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El Cajon history
El Cajon company history timeline
With secularization, California Governor Pio Pico in 1845 confiscated the lands of Mission San Diego de Alcala and granted the eleven square leagues (about 47,000 acres) of El Cajon Valley to Dona Maria Antonio Estudillo, wife of Don Miguel de Pedrorena, to repay a $500 government obligation.
Lankershim bought the bulk of the Pedrorena's Rancho Cajon holdings in 1868, employing Major Levi Chase as his attorney.
In 1870, when Knox had been here a year, gold was discovered in Julian.
The establishment of a school for six children in 1870 in a homestead at Park and Magnolia offered conclusive proof that a permanent American settlement had been established.
San Diego Union, 16 January 1887.
Early in development, the blocks that were called out for investment development were built to a much higher density. “Block 161 on which the Irving street homes are located, appear to have been the earliest densely built block on Nob hill with 18 dwellings in 1894.
The University Club formed on May 2, 1898.
In 1899 the Federal government established the first official weather station for the valley at the residence of H.H. Kessler, two miles east of the post office at an elevation of 482 feet.8 The first year’s complete figures spelled problems for the farmers.
San Diego Union, 5 March 1900.
To the citizens of El Cajon, California, these events of 1900 became intertwined in their daily lives because of America’s ever expanding role as an industrial and agribusiness center.
At that time the valley’s population consisted of twenty-five families with a total of ninety people.5 Thus began commercial growth in the valley and the formation of a rural, agrarian community as can be seen by the 1900 census of the United States.
One of my personal favorite 1905 Fair Drawings because it shows the detail of the Trail.
At the general election on November 12, 1912, 123 of 158 electors voted to incorporate a 1 1/4 square mile area centering on the historic corners of Main and Magnolia.
Valley merchants would create a commercial heritage and community identity that would culminate in the incorporation of El Cajon as a township by 1912.
-First “Big Freeze” occurred January 5, 1913 when El Cajon residents awoke to a chilly 11 degrees, an all-time low for the Valley.
-First poultry raising begins in El Cajon with two chicken ranches in 1913
October 14, 1914: The City Attorney was instructed to draw an ordinance licensing picture shows, fortune tellers, fishermen, and non- resident peddlers.
-First street lights were established by the Board of Trustees, with 19 lights in 1914.
April 10, 1916: The Council approved the purchase of 250 feet of fire hose at 60 cents per foot including the couplings and a nozzle.
November 6, 1916: Council instructed the City Marshall to arrest and prosecute any persons found violating the City Ordinance regarding public intoxication as the sale of intoxicating liquors was prohibited.
-First cement sidewalks and curbs are installed on Main Street in 1917.
Special Collections box file, “Schools Before 1920,” El Cajon Historical Society, El Cajon, California.
Glen Oaks was originally a piece of flat terrain on the south side of the hills that form the backbone of geographic Long Island. It retained a largely rural character until, in 1923, a new golf club purchased 167 acres from William K. Vanderbilt’s country estate.
-First El Cajon movie theater at 120 E. Main opens May 18, 1927 built by Roy L. Fuller.
-First Chief of Police appointment is Edward W. Menke in 1931.
-First meat packing and processing plant is started by Aubrey Sears on W. Main St in 1940.
-Fletcher Hills becomes an army training camp with 5,000 soldiers in 1941.
The Pan American Recreation Center was opened in June 1942 as the first Latin American Recreation Center in Austin and run under the auspices of the Federated Latin American Club and directed by the Austin Recreation Department.
-1942 El Cajon Police Car -First City Mail delivery is started in 1942.
In 1944, the Gross-Morton Company bought 175 acres of land along Union Turnpike and, with a loan of $24 million from the Federal Housing Authority, built Glen Oaks Village.
-First Mother Goose Parade takes place in 1947.
-Colorado River’s water first started to flow through the City’s water system in 1947.
-Ray Halgren becomes first full-time paid fire chief in 1948.
The City of New York acquired this land, located at 82nd Avenue and 256th Street, in 1948.
In 1949 the City Council began to study the feasibility of the council-manager form of government to meet the day to day administrative and long range planning requirements of a growing metropolitan area.
The office of City Manager was instituted in 1950 in time to meet the most explosive decade of growth in El Cajon's history, or for that matter, the history of any comparable community in the nation.
-First Mother Goose Ball is held in 1953.
-33-foot tower is built atop the First Baptist Church on Prescott & Douglas and is the highest point in El Cajon in 1953. -Rex Hall is named Citizen of the Year.
On September 7, 1956, a new Pan American Recreation Center was formally dedicated at 2100 East 3rd Street, just west of the … continued below
The Hillside Theater was later built and completed in June 1958.
My friend has a wonderful blog with a menu from 1959 for this amazing German food restaurant.
-There is one stoplight in El Cajon at Main and Magnolia in 1960.
By 1960 the incorporated area was to increase five-fold to 9.8 square miles and population six-fold to 37,618.
-Interstate-8 opens as first interstate in El Cajon in 1961.
3 Charles V. Birkett, “The Fiftieth Year,” San Diego History Center Quarterly 8 (October 1962): 46.
-Official City of El Cajon seal is adopted in 1962.
-El Cajon celebrates 50th Anniversary in 1962.
-Average cost of a new house is $12,650, a new car is $3,233, bread is 22 cents, and the average income is $5,807 in 1963.
Allen Perry Dillane, “A Historical Geography of the El Cajon Valley, San Diego County, California” (M.A. thesis, San Diego State University, 1964), 1.
-St Madeleine Sophie’s Center for the developmentally disabled opens at 2119 E. Madison in 1966.
After the school moved, the Portland Art Association purchased the land and buildings in 1968 for use as an artists’ cooperative.
-City purchases W. D. Hall property, now City Hall in 1971.
-City purchases the Knox Hotel and moves it to 280 North Magnolia to become the historical focus of the City of El Cajon in 1972.
In 1972, finding the property too costly to maintain, the Art Association decided to sell, and word spread throughout the community that the most likely buyer was a condominium developer.
-First meeting of the El Cajon Historical Society in 1973.
In early 1973, the option was secured with a down payment of money raised by the neighborhood.
The property and building were transferred to Portland Parks and Recreation as a gift in 1974.
-Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug establish world famous Taylor Guitars in 1974.
In the spring of 1974, the CHCRC, through the Oregon Parks Foundation, transferred the property over to the City of Portland, which accepted it as a public park and agreed to maintain the property and staff a community center.
In 1976, during our nation's bicentennial, a new civic center was opened to serve the citizens of El Cajon, lending added luster to the historic corners of Main and Magnolia.
The Treckman homes were slated to be destroyed for a medical center development when local business men joined together, bought the homes and initiated rejuvenation which resulted in their submission to the National Registry in 1977.
-AYSO boys and girls soccer league is formed in 1977.
The Couch Investment homes followed in 1979 and the NW tradition of renovation was born beyond the individual hobbyist.
San Diego Association of Governments, Historic Preservation Inventory of El Cajon (San Diego: San Diego Association of Governments, 1985), 247-248.
Originally called J.H.S. 172 Playground, it was renamed by Commissioner Stern in 1985 after nearby Hillside Avenue.
-El Cajon celebrates the 75th year of incorporation in 1987.
-Trolley Transit Service begins in El Cajon in 1989.
The Journal of San Diego History SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY Fall 1990, Volume 36, Number 4 Richard W. Crawford, Editor
-In-N-Out burger opens at 1541 N. Magnolia in 1992.
-Concerts on the Green at Prescott Promenade begin in 1996.
-Olaf Weighorst Museum opens at 131 Rea Street in 1999.
-El Cajon Cemetery closes on July 1 to new burials, due to lack of room for expansion in 2000.
Sophie’s Gallery opens on Rea St in 2000.
-Cajon Classic Cruise Car Shows begin in downtown each Wednesday evening in 2000.
However, in October 2003, the center experienced a fire that destroyed the kitchen and caused severe smoke damage throughout the rest of the building.
-Cedar Fire breaks out and surpasses largest fire in California history, burning 280,278 acres in 2003.
-Wieghorst Museum holds first Wieghorst Western Heritage Days on Rea Street in 2003.
Construction of the multi-purpose room was delayed until 2004, to coordinate that project with the repairs and clean-up needed on the main building.
Founded in 2007, JPM Heating and Air Inc. of El Cajon, CA is an HVAC service, repair, and installation company, serving all of San Diego County.
-New Police Station opens at 100 Civic Center Way in 2011.
“Portland-area population growth slows to lowest level since 2013, Census Bureau says” (3/21/18 Oregonian) 1.23% The median price to buy a home, meanwhile, continues to rise at rates higher than historical averages, but that growth has slowed, too.
JoZell Johnson created this graphic to supplement her testimony in opposition to a proposal being presented to landmarks commission on Monday April 23, 2018.
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| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Human Services Agency -Santa Paula | - | $1.0M | 125 | - |
| City of Fort Wayne Government | 1840 | $19.0M | 350 | 37 |
| Poulsbo Academic Arts Foundation | 1998 | $680,000 | 9 | - |
| Mt Kisco Day Care Center Inc | 1971 | $1.2M | 45 | 1 |
| Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center | 1981 | $12.0M | 79 | 17 |
| Follow | - | $1.1M | 18 | 1 |
| Casa Grande Interactive | - | $1.9M | 35 | - |
| Sawgrass Lake Elementary School | - | $160,000 | 1 | - |
| Holmes & Company PA | - | $8.2M | 5 | 41 |
| Watchung Hills Regional High School | - | $6.8M | 75 | 2 |
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