San Diego day #1 - 2/21/2015 | Libi's California Adventure

Acknowledgements

The Ippolito family would like to thank the California Office of Historic Preservation, a division of California State Parks. We would also like to thank David Schmitt, creator of Landmarkquest.com for blazing so many of these trails for us. When we get in a jam, we can turn to the adventurers who contribute to waymarking.com. We have also gotten historic information from: the Los Angeles Times and the Works Progress Administration of the 1930s who gave Depression-era Americans a job preserving the history of this beautiful state.

Saturday, February 21, 2015

San Diego day #1 - 2/21/2015

We have been so busy lately that we had to schedule a weekend to hit some historic sites.

Our first stop of the day was our final site for Orange County, the Crystal Cove Historic District (CHL 1050).

From the state: The early to mid-twentieth century cottages in this last self-contained Southern California beachfront recreational community reflect a unique vernacular architectural design emblematic of "architecture without architects."

Beginning in the 1920's summer beach visitors began to camp at the Cove.

In the 1930's the Irvine Company built the 46 cottages that still stand today.

Over the years the beach became privately owned-- and a popular place for tourists as well as movie filming.

The house from the movie Beaches is located somewhere in the Cove-- I'm not sure which one it is.

You can rent the cottages, but I checked and they are pretty booked until March 2016.

Many of the cottages are in need of restoration-- they are fenced off and it appears that there is a plan to save these iconic homes.

It was a quaint spot-- with two restaurants, lots of tide pools, and a cute little beach.

It was a lovely spot for a selfie.

The plaque isn't located in the cove-- it is actually at the camping and hiking center about a mile away.

It appears that this is only a temporary spot-- which is promising since it's now inside the visitors center. It would be nice to have it in an outside location where folks can see it any time of the day.

Our next stop was La Cristianita (CHL 562) which was also a two-stop site.

Our first site was at the plaque which used to be located at the San Clemente Civic Center-- it has now been moved to a wedding and event site called the Casa Romantica Cultural Center.

When we arrived they were getting ready for an event, so they wondered why three folks in casual clothes were pulling up to their party.

After a quick stop for lunch, we talked our way on to Camp Pendelton to visit the actual site.

It was at this spring where the first Christian baptism in Alta California took place in 1769.

Padre Francisco Gomez, while on the Portola expedition officiated at the baptism.

The soldiers were very kind to allow us to visit-- they were all a little surprised to hear our story about visiting all 1100 sites. I think it helped to have the printouts from the state to give credibility to our request to get on base.

We sweet talked our way on to base one more time today to visit Las Flores Asistencia (CHL 616).

This adobe chapel served as the asistencia to Mission San Luis Rey from 1823 to the 1840's. This site also provided comfort to travelers along the El Camino Real.

There is still a little left of the adobe under the cover.

There is an adobe and corral just south of this (which we originally thought was the site) that was the location of the battle between Juan Bautista Alvarado and Carlos Antonio Carrillo in 1838 over the provincial governorship of Alta California-- according to the state.

We stayed on base to find the final site of the day. This proved to be the most difficult to find-- especially since it was getting dark and the directions are a bit wonky!

However, after a few u-turns and perseverance we located Santa Margarita Ranch (CHL 1026).

From the state: In July 1769, the Portola Expedition named this area for St. Margaret of Antioch. The Mission San Luis Rey 1827 Inventories list a small building in the area. In 1841, Rancho San Onofre Y Santa Margarita was granted to Andres and Pio Pico, the last governor of Alta California. Land magnate Don Juan Forster owned the rancho from 1864-1882. Richard O’Neill and James Flood purchased 205, 000 acres in 1882. The ranch house stop served the 1882 transcontinental California Southern Railroad. In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated Marine Corps Base Camp Joseph H. Pendleton. The railroad line continued as a vital military transportation link before devastation by the 1993 flood.