Articles by Richard Crawford

Grossmont . . . It is the chosen spot of many of the gifted in art, literature and science as a place where they may establish a quiet home, with delightful climate, beauty of surroundings and the peace that comes from dwelling in high places. –Overland Monthly, March 1912

One of San Diego’s most picturesque communities is named for a man poorly remembered today. William B. Gross, namesake of Grossmont, came to San Diego in about 1903 after a chance meeting with Ed Fletcher, a young produce salesman with an eye for opportunity . . .

Click here for the story of Grossmont.

Rebuilt by the pennies of school children and as sound as on that autumn day more than 135 years ago when she slid down the ways . . . the U.S.S. Constitution, most famous vessel in the American navy, is due alongside Broadway pier this forenoon.  —San Diego Union, January 21, 1933.

In the winter of 1933, thousands of San Diegans flocked to the foot of Broadway to see the most famous naval ship in U.S. history.  Read about Old Ironsides in San Diego

Luman H. Gaskill

The personal record books of San Diego pioneers are often a surprising source of contemporary lore. Business ledgers–sometimes used like personal filing cabinets, recorded everything from commercial activities and receipts, to family history and kitchen recipes.

Campo pioneer Luman Gaskill kept such a ledger book handy, writing entries for several decades. Luman would serve as the town storekeeper, banker, marshal, justice of the peace, dentist, and doctor. His book would become a remarkable compendium of folk remedies and household notes, as well as store receipts and accounts.

Click here for “Dr. Gaskill’s” best recipes for Frontier Medicine.

Bold adventure, lurking danger, mutiny, death—the story of all this, running like some tale of the days of the Spanish conquests of the New World, was brought to San Diego today by the big tramp steamer Maori King.   

Click here for the story of the Maori King.

The tramp steamer Maori King.

Personally, I would abolish Halloween, but the city council has taken other steps that we hope will be effective . . .

In World War II, Halloween festivities would be a little different in San Diego. Read how the city coped with a holiday under wartime conditions: Halloween in Wartime.

Scores of Americans found themselves suddenly stranded in Mexico last night when the famous “hole in the fence” at the border was closed yesterday afternoon without warning. . . Protest was made to customs and immigration officials on duty, but the officers said they could do nothing about it . . .

Read about The Hole in the Fence.

“A big rain is coming,” predicted Henry Cooper, Escondido’s celebrated, amateur weather prognosticator. The Escondido Weather Prophet, as he was known, spoke in early February 1927, predicting a major storm for later in the month. “We shall have copious rains all along the coast,” Cooper declared, “with assured runoff from a heavy mantle of snow in the mountains.”

Read the story of one of San Diego’s biggest rain years: the Flood of 1927.

Mission Valley under water, Feb. 1927.

The flagship of the Pacific Squadron arrived unexpectedly in San Diego in late December 1891. “Our presence is probably a surprise to you,” said the ship’s captain, Rear Admiral George Brown.  “We were ordered to San Diego and here we are.  We shall take on about 250 tons of coal and will then be on waiting orders.”

Within days, Brown’s ship was joined by another cruiser, the USS Charleston. The ships would spend the next six weeks in San Diego.

The story of the White Squadron.

USS San Francisco

Cabrillo Statue

“I didn’t steal it,” declared Senator Fletcher with ruffled dignity. “But there were threats of lawsuit and an injunction, so with a gang of men, a derrick and a truck, I took quick action, and possession is nine points of the law.”

The story of San Diego’s famed “Stolen” Cabrillo Statue.

Sutherland abandoned, 1928.

To look at it now, solidly in place, you would never know its disturbed history. The broken course of the Sutherland project is one of those fantastic things that could only happen here . . .

The story of a dam that took 25 years to build: the Dam Fiasco.