Campoco Inc history

Ella McCain records that “one of the first settlers in Campo Valley was Adam Lawrence and his family who came from Texas in 1866.

The Gaskills arrived in the spring of 1868 after several years of homesteading and setting out an orchard and vineyard at San Bernardino and then purchasing a thousand acres at San Jacinto for farming and bee culture.

Charles F. Emery, at Campo as a boy in the 1870’s, recalled the Burgesses, L.N. and Henry Bailey, the Gaskill brothers (Silas and Lumen), John and Alonso Warren, Jophn Speck, A.P. Herrick, Hochensmith, Chowning, the Clymes, Grays, Haydens, Morrises, and Livingstone – nearly all from Texas.

The raid at the old wood frame Gaskill store occurred December 4, 1875.

Word came to Campo May 1876 that approximately one hundred bandits gathering in the Tecate area planned to rustle Jacumba stage station keeper Pete Larkin’s cattle, “clean out” the Gaskills for food and ammunition and revenge the losses in Lopez band at Campo the previous December.

In 1877 two Mexican horse thieves passing by near the Campo valley school house took Andrew and Zachary Elliott’s prized horse tethered outside.

The two-story Gaskill “Mansion” constructed in the 1880 ‘s was still located several hundred feet southeast of the new store.

Ed T. Aiken had purchased the Gaskill store in 1886 and after two years of operation sold it to the Klauber merchandising interests in San Diego.

Herds to be shipped by rail were handled by predominantly Mexican cowboys who would camp for some time holding the herds for shipment at "Prairie Switch." In 1889, the settlement took the Mexican name "The Camp" and named it "El Campo."

The first newspaper issue was published in 1894 and came to be succeeded by two others.

The first schoolhouse was a one-room shack, but by 1895 an independent school was created.

The real development of El Campo did not begin until the destructive fire of 1896, in which the principal business section of the city was destroyed.

By 1900, there were 130 businesses in El Campo.

Soon cotton, rice and corn became the crops of choice. It didn't take farmers long to realize that the rich blackland and mixed soils along with an abundance of ground water,could be better utilized for other crops besides hay, although in 1901 over 1,000 cars of hay were bought by El Campo merchants.

In 1902 Lumen and Silas dissolved their partnership and established homes in San Diego.12.

The first ordinance was published in June of 1905.

John Forward, Jr. ate nearly all the heaps his friends asserted”. In December 1906 John D. Spreckels announced through the San Diego “Union” his intention to build a railroad for a direct connection with the Southern Pacific Railway at El Centro.

The El Campo Ice and Water Company (located in the 300 block of W. Monseratte) was established in 1907, which was a plant designed to light businesses, streets and homes.

In 1908 a train load of more than 200 homesteaders arrived to add even more people to the melting pot of immigrants, along with the establishment of the El Campo Volunteer Fire Department.

1909 brought disaster to El Campo again as "The Great Storm" hit.

By 1911 Campo had a new two-story hotel (east of the stone store) replacing the first hotel adjacent to Gaskill’s original store.

1914 brought the consolidation of the two mills into El Campo Rice Milling Company (now known as Elco). At one time dried rice hulls were compressed and used as brick and experimental building materials.

By 1918 the Mountain Commercial Company had a new larger store just southeast across Campo Creek from the old stone store.

Anthony Campo, the son of Anthony Campo, Sr., inherited the store from his father and continued to emphasize the friendly customer service that had been a trademark of the business since the late 1920s.

Ed Aiken continued operation of the Campo Ranch until 1923 when sold to Byron Walters.

In 1927, Anthony's paternal grandfather, Anthony Campo, Sr., opened a general store in Harahan, Louisiana.

A picture in the San Diego “Tribune” December 2, 1931 shows “Inspectors of the mounted customs service from District 25 at United States Custom Patrol House at Campo”. The building was the same Gaskill house after relocation at the approximate site of the original one-story Customs House.

After thirteen years of labor and $17,000,000 in cost (over 100,000 per mile) San Diego achieved a direct link with the East”. Ownership was transferred to the Southern Pacific in 1932 when the San Diego and Arizona Railway was re-named San Diego and, Arizona Eastern Railway.

The 11th Cavalry Regiment spent the intervening years until 1940 at the Presidio of Monterey.

One of the Regimental squadrons of the 11th Cavalry arrived at Campo on Thanksgiving Day 1941 after 54 days of maneuvers at Live Oak Springs.

The Camp Lockett complex was declared surplus by the General Services Administration June 19, 1946.

San Diego County acquired 600 acres with all improvements in 1950.

Anthony Campo, Sr., although having grown older, was still an astute and enterprising businessman. As a result, he closed his hardware store and opened the first Campo electronics store on the same site in 1967.

A sudden marketing crisis in the arecanut industry in the year 1970-71 put areca growers into misery and hardship.

In 1972, in order to distinguish the company as an appliance retail store, and remove any lingering confusion with the general hardware business, Campo decided to change the name from Campo Appliance Company to Giant TC, Inc.

On 11th July 1973, CAMPCO Mangalore was registered as a tower of strength to the areca growing community in the country.

In 1975, the young Campo began working at his father's store as a salesman.

By 1984, he had risen to the position of senior vice-president of the company and, in anticipation of what was to become one of his trademarks as an entrepreneur, immediately implemented an expansion program for his family's business.

In 1985, under his direct supervision, the company purchased three Sound Trek stores, thus making a commitment to enter the burgeoning home stereo and car audio equipment market.

Varanashi Subraya Bhat opened a chocolate factory in Puttur on September 1, 1986.

At the end of 1991, the new president and CEO thought a name change was appropriate, so he discarded the old name in favor of Campo Electronics, Appliances, and Computers, Inc.

By the end of 1992, the company had grown from one store to a 13-store chain retailer, and sales had shot up to just under $75 million.

By the end of fiscal 1993, net sales for Campo Electronics had jumped to $101 million.

By the end of fiscal 1995, approximately 284,000 customers were holders of a Campo credit card, and 34 percent of all net sales involved purchases with these cards.