the Pacific Ocean.

1956 Thomas Guide of Fire Mountain area before annexed to Oceanside.

St. Malo

A group of twelve homes was built by 1934 in an exclusive enclave in South Oceanside at the end of Pacific Street. Pasadena resident Kenyon A. Keith purchased 28 acres of oceanfront property and contained homes resembling a French fishing village that was known as St. Malo. Well-to-do property owners used St. Malo for vacation and summer homes.  Early film director Jason S. Joy’s home was identified as “La Garde Joyeuse” and included an outdoor bowling alley and volley ball court.  Author Ben Hecht was another resident, as well as Frank Butler, who co-wrote “Going My Way”.  The beautiful community of St. Malo remains one of Oceanside’s best kept secret and continues to serve as summer homes and getaways for the rich and famous. 

St. Malo homes fronting the Pacific Oceanside. Jason Joy house far right.

Plumosa Heights

Banker B.C. Beers established a new subdivision in the 1920s called Plumosa Heights, named for the plumosa palms lining the streets.  This once exclusive neighborhood includes West and Shafer Streets, two of the street names are named for his children, Alberta and Leonard.  The Plumosa Subdivision required at least a $4000 structure on the property to be set back at least twenty feet from the street.  Plumosa Heights continues to be a desirable neighborhood with concrete streets and original cement light posts.  Although it was the home of many affluent Oceanside residents, it was also inhabited by Oceanside’s middle class.

Leonard Street looking west at South Clementine and South Ditmar Streets, circa 1925

Hampshire House Candies in South Oceanside

Along Oceanside’s Coast Highway you can drive, walk and bike past buildings that are 75 to 100 years old from the north end of town through South Oceanside. Because the façades have changed over the years, it is sometimes hard to distinguish a historic building from a newer one.

A building located at 1821 South Coast Highway is a good example. It is over 75 years old and built in 1948. It was the home of Hampshire House Candies and owned by Glen and Wilma Hampshire. The Hampshires came to Oceanside in 1946 and first opened a candy store at 1811 South Hill Street (now Coast Highway).

Hampshire House Candies at 1821 South Hill Street/Coast Highway in 1948

George “Glenn’ Hampshire was a native of Utah born in 1907. He married Wilma A. Dooley in about 1943 and the couple had two daughters: Glendelin and Charlotte Jane, both born in California.

The Hampshires were so successful with their home-made candies, their chocolates, nuts and peanut brittle were sold in other stores throughout San Diego County including Encinitas, Chula Vista and Fallbrook. The demand necessitated a larger storefront and a move from 1811 to 1821 South Hill Street (Coast Highway) which was built at a cost of $12,000 by local contractor Malcolm Smith.

Its newly built “factory and salesroom” was over four times larger than original store. As reported in the Oceanside Blade Tribune: “The new building which is of a very attractive English style, features in addition to its modern sales room and business office a specially designed kitchen containing over 900 square feet of space. Adjacent to the kitchen is a refrigerated chocolate room in which a constant temperature of 65 degrees is maintained. The firm which makes under the Hampshire House label hand-dipped chocolates, fudges, hard candles, caramels and specialties, does a brisk wholesale and retail business throughout this area.”

Sadly, it seems that the Hampshire marriage was not as successful as their candies. The couple split in the late 1950s. Glen relocated to Los Angeles where he died at the age of 59 in 1966.

Wilma continued operation of the candy store and living in South Oceanside, but then sold the business in October 1960. For a number of years, the former candy store was used as a real estate office, occupied by Century 21 in the 1970s. By 1994 it housed a temp agency.

1821 South Coast Highway, 2020 Google view

The building has been remodeled over the years but still resembles its original design. Although it is one of the oldest buildings of its era still standing along Coast Highway in South O, the Hampshire House Candies shop is only a sweet memory for some.

History Uncovered: The Mystery of Ida Richardson of Rancho Guajome

I was recently asked about Ida Richardson of Rancho Guajome. Who was she? Who fathered her children? Where did she come from? These are some questions that have been asked for decades. Little to nothing could be found about her but after I found a few small clues, the hunt was on. What I discovered through vital records and recorded documents answers those questions and more.

Rancho Guajome, owned by the Couts family for nearly 100 years, Oceanside Historical Society

Ida K. Richardson, who would inherit the Rancho Guajome in Vista, California, from Cave Couts Jr. after his death in 1943, was often referred to as his housekeeper or secretary. Others have suggested that she was his common law wife. Some historians believe that Couts fathered her two children, Belda and Earl. Because of this assumption, it is often cited that the historic Rancho was passed down to his “descendants.”

But were Belda and Earl really the offspring of Cave Couts, Jr., the “Last of the Dons”? What was the relationship between Ida and Cave? Who was the father of her children?  Perhaps history will need to be rewritten as those questions now have answers.

Ida Kunzell Richardson was born June 3, 1898 in Ventura, California to William K. Richardson and Ida Kunzell Richardson. Her father was born in Leavenworth, Kansas and her mother in Germany. The couple were married October 14, 1897 and the Ventura Free Press published their marriage announcement under the headline “Married Before Breakfast.”  

“Thursday morning, Reverend E. S. Chase, pastor of the Methodist Church was called upon to tie the nuptial knot making Mr. William K. Richardson of Randsburg, Kern County and Miss Ida Kunzell of this city, man and wife. The ceremony was performed before breakfast in order that Mr. and Mrs. Richardson might take the early train for their home at Randsburg.”

William King Richardson was 35 years old who worked as a miner. Ida was 25. (Their daughter Ida was born just 8 months later.)

While the newlyweds may have made their home in Randsburg, a mining town in Kern County, it appears they eventually returned to Ventura. Just 11 days after baby Ida Richardson was born there, her mother died, on June 14, 1898.

Ventura Free Press June 17 1898

Little Ida went to live with her maternal aunt and uncle, Minnie and Smith Towne, while her father returned to Kansas. When he died in 1948 his obituary mentioned his only survivor was a daughter living in California. It is unknown if Ida ever saw her father again.

Ida was raised by her Aunt Minnie and her uncle Smith D. Towne, who was a blacksmith. In 1910, he and Minnie, along with their son Frank and niece Ida were living in Pasadena. 

In early 1912 the Towne family, along with Ida, moved to Strathmore, Tulare County, California. Sadly, soon afterward, Ida’s aunt and surrogate mother, Minnie Kunzell Towne, died February 21, 1912. The Tulare Advance Register published her obituary:

“Mrs. Minnie Towne, wife of S. D. Towne, who resides 8 miles west of Tulare, passed from this life this morning at 2:30 and the funeral will take place tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 from the Goble undertaking parlors. The body will be shipped to Oakland for cremation. The deceased was 47 years, 11 months and six days of age and was born in Germany. Mr. Towne and his wife are newcomers to this section, having recently come from Los Angeles.”

Ida Richardson was not yet 14 years old when her Aunt Minnie died. She continued to live with her Uncle Smith Towne and local newspapers referred to her as Ida “Towne.” She and her cousin Frank attended high school in nearby Porterville. 

Porterville High School in Porterville, California where Ida Richardson attended school in 1916

While in school Ida was noted for her writing skills. In 1916 she came in 2nd place for an essay entitled “Alcohol and Tobacco”, a piece on the dangers of such, for the Porterville Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). The organization campaigned against alcohol, advocated for abstinence, and also supported women’s suffrage. Ida won $2 for her writings. Another essay she wrote that year, called “Peace and War” about the futility and despair of war, was published in the Porterville Recorder May 15, 1916. She graduated from high school in June of that year.

Ida was included in several of the personal notes and columns in the newspaper, which included her trips to the mountains or visiting friends.

On Monday, May 7, 1917 readers of the Porterville Recorder would read that a Fred C. Wehmeyer of Success (another small town in Tulare County) had left for Los Angeles to get married. It was reported that his bride was “a Strathmore woman.” Who was Wehmeyer’s bride?

The newspaper revealed two weeks later that “Mr. and Mrs. F. C. Wehmeyer of Success, who returned recently from a wedding trip to Southern California, were given a merry charivari by their friends a few nights ago. Mrs. Wehmeyer was Mrs. Miss Ida Towne of Strathmore.”

The following morning, a correction was published in the newspaper stating “It was Miss Ida Richardson of Strathmore, and not Miss Ida of Towne, who became the bride of F. C. Wehmeyer of Success recently.” Ida, who was raised with the Townes, did not mind to be included under the Towne family name for years, but her legal name of Richardson was used for her marriage and the clarification was made and noted.

The Los Angeles Times published a list of marriage licenses issued on May 7, 1917 which included Fred and Ida’s. Fred was listed as 44 years of age, while Ida’s age was 23. However, Ida was just a month shy of her 19th birthday and Fred was actually 56, near her father’s age.

The couple may have intentionally tried to disguise their age gap on the marriage application. Subsequent census records, however, were consistent with Fred’s birth year of 1861.

Frederick Christian Wehmeyer was born February 21, 1861 in Elkhart, Indiana. He first married Annie Bowlan in 1887 in Fresno, California. They had one son, Frederick Francis Wehmeyer, born in 1888. The two divorced and his son presumably stayed with his mother.  (He was later living with an aunt in 1910.) Fred C. Wehmeyer remarried in 1896 to Lena Rogers, who died in May of 1916.

Frederick Christian Wehmeyer

By the summer of 1919, Fred and Ida had moved to Vista, California and were living on or near the historic Rancho Guajome where Fred was working as a farmer.

Rancho Guajome is an important historic landmark in San Diego County, once the home of Col. Cave Johnson Couts and his wife, Ysidora Bandini. The rancho was given to the couple as a wedding gift. Couts designed a large Spanish-style ranch house built by local Native Americans, made of thick adobe walls. The ranch house, with 7,680 square feet of living space and 20 rooms included a dining room, study, pantry, a kitchen, and eight bedrooms. Cave and Ysidora had ten children, eight who lived to adulthood, and were raised at Guajome.

View of Rancho Guajome, Oceanside Historical Society

Col. Couts’ namesake, Cave J. Couts, Jr. was born 1856 and lived most of life on the Rancho. At the age of 20 he was deputy city engineer in Los Angeles, and was one of the first engineers of the California Southern Railway in San Diego.  He went on surveying trips for the Southern Pacific Railroad and was one of the engineers that made the first surveys for the Panama and Nicaragua canals. Couts also surveyed the new town of Oceanside and laid out streets.

Cave J. Couts, Jr.

Cave Couts, Jr. hired Fred Wehmeyer to work on the Rancho, where he and Ida may have lived as well.

On August 8, 1919 Ida and Fred welcomed their first child together, whose name appears on the birth certificate as Elnor Kunzell Wehmeyer. (Fred’s age is off by 10 years but was likely provided to the recorder as such.) The baby was delivered by Dr. Robert S. Reid, a well-known and beloved Oceanside physician.

Birth certificate of Elnor Kunzell Wehmeyer, later renamed Belda Richardson, Kristi Hawthorne research

In the 1920 census Fred and Ida’s daughter has been renamed Belda.

1920 US Census. Note the ages of Fred and Ida are accurate and Elnor is now renamed Belda.

The following year on October 13, 1920, Ida gave birth to a son whom she named Richardson Wehmeyer. Dr. Reid once again made the house call to deliver this baby.

Birth certificate of Richardson Wehmeyer, later renamed Earl Richardson, Kristi Hawthorne research

On October 14, 1922 the Oceanside Blade noted that “Mr. and Mrs. Fred Wehmeyer of Guajome Ranch were in Oceanside Tuesday.” Fred was employed by Cave Couts as ranch foreman.

Belda Wehmeyer and her father Fred at their Vista Ranch, 1921. Photo courtesy Lisa Wehmeyer

Ida filed for divorce on December 1, 1923 in the Superior Court in San Diego. In the complaint for divorce she stated that she and Fred were separated on about October 8, 1923. The number of years from marriage to separation was given as 6 years, 1 month and 5 days.

The divorce complaint also states that the marriage produced two children: a daughter, “Bela” Wehmeyer, aged 4 years and 3 months, and a son “Sonny Boy” Wehmeyer, age 3 years and 1 month.

Complaint for Divorce filed by Ida Wehmeyer in 1923, Kristi Hawthorne Research

Ida stated that Fred had “disregarded the solemnity of his marriage vows for more than one year” and had failed and neglected to “provide for the common necessaries of life.” She further stated she had to “live upon the charity of friends” although Fred was capable of making “not less than $100 per month” and more than able to support her.

Local rancher Sylvester Marron served the complaint upon Fred Wehmeyer on December 4, 1923. It appears that Fred did not respond to the complaint and a default was entered. Fred was ordered to pay child support of $20 per month and the children would remain with Ida. The final judgment of divorce was not entered until February 26, 1925.

Was this charity that Ida noted in her divorce papers coming from Cave Couts? It is likely. However, that did not mean Couts terminated his friendship or working relationship with Fred Wehmeyer as he continued to work at Guajome. Couts even sold Fred property in 1925.

The North County Times reported on April 13, 1925 that an excursion of eight automobiles took a number of passengers to tour various parts of North San Diego County on Easter Sunday.  They traveled to the San Luis Rey Mission, the Rosicrucian Fellowship and Rancho Guajome.  J. B. Heath, author of the column, wrote that “At the Guajome ranch, buildings of which, covering two acres of ground, have just been restored at an expense of $20,000. The people were shown every attention by F. C. Wehmeyer foreman, in the absence of the owner.”

Belda Wehmeyer circa 1923 at Vista. Photo courtesy of Lisa Wehmeyer

After the divorce it is likely that Ida returned her surname to her maiden name of Richardson. But she also changed the children’s names. Elnor was changed to Belda, and Richardson was changed to Earl. (To reiterate, the divorce record filed by Ida gave their names as Bela and Sonny Boy.)

There are no public images of Ida but two photographs of Ida and her children were included in a 2008 book entitled “Ranchos of San Diego County” by Lynne Newell Christenson Ph.D. and Ellen L. Sweet. Ida is clearly a beautiful woman, and the images show the rancho in the background. The children appear to be 2 and 3 years old.

In the 1930 census, Ida and her children were living with Cave Couts at Rancho Guajome and listed as his adopted daughters and son. It is very doubtful that there was such an adoption, but that this relationship was listed as such for the census records or taker.

Ida Richardson Wehmeyer, right, with friend. Photo courtesy Lisa Wehmeyer.

Fred Wehmeyer, listed in the same census district, was living on the property he purchased from Couts, just two miles south of Rancho Guajome, and operating a fruit farm. It is telling that Fred continued working for Cave Couts while Ida and her children lived on the rancho. Couts obviously maintained a relationship with both.

On September 22, 1930 the North County Times reported that Wehmeyer was working for Couts to restore the Bandini home in Old Town.

“Cave Couts, who owns the old Bandini home at Old Town San Diego, has been having it thoroughly repainted and renovated. It is one of the historical places in the bay section and Colonel Couts is making of it a lasting monument. Nearby and in the next block to the famous Ramona’s Marriage place, Colonel Couts has built a court of adobe enclosing an entire block. It has 40 double apartments surrounding a center court. The work has been in progress for several months. F. C. Wehmeyer of Vista has been employed on the big construction job.”

Belda Richardson attended local schools and graduated from San Diego State College in 1940. On August 30, 1941 she married Millard “James” Marsh in Yuma, Arizona. James Marsh was a native of Indiana, born in 1914 and was employed as a photographer. After three years in San Diego, the couple relocated to San Francisco, living at 1 Jordan Avenue in the downtown area.

Belda Richardson, San Diego State College 1940

Belda divorced James in 1946 and continued to reside in San Francisco. James Marsh moved to his parents’ home in Fallbrook and two years later took his own life.  

Marriage certificate of Belda Richardson and Millard James Marsh, Kristi Hawthorne research

Earl Richardson married Geraldine Morris, the daughter of local businessman Oliver Morris. The couple had three children.

Upon the death of Cave Couts in 1943, his obituary stated that “his secretary, Mrs. Ida Richardson, managed all his affairs, according to the son and only child, Cave J. Couts III, 4188 Arden Way.” (Couts only marriage was to Lilly Bell Clemens, niece of Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, and was a tumultuous one, ending in a bitter divorce and custody battle.)

In a variety of accounts Ida has been listed as a housekeeper, secretary and even common-law wife of Cave Couts. Respected historians have agreed with suggestions that Belda and Earl were fathered by Couts.

While Cave Couts died July 15, 1943, Fred C. Wehmeyer died one month earlier on June 12, 1943. His obituary, which ran in the Vista Press stated that he was 81 years old (he was 82) and had passed away at the general hospital in San Diego. It went on to state that:

“He had been a resident of Vista for many years. He is survived by a daughter, Mrs. James March (sic) of San Diego; two sons, Earl Richardson, of Vista, Fred F. Wehmeyer of Hepner, Oregon, and four grandsons, all of whom are in the military service, and two granddaughters.”

Obituary of Fred C. Wehmeyer, July 15 1943, Vista Press

Belda and Earl had grown up on Rancho Guajome with their father living just two miles away. Surely, they saw him working as foreman on the very ranch on which they lived. Fred knew of his children, and the marriage of his daughter. They were included in his obituary. Did they remember and acknowledge him? Did they read this obituary?

Fred C. Wehmeyer, age 80, at Vista, California. Photo courtesy Lisa Wehmeyer.

It is apparent that Fred Wehmeyer was not lost altogether to history but somehow Ida had managed to erase him from her life and that of her children. Did Ida ever offer information as to how she came to Vista? How she ended up at the Rancho Guajome? Did she every mention Fred Wehmeyer to anyone in her many interviews? Did she clarify the rumors or innuendos that her children were fathered by Cave Couts?

In an article written by Iris Wilson Engstrand and Thomas L. Scharf for the San Diego Historical Society Quarterly, Winter 1974, Volume 20, Number 1, entitled “Rancho Guajome, a California Legacy Preserved” the historians write that: “The will of Cave Couts Jr. provided that Rancho Guajome would pass to Mrs. Ida Richardson as a life estate —because of her loyalty and faithful service. Mrs. Richardson, who moved to the rancho in the 1920s as a housekeeper, became the constant companion and helpmate of Couts. She was the mother of his two youngest children, Belda Richardson, who died in 1971, and Earl Richardson, final heir to Rancho Guajome, the place of his birth.”

County historian Mary Ward also believed the children were Couts’ and that “successive generations of Couts heirs resided in the ranch house until 1973.” It seems no one knew that Fred Wehmeyer existed and he may have never been mentioned again by Ida.

When Belda Richardson Marsh died May 16, 1970 in San Francisco, at the age of 50, it was her brother Earl who was the informant on her death certificate. On the certificate Earl does not provide the name of Belda’s father, instead he simply put “No Record.”

Death Certificate of Belda Richardson Marsh

While Earl was just five years old when his parents’ divorce was final, did he not remember his father? Did he not see his father when he was working on Rancho Guajome for several years? Did Earl ever see or have his original birth certificate which clearly states his father as Fred Wehmeyer? Or did Ida hide this information from him? What is telling, is that he did not list Cave Couts, Jr. as her father. So Belda and Earl presumably did not know who their father was and did not believe him to be Couts.

Researchers and genealogists have not been able to obtain information on the children’s births for decades, and the identity of their father, because their last name was changed by Ida many years ago.

Ida and her two children died within four years of each other. Ida Kunzell Richardson died November 15, 1972. Her obituary states that she had lived in Vista for 74 years, but it was actually 55. Earl Richardson died December 4, 1974.

Early photo of Fred Francis Wehmeyer, oldest son of Fred C. Wehmeyer

Interestingly, Fred C. Wehmeyer’s son, Fred F. Wehmeyer, eventually came to live in Vista and died there in 1973. After his father’s death in 1943, Fred Francis, apparently unable to remain silent about his father, who had been forgotten by his two younger children or their memories of him erased by their mother Ida, wrote a loving eulogy that was printed alongside his father’s obituary.

A Son’s Tribute to His Father

“Dad was a great man, that simple greatness that encompassed all the old-fashioned, homely virtues, now considered obsolete by so many. As James Whitcombe Riley once described a friend, “his heart was as big as all outdoors.”

Born on an Indiana farm of a father who had fled Europe to escape Prussian tyranny as far back as 1837 and to a mother of Pennsylvania Dutch origin, he became a true pioneer, for he marched in the Vanguard of civilization as it pushed its way westward through Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, California, and Washington.

In later life, he returned to California, which, in his mind at least had developed to become the greatest state in the union. He loved California, especially that part of San Diego County around Vista and never tired of extolling its virtues.

In wealth, his friends were legion, in poverty they were few but more sincere. He never whined about the fickleness of fate or harbored a grudge against the vicissitudes of life. He never used harsh words or even thoughts for those who had betrayed him or expressed more than mild rebuke about those who had openly robbed him.

As a youth, his strength and agility gave rise to many Paul Bunyanesque tales along the frontier borders. A mighty man, his true feats of strength became greater with the retelling by admirers. Personally, he was modest, and I never heard him brag of himself; he was a clean spoken man, never given to profane or obscene language.

He died in his 83rd year, facing death as fearlessly as he always faced life.

He has now stepped through those somber shadows that curtain the future of all life. I am very proud to be his son.”

Fred F. Wehmeyer

In spite of this loving tribute which defended his father’s integrity and his memory, Fred C. Wehmeyer was forgotten in the history of Vista and Rancho Guajome. His family name was removed from his children Belda and Earl, and nearly lost altogether. It is my privilege to tell his story, along with Ida’s, so that history can be amended and even restored.

Kristi Hawthorne, Oceanside Historical Society

Learn more about the history of Rancho Guajome and the Couts family: https://sandiegohistory.org/journal/1974/january/guajome/

Everything you wanted to know about McCabe’s Beach Club, but couldn’t remember…

Larry’s Beach Club at 1145 South Tremont Street is remembered by many as “McCabe’s Restaurant” or “McCabe’s Beach Club”. Those a bit older will go back to when it was known as “Across the Tracks.” Even older locals will remember it as “The Pump.”

But the history of the bar goes beyond most memories — back over 75 years when it was first called the “Old-Fashioned Garden Cafe.”

1950 ad in the Oceanside Blade Tribune for the Old Fashioned Garden Cafe

The unusual name referred to the property which was once used as a garden and orchard. Julius and Mary Ulrich owned the property on the northwest corner of South Tremont and Short Street (now Oceanside Boulevard) since 1914 and grew produce there which included Gravenstein apples. The couple resided on the property for several years, raising and selling rabbits along with hens and eggs.

Then in 1949, Earl and Margaret Rice, who came to Oceanside in 1947, opened a little bar and restaurant there, what was considered a bit “out of the way” from more popular establishments in the immediate downtown area of Oceanside. Off the Highway 101, it might have been missed by the traveling public, but it became popular with the locals.

The Old-Fashioned Garden Cafe featured Acme Beer “drawn through a cooler keg at five or ten cents a glass” and “specialized” in corned beef and cabbage, Virginia baked ham, sour Brotton and roast beef.

The original building fronting Short Street (Oceanside Boulevard) was smaller in size than the present building, and a residence, located just to the west was occupied by Earl and Margaret. This dwelling later became an addition to the restaurant/bar.

By 1955 Bill Bolton acquired the business and renamed it “Bill’s Pump Room.” (Bill Bolton would later own Bolton’s Casino at 107 North Tremont Street in the 1970s.) Along with a range of food, Bill’s Pump Room served cocktails and Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer on tap.  The venue hosted a wedding reception that year, after Cpl. Leonard Whitke married hometown girl Ethel Swanson at Oceanside’s First Baptist Church.

1955 ad in the Oceanside Blade Tribune for Bill’s Pump Room

The name of the restaurant was shortened to “Bill’s Pump” and by 1957 simply called “The Pump.” The phone number was Saratoga 2-5961 (Saratoga was the telephone exchange name and stood for the number “72” which would later become the local prefix of 722.)

The Pump opened at 10 am and closed at 2 am. An advertisement beckoned customers: “When you want some real good food which is served amid comfortable and relaxing surroundings, you should visit The Pump in Oceanside. You will enjoy their delicious, hot corned beef sandwiches, roasted chicken or shrimp.” The Pump also offered cocktails and draft beer.

Like any bar selling alcohol, it had its share of notoriety with fights or brawls. It wasn’t uncommon for disagreements to arise between Marines and locals. One call to the Oceanside Police Department was prompted by a probable shooting in the parking lot, but when police arrived, they discovered the “victim” was simply sprawled out in the parking lot passed out.

One fight likely inspired by boxer Mike Tyson resulted in one man biting another man’s ear off after two women started fighting inside what was then McCabe’s Beach Club. Officer Brian Sandberg responded to the incident which had spilled out into the parking lot and said, “The victim told me he could feel the suspect’s teeth grinding away on his earlobe. He didn’t realize his ear had been bitten off until the bouncer told him.”

The victim, a Marine, drove himself to the Main Gate of Camp Pendleton and police were called. Harbor Police Corporal Dwight Carwell found the missing ear in the bar’s parking lot, Sunberg said, but military doctors were unable to reattach the ear. The suspect remained at large.  

In 1975 The Pump was sold to Dee and Bette Coursey, along with a partner, Aurel J. Pierce, Jr.  (Pierce operated the Ice House in Escondido for several years in the 1970s.)

The Courseys soon sold their interest in The Pump to Pierce, who sold it in 1977 to William Planer. Planer and his partner, Richard Barkdull, changed the name of the bar to “Across the Tracks” in March 1977.

Across the Tracks Grand Opening in March 1977

The bar under the same name changed hands again in 1982 when it was sold to Uncle Jed’s Golden Spike, Inc., a corporation owned by Jed Landin. (Landin owned a bar at 1910 Oceanside Boulevard called Uncle Jed’s.) While Landin maintained ownership of the building, the establishment still operated as “Across the Tracks.” That year John and Danita Ward stepped in as the new managers.

In January 1983 new proprietors Joe Mrozek and Jack McCabe took over. They had a five-hour happy hour, seven days a week and advertised “sounds of the 50s” on a jukebox and live entertainment. They advertised specials and events in the Caboose, Club and Engine Rooms in “a plush atmosphere with a wisp of sea breeze and a ray of moonlight.”

“A unique approach is off to a successful start at the newly remodeled ‘Across the Tracks.’ The restaurant’s new owner Jack McCabe has been a local businessman in the area for seven years. The new head cook, Jerry Michael, has been in the area for 27 years and specializes in home cooked meals, just like grandma used to make. Jerry is assisted by Marty Roemer.

“Joe Mrozek, host and managing partner, invites you after work if you’re in the area, to stop by for Happy Hour in the Engine Room Lounge for free hors d’oeuvres. All well drinks are only a dollar from 2 PM to 7 PM daily. If you’re a sports buff, there’s a wide screen TV for your sporting pleasure. We also feature music of the 50s.”

In October 1983 “Across the Tracks” was renamed for its owner Jack as “McCabe’s Restaurant.” The new name came with all new entertainment “featuring Billy Fowler at the piano bar who recently came over from the Mira Mar restaurant and will be playing Satin Doll to Stevie Wonder music Tuesday through Saturday for your dining and dancing pleasure. Sunday and Monday dance to the music of Mac Soo. Mac recently finished a tour on Princess Cruise Ship, The Love Boat for one year.”

1983 grand reopening as McCabe’s

The following year, in 1984, a grand opening was announced for “Poncho and McCabe’s”, a new “Mexican restaurant and Irish pub featuring authentic Europato Mexican style food, and American dishes.” This however, was short-lived.

Jack McCabe was a local philanthropist, helping each year to raise funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. His efforts raised thousands of dollars here locally for the national charity made notable for its annual telethon hosted by Jerry Lewis.

Introduced in the 1980s was McCabe’s Babes, prominent in parades and other events, along with car washes on location to help raise money for various charitable causes.

Many locals will remember Donovan Lee, a popular disc jockey who played at McCabe’s Beach Club in the late 1980s and early 1990s when McCabe’s was one of the few spots in Oceanside for dancing on its notoriously tiny dance floor.

This was the decade of wet T-shirt and bikini contests and an annual calendar was printed and sold. In 1989 Cheryl Johnson, an Oceanside resident, was the winner of “McCabe’s Babes Bikini contest” winning $750. She had already amassed a number of titles, including Miss Bocce Ball, Miss Acapulco, Rancho Bernardo and Miss Belmont Mission Beach.

Google view 2009 of McCabe’s

Jack McCabe continued his philanthropic efforts throughout the years, building a mock “jail cell” in his establishment. A patron paid $1 for anyone in the bar they wanted to be arrested and put in the cell. The cost to bail them out was another dollar, however, others could “raise the bail” to $2 or more to keep the “jailbird behind bars.” This amusing form of fundraising helped the Oceanside Police Department purchase a need K-9 police dog.

1994 Jack McCabe puts a patron “in jail” to raise funds for OPD

In 1997 McCabe listed his business for sale and sold it in 1999, although the name was retained for several years. In 2008 it was purchased by Larry Doan, who changed the name in to “Larry’s Beach Club.”

Whatever the name, it’s remained a favorite hangout for locals since it first opened its doors as the “Old-Fashioned Garden Café” in 1949.

Larry’s Beach Club, 1145 South Tremont Street (2019 Google view)

History of Oceanside Street Names

Have you ever wondered why a street you travel or live on has a certain name? Developers typically get to name the streets in their subdivisions and years ago streets were named after early landowners and pioneers.

Lithograph of Oceanside in 1887. The first pier had yet to be built in this rendering and no, the train never traveled down the pier.

Since several Oceanside street names were changed in 1996, it has been diffi­cult for longtime residents to call Hill Street anything but Hill Street. Along with the name change of our beloved “main street” came new names to remember: Seagaze, Sportfisher, Neptune, etc. when First Street through Eighth Streets became a thing of the past.  However, Second Street had been conspicuously missing for decades when it was changed to Mission Avenue back in the 1950s, and no one seemed to question why.

Mission Avenue in the 1940s when it was still called Second Street.

Although residents may still lament the loss of their beloved Hill Street since it was changed to Coast Highway, several street names have been changed over the years including Short Street to Oceanside Boulevard; Couts Street to Wisconsin Avenue and the Paseo Del Mar to The Strand, just to name a few. Pacific Street north of Fifth Street (Sportfisher now) was called Washington Street! Temple Street south of West Street is now South Nevada and Boone Street south of West Street was renamed South Clementine.

1913 Map of Oceanside showing Boone and Temple Streets south of West Street. They have since been renamed Nevada and Clementine as a continuation of those streets.

However, we can still celebrate the many street names that have been with us from the 1880s when Oceanside was being laid out and developed. 

Cassidy Street in South Oceanside was named after Andrew Cassidy, an early San Diego County resident.  According to a biography written by William E. Smythe in 1908, Cassidy “came to America when 17 and was employed three years at West Point, in the Engineering Corps.” He was stationed in San Diego in 1853 and was acquainted with Col. Cave J. Couts of Rancho Guajome, who also attended West Point. Cassidy served as a pallbearer at the funeral of Col. Cout’s widow, Ysidora Bandini Couts who died in 1897.

Cottingham Street is named after Louis Cottingham, a former city attorney and longtime Oceanside resident.

Couts Street west of the railroad was named after Cave Couts, Jr., who surveyed the new Oceanside townsite in 1883. Couts Street was changed to Wisconsin Avenue in 1927 as a continuation of that street.

Cave Couts, son of Col. Cave Couts.

Crouch Street was named after Herbert Crouch, a sheep rancher from Australia.  Mr. Crouch settled in the San Luis Rey Valley in 1869. When Mr. Crouch came to San Luis Rey he engaged in the sheep business and “the present site of Oceanside at that time was used as a part of his grazing range.”  Herbert Crouch was an historian in his own right and contributed many articles to the local newspapers.  He also kept records of weather conditions and rainfall which were studied by the county weather bureau.

Herbert and Martha Crouch with daughters Lucy and Emily.

Downs Street was named after Ralph Downs who owned 26 acres in the Fire Mountain neighborhood. His son, Jim Downs remembered that City Engineer Alton L. Ruden, who was a friend of his father, surprised their family by naming the road “Downs Street” in the mid-1950s.  In the 1960s the developer of a new subdivision submitted “Ups” Circle to the city planners as a joke. The street name was accepted which led to the amusing intersection of Ups and Downs. 

Ellery Street is named after Henry Ellery who subdivided the tract which includes the Loma Alta neighborhood. In addition to being a real estate developer, Ellery owned a grocery store and operated a large bean warehouse here for many years. It is believed that the small street of Rose Place was named after the mother of Ellery’s wife, Ada.

1924 advertisement for H. E. Ellery

Foussat Street was named after the Foussat family, particularly Hubert Foussat who came from France to San Diego County in 1871. His son Ramon lived near the area of the present day Foussat Street and Oceanside Boulevard. Ramon’s stepdaughter, Louise Munoa Foussat, was a Luiseno Indian who lived to be 97 years old.  Louise Foussat now has an elementary school named after her.

Ramon Foussat, left, at Walnut Grove off present day Oceanside Boulevard and Foussat Street.

Freeman Street named after the Freeman family, were early pioneers of the San Luis Rey Valley who came from Texas in the late 1860s. Many members of this family are buried in the Pioneer Cemetery in San Luis Rey. Archie Freeman, son of Alfred A. and Permelia Freeman was a deputy constable and one of the first blacksmiths in Oceanside.

Hayes Street was named after John Chauncey Hayes, an early San Luis Rey Valley resident.  Hayes was an attorney, justice of the peace, newspaper editor of the South Oceanside Diamond and real estate agent in Oceanside for several decades. His place in Oceanside history is disproportionate to the tiny little street that bears his name.

John Chauncey Hayes

Hicks Street was named after James Van Renslear Hicks who came to California and settled in San Diego County in 1874.  He served as Oceanside’s deputy sheriff and city trustee, as well as justice of the peace. In 1886, he joined John Chauncey Hayes and went into the real estate business.

Horne Street was named after Col. Daniel H. Horne who came to Oceanside from Kansas around 1886.  Col. Horne’s large home and property was located where the Mission Square Shopping Center is now, at Horne and Mission (then Second Street).  He was Oceanside’s first mayor, or president of the City Trustees in 1888. Horne helped to found the state capital city of Topeka, Kansas, which is how Topeka Street got its name. 

Col. Daniel H. Horne (the spelling of his name varied in publications) Courtesy Kansas Historical Society

Hunsaker Street was named after Attorney William J. Hunsaker.  Hunsaker was a partner in the law firm Hunsaker, Britt & Lamme.  He represented John Chauncey Hayes in a suit against the City of Oceanside and also defended John W. Murray, who shot and killed Oceanside’s Marshal Charles Wilson in 1889.

William Hunsaker

Kurtz Street was named after Daniel B. Kurtz who came to San Diego County in 1850 and elected Mayor of Old Town San Diego in 1851.  He settled in San Luis Rey in 1866 and served as Judge.

Daniel B. Kurtz

Lucky Street was named by and after Elgin “Lucky” Lackey. Lucky owned a café, then later Pacific Holidayland and developed small subdivision off of California Street in the late 1950s.

Machado Street was named for an early Spanish family.  Mac and Juan Machado were in business with Louis Wolf in the early 1880’s.

Maxson Street was named after Charles W. Maxson who arrived in San Diego on March 24, 1886.  Shortly afterward he came to Oceanside and joined with C. F. Francisco to open a general merchandise store.  He later entered the real estate and insurance business with Ben F. Griffin.  Maxson was also one of Oceanside’s first city trustees.

Mitchell Street was named after John Mitchell who came to Oceanside in 1887.  He had previously lived in Fallbrook and planted extensive orchards there.  He purchased property in Oceanside and owned a home on Pacific Street.

Myers Street was named after Oceanside’s founder, Andrew Jackson Myers.  He first settled in the San Luis Rey Valley and in 1883 received a land grant of 160 acres. A. J. Myers hired Cave Couts, Jr. to lay out the townsite and together with John Chauncey Hayes developed the town of Oceanside and began the naming of our city streets.

Oceanside’s Founder Andrew Jackson Myers

Nevada Street was said to “bear the name of the daughter of one of the first settlers, a young lady who was the belle of the village in the late 80’s.” Nevada McCullough was the daughter of John and Mary McCullough. The McCulloughs moved to Oceanside in its earliest days and were said to be some of the first residents here. 

Reese Street, is believed to be originally Reece Street, and was named after Oscar M. Reece who came to Oceanside in February of 1885 when Oceanside was said to have had only three houses.  He began a general merchandise business with his brother and was later elected Justice of the Peace.  He also engaged in the sale of real estate and was a notary public.

Reece Brothers Pioneer Store in about 1885 downtown Oceanside.

Short Street, named after an early attorney, Montgomery Short who arrived in Oceanside in 1886, extended eastward from the railroad tracks and ended at about Nevada Street. West of the railroad tracks the street was then labeled as McCoy Street after another early pioneer. In the mid-1960s Short and McCoy Streets were changed to Oceanside Boulevard.

Tait Street, which runs parallel to Pacific Street just south of Wisconsin Street, was named after Magnus Tait, an early pioneer and manager of the Oceanside Water Works in 1888.  His home is still standing at 511 North Tremont Street.

Tyson Street bears the name of Samuel Tyson, one of the earliest settlers in our city. Sam claimed to have built just the second house in Oceanside, just after the city founder’s A. J. Myers.

Weitzel Street was named after Martin S. Weitzel, a pharmacist who brought his family to Oceanside in 1885.

Sarah C. Weitzel, wife of Martin Weitzel.

Whaley Street was named after Francis Hinton Whaley, an early pioneer resident of San Luis Rey Township.  He was born in Old Town, San Diego and is said to have been the first white child born there. Whaley was the Editor of the San Luis Rey Star newspaper in the San Luis Rey Township in early 1880’s.  This newspaper was later moved to Oceanside and became the Oceanside Star, which then became the Oceanside Blade. The Whaley House in Old Town San Diego is one of the most haunted places in America.

Wilcox Street is named after Ray Wilcox, who was a manager of Oceanside’s early Safeway store in the 1920’s.  He later opened a real estate office, Wilcox Investment Company, and went on to become Oceanside’s mayor in 1946.

Ray Wilcox, 1938

So what is the origination of our beloved Hill Street?  There’s no clear answer but it is probable that plagiarism was involved. Hill Street, Cleveland, Broadway, Tremont and Ditmar Streets are names found in the cities of San Diego and Los Angeles.

How did Oceanside get its name?  In 1888 the South Oceanside Diamond newspaper reported that “whenever the families of the San Luis Rey Valley desired recreation and a picnic place” folks would simply suggest, “Let’s go to the ocean side.”  In 1883 after a land grant was issued to founder Andrew Jackson Myers, he began to advertise his newly formed town of “Oceanside” as a seaside resort with miles of coastline.  

History of the Star Theater

The Star Theater with its towering marquee captures the feel of the 1950s with its bright neon colors and flashing stars, embodying an era of fun and optimism. The year it opened Elvis Presley had five hit singles, The Platters crooned to young lovers while Fats Domino and Chuck Berry reigned at the sock hops.  

In January of 1956 plans for the new theater on the northeast corner of Fourth and Hill Streets (Civic Center Drive and Coast Highway) were announced. It was reported that a hard top theater would be built at a cost of $200,000 (or $193 a seat) by Fred Siegel, owner of the Margo and Palomar Theaters. Fred William Siegel was described by the Oceanside Blade Tribune as a “builder, exploiter, exhibitor and financier” and that his life resembled a Horatio Alger tale, (a rags-to-riches story).

Fred W. Siegel, circa 1956 (Oceanside Blade-Tribune)

Born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1886, Siegel came to Los Angeles at the age of six with his mother and two sisters, Amelia and Anna. To help his family he sold newspapers for five cents at the corner of Second and Springs Streets in downtown LA.  By 1910 Fred was working as a bookkeeper for a building and loan company.

The following year Siegel went to work as a general contractor building homes and apartments. In 1914 he married Jeannette Solomon; their engagement made the Los Angeles Times. The couple welcomed their first of three sons, Fred W. Siegel, Jr. born in 1918, followed by John M. in 1920 and Robert C. in 1924.

In late 1923 Fred was the owner and manager of the Hotel Ritz at Flower and Eighth Streets, a 250-room hotel he had built.  If the hotel name sounds familiar, as in Ritz-Carlton, it was because Siegel thought nothing of “borrowing” names of popular establishments and attaching them to his projects.

Ad for Siegel’s Hotel Ritz in The Los Angeles Times Tue, Jan 1, 1924, Page 225

Siegel ventured into the movie business when in 1929 he leased San Diego’s Spreckles Theater, converting it to a movie house. The following year he turned the Majestic Theatre in Los Angeles to a “talkie palace” shortly after establishing American Theaters, Ltd., of which he was the president. Months later Siegel leased the Dufwin Theatre in Oakland, California, also converting it and renaming it “The Roxie” after New York’s famous Roxy Theatre.

Siegel then made his way to Oceanside, leasing the Palomar Theater in downtown Oceanside in 1934, which he later purchased in 1952. He also operated the Margo Theater for several years, which was built in 1936 (later known as the Towne and now known as Sunshine Brooks).  In 1937 Siegel announced that he had a ten year lease on a new theater under construction in Escondido, the Ritz, on the corner of Juniper and Grand.

The Margo Theater on North Hill Street in 1955. It later became the Towne Theater and is now the Sunshine Brooks, home of the Oceanside Theater Company.

By the mid 1940’s Fred and Jeannette purchased a modest home at 140 South Pacific Street, which was later enlarged with a small apartment and garage.

In 1945 the Siegel’s purchased an empty lot vacated by the First Baptist Church of Oceanside. The small church building was moved one block to the east, its original location, because traffic on the Highway 101 was so noisy that the preacher could not be heard.

The First Baptist Church of Oceanside before it moved in 1945. It would be the site of Siegel’s new theater years later.

In 1952 Siegel acquired the adjacent lot, which contained the Sunshine Hotel, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. Martin. The small hotel was later moved to Short Street (Oceanside Boulevard) near Cleveland Street. Siegel announced his intention to build a new large theater on the site.

The Sunshine Hotel property on the 400 block of North Hill Street (Coast Highway) was purchased by Siegel in 1952 to make room for the Star Theater.

Fred petitioned the city to waive parking restrictions on a proposed new theater. The city required one parking space for every 10 theater seats. This was a newer requirement placed on new construction and Siegel balked at the idea of having to obtain land for a parking lot for over 100 cars. The process took over a year to resolve and a compromise was offered of one parking space for every five seats but Siegel still insisted the cost was prohibitive. Finally, the city agreed to allow the theater to be built with just 10 off-site parking spaces allocated to the theater that would seat nearly 1,000 people!

Siegel reported that his new theater was “destined to be the finest theater between Los Angeles and San Diego for years to come.” Designed by Los Angeles Architects William Glen Balch, Louis L, Bryan, John Loring Perkins and W. K. Hutchason, the stadium-type theater was built of reinforced concrete block. The contract was awarded to local contractors Richardson Brothers.

Lobby of the Star Theater, Box Office Magazine October 20, 1956

Details of the theaters progress were shared: “No expense has been spared to insure you’re having the most modern equipment, superb acoustics, comfortable seating, and the little conveniences that add to your pleasure. These will be backed by the best pictures that Hollywood produces. So have a little patience; you soon can make the Star Theater headquarters for your entertainment hours.” Siegel’s connections to movie studios facilitated his theaters to show movies the same day they opened in Los Angeles, when smaller markets would have to otherwise wait 2 to 4 weeks.

The Star, called “the theater of tomorrow” by projectionist Ray Dickson opened as one of the largest theaters in San Diego County at a reported total cost of $325,000. When the Star Theater was opened it boasted of the most modern design of its time, featuring “Stereophonic sound” with the system built “in the ceiling, permitting the sound to flow over and around you.” The first movie shown on August 18, 1956 was Moby Dick starring Gregory Peck.

The Blade-Tribune described the theater’s interior: “Audiences will move from the lobby into the theater over two semi-circular ramps leading to the cross-over aisle, which will separate the 440 loge seats in the rear from the rest of the house. The loges will have a rise as high as 15 feet, and will be equipped with the latest design reclining seats.”

The Star Theater seating. Box Office Magazine, October 20, 1956

Jeannette Siegel pointed out, “These aren’t just another section of chairs with higher prices. These are real loges. The manufacturer calls them ‘relax recliners’ because of their comfort, and the fact that the backs recline in response to pressure against them. And you don’t have to draw up in a knot when another patron passes in front of you,” she added. “There’s lots of room between rows. You can smoke there, too.”

In back of the loge seating was “a crying room for youngsters fitted with electric outlets for bottle warmers. Ladies’ powder room and men’s room are off the lobby. A decorative theme based on the star motif adopted from the theater’s name is used throughout. Star patterns in five-colors are depicted in the terrazzo floor of the foyer, while overhead will be installed the largest marquee in the area. Lobby and foyer walls are in natural stone, except the interior walls of the lobby, where wood paneling is used for greater warmth. Auditorium walls and ceiling are of acoustic plaster. Special carpeting was designed by the architects to harmonize with the over-all color motif. An ornate, fully-equipped, refrigerated snack-bar will be installed in the foyer.”

Star Theater, an ad in the 1966 Oceanside High School Yearbook

The Star’s Googie-style marquee, at the time the largest in San Diego County was 65-foot wide, broken into three sections, with 35 feet across the front, 20 feet toward the north and 10 feet looking east. In addition, the marquee was said to have been unusual in that it was “one of very few over the nation with a yellow background, recently discovered by color experts to be superior to conventional white backgrounds since lettering thereon can be read much farther.” The stunning feature of the marquee was its theme, “a field of flashing and twinkling stars” and “an electrical waterfall cascading from 48 feet in the air.”

The Palomar Theater in the forefront, with the Star in the background, 1970

Fred Siegel died just two years later on July 23, 1958 and was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale. Fred Jr. died suddenly on January 12, 1959 and then Jeannette died May 22, 1959. They too are buried in Forest Lawn. Sons John and Robert Siegel took over the theater businesses, which would also came to include the Valley Drive-in.

As multiplexes became popular, older theaters struggled to find an audience. Mann’s Theater built an 8-screen multiplex on Vista Way in 1980. Eventually Oceanside’s downtown movie houses were regulated to playing “B” movies or “reruns” of older popular films.

The Star showing “B” movies in about 1986

The Star was purchased by Walnut Properties in 1982, along with other theaters in downtown Oceanside. Things changed abruptly when in 1987 Walnut changed the movie selection from popular films to adult films all accompanied by the triple X rating.  The Palomar followed, then the Crest and for a brief time, the Towne Theater also went in the adult only genre. It did not help Oceanside’s already eroded image, which was once a family-friendly beach town.

The Star showing a double feature in 1979 with the raunchy comedy, “Can I Do Til I Need Glass (1977) and “Happy Hooker (1975)

In 1988 Deputy Mayor Sam Williamson suggested that Star Theater be turned in the city’s first cultural arts center. A new pier, Oceanside’s 6th had been recently completed, and construction for a new Civic Center was about to begin. The city council and residents alike wanted to improve downtown and its reputation.

That year, however, Terry Wiggins purchased the theater business and began needed renovations on the Star. At the time it was considered one of the last big screen movie houses still an operation in Southern California. He had re-carpeted, reupholstered and repainted the theater. Wiggins worked “to erase the negative image” of the once celebrated theater.

“We’re getting the families and couples back to see our movies. This theater is completely safe, there’s no violence of any kind and the on-street parking areas all around the theater are well lighted so people can feel safe coming and going,” Wiggins said.  “Most of the movies I run are so-called sub run films, newly released movies that have run at the large chain theaters for nearly 3 or four weeks. I get them after they leave the major chain theaters.” Wiggins added, “We’ve got everything the big guys have got, only it’s better here because you can watch a movie the way it was meant to be watched, in a big theater on a big screen.”

In 1994 the IRS closed the Star because Wiggins owned back taxes of $56,000. While Wiggins owned the theater operation, the building was still owned by Walnut Properties.

The Star sat vacant for two years when Jim Heiser, owner of the Hill Street Blues clothing store at 205 N. Coast Highway, bought the theater building, which included three retail units in 1996 for $225,000 At that time, Heiser said he was considering converting the theater into an upscale billiards club which would include a restaurant and a venue for live entertainment.

The theater had been damaged because of a neglected roof leak. Heiser spent two years renovating and applied for a received $330,000 for exterior improvements from Oceanside’s Redevelopment Agency to restore the iconic marquee which had not been in use for several years. In November 1998 the historic Star Theater received two Orchid Awards, one for historic preservation and one for interior design from the San Diego Architects Association.

The Stars renovated neon lights in 1999

In 1999 the Star welcomed its biggest audience in decades when Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace was featured on one of the biggest screens in San Diego County, something the newer multiplexes couldn’t offer. The blockbuster hit was sold out for the first showing which began at 12:01 AM.

The renewed interest was short-lived, and the Star once again found itself competing with a multiplex when the Regal was built at 401 Mission Avenue in 2000.

Fred Siegel, who started off by converting stage theatres to movie theaters, might be amused that his beloved movie theater has been converted a popular and successful performing arts theater in 2001.

The Beauty of the Sea Will Always Be with Me mural by Skye Walker on the Star’s east elevation.

The Star’s large south facing wall was the perfect blank canvas for public art and in 2017 a mural entitled “The Beauty of the Sea Will Always Be With Me” was completed by Skye Walker. This mural design was selected by the Oceanside community with over 1,500 votes. “Art That Excites” helped to raise funds for the mural, with MainStreet Oceanside matching funds for the project. Also in 2017, Oceanside Cultural District became one of the first 14 inaugural districts designated by the California Arts Council for the State of California, within which the Star Theater, in all its neon glory, is situated.

The Star still shines brightly in downtown Oceanside …