Carlsbad Time Lines
Q1 2025 Carlsbad, California, Historical Society
President's Letter
Happy New Year! The History Center and Museum has been hopping with activity – physical inventory is completed, photo files inventory is in the process, and new displays are available for viewing, in large part due to the aforementioned activities.
Visitors and physical donations are on the uptick, and some of our largest monetary donations have been received in the past few months, in large part in direct correlation to the outstanding tours given by our newest docent and tour guide.
We'd like to start sharing images from our photo collection, so each newsletter will highlight items of interest to us and we hope for you also.
I'd like to publicly thank Marvin Sipple for arranging our Annual Meeting site: Carlsbad By the Sea.
As always, they provide a lovely venue and refreshments.
As always, we hope you visit the museum or make use of our research materials
Sue
Recent exhibits features Brownie Cameras
Did you know that Brownie Kodak Cameras made photography affordable to all because they were so inexpensive ? Beginning in 1900 their price was $1.00, yes that is correct, one dollar.
Brownie Cameras were easy to use, small, and affordable. Sold between 1900–1986, you might have had one of your own.
For an interesting look at the relevance of a small inexpensive Brownie Camera- you might look at this recent story in National Public Radio.
https://www.npr.org/2024/10/28/nx-s1-5157701/france-wwii-war-photos-mystery
Nazi soldiers in Paris - picture taken surreptitiously with a Brownie Camera
Donated Scrapbook of Elizabeth Kreutzkamp Schutte
What a pleasant surprise when we received a scrapbook compiled by Elizabeth Kreutzkamp Schutte, wife of Duke Schutte and daughter in law of Gerhard Schutte, one of our town founders. It contains memorabilia, cards, invitations, and announcements from both the Kreutzkamp and Schutte Families. Both were German speaking families, and arrived in Carlsbad before the 1900s. It is on display in the west bedroom , located with the Schutte Family furniture and other items of historical interest. A huge thank you to Christy Breyer , great granddaughter for sending this to us. It greatly adds to our historical understanding of the earliest Carlsbad residents.
Hugo Duke Schutte and Elizabeth Kreutzkamp Schutte
Scrapbook compiled by Elizabeth Kreutzkamp Schutte
Spanish California
We often get surprised looks when we tell visitors to our museum that Carlsbad used to be part of Spain for a long time! And then it was part of Mexico for 25 years.
After Columbus discovered the New World in 1492, Spain tried to claim all of it for itself. However, the Portuguese had also been involved in the discovery and appealed to Pope Alexander VI, in Rome, for mediation. The resulting 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas gave what is now Brazil to Portugal, and the rest of South America and all of North America to the Spanish!
Around 1535 Hernán Cortés sent expeditions that reached the tip of Baja California. It was named California based on a fictional island from a popular Spanish novel. California was first thought to be an island. In 1542 Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo led an expedition into Alta California, going as far as Santa Barbara.
Because Spain had several wars with England and France, these countries did not care about the “ownership” of North America by Spain. Plus, the Protestant Reformation was a revolt against the authority of the Pope. Other European countries started sending people to North America. Also, piracy was endorsed by England, Holland and France. By 1577, Sir Francis Drake attacked the Spanish on the Pacific Coast of South America and California, with the blessing of the English crown.
From 1821 until 1846, California was part of Mexico. Then, at the end of the American-Mexican War, “Alta California" was taken over by the United States, after the peace accord of Guadalupe Hidalgo. So Alta California was “Hispanic” from 1533 to 1846.
New displays worth the visit!
Audrey Gutierrez, our museum guide and archivist in training, unleashed her creative talents by recreating the Twin Inns take out boxes, and opening the dining room pantry doors allowing a connection between the two displays. It makes a much better historical presentation and interpretation.
Horticulture /Gardening Display
Removing some of the china from one of our two china cabinets allowed us to highlight some of Carlsbad's outstanding horticulturists and growers. This will be a changing exhibit, as we have numerous artifacts in storage from the many outstanding contributors to our agricultural past. Some I am sure you are familiar with and others perhaps you've not heard of.
We are starting off with five: EC Hummel, Ivy Bodin, Charles Ledgerwood, and RH Wilson and Alex Rawson.
EC Hummel
When EC Hummel, a leading bromeliad grower moved his nursery to Carlsbad from Los Angeles in 1952, he was quoted as saying "Carlsbad is a place where a nursery might have a few years of life before being crowded out by real estate divisions." While he was not well known in Carlsbad he was a leading bromeliad grower in the United States, well known nationally and internationally. His nursery on Park Drive hybridized new euphorbia variations, bromeliads, and succulents. His plants were known for being unusual and distinctive, and he was a contributing author to university textbooks on the care and growing of exotic plants.
Ives (Ivy) Bodin
In retirement Ivy was able to follow his passion for roses by dedicating volunteer time creating civic rose gardens. Originally from Louisanna, Ivy arrived in Southern California in the 1990s and by 1997 was a contributing member of the Coastal Rose Society and Carlsbad Arboretum. Though not a Carlsbad resident, Ivy gifted our city by creating a nationally recognized rose garden in Magee Park that gained Carlsbad the title of American Rose City in 2002. His artistic talent working with stained glass transferred to roses, as he used over 130 modern and old world roses as a color palette, creating in his words, "a magical place".
Charles Ledgerwood
Charles Ledgerwood, known as the "seed man" was a horticulturalist, seed merchant, and Carlsbad City Council member and Mayor, 1956-59. He operated his seed store on Highway 101, now known as Carlsbad Blvd., for fifty years. He set up business in 1933, purchasing land through Carlsbad, growing a variety of plants specifically for harvesting the seeds. He became known throughout Southern California for his variety of outstanding seeds and growing advice. As Carlsbad and San Diego gradually urbanized, his business became less profitable due to the lack of large-scale vegetable growers. While still keeping his seed business operational he took on other employment, first as groundskeeper at Oceanside High School, and later as grounds foreman at Miracosta College. When asked if he had a price to sell his land, he replied" I don't know what more life has to offer than what I have now."
RH Wilson and Alex Rawson
RH Wilson moved to Oceanside in 1912 and purchased 60 acres of land in San Luis Rey and an additional 60 acres in Carlsbad. After the 1916 flood he moved to Carlsbad and by 1919 had established the Hillcrest Nursery bordered by Highland, Crest, Buena Vista and Forest. Remnants of his sapote plants are still found growing along Highland.
Alex Rawson moved to Carlsbad in 1925 to Chestnut and established lemon groves.
In 1927, the families were united by the marriage of Charlie Wilson and Ruth Rawson. In 1942, Charlie and Ruth, along with their 4 boys, purchased 160 acres of the originally Agua Hedionda Land Grant near Faraday and the present day Safety Center. There they grew beans and grains.
For more information regarding any of these families, please visit our display in the history center and museum.
The Rawson- Wilson Family
While not as well publicized as other growers, the Rawson and Wilson Family contributed much to local Carlsbad horticulture and agriculture. Arriving in the late teens and 20s, each family has a complex and interesting connection to Carlsbad history (see the additional article in this newsletter). Jim Wilson, one of the four brothers raised on land that is now the Safety Center off of Faraday, contacted us in November and brought numerous and wonderful artifacts for our collection, some of which are in our new Garden/ Horticulture/ Agriculture display. Others are an absolute treasure, such as a family bible that is on display, but safeguarded to protect from potential damage; a family baptismal gown; hand crafted baby shoes; lunch boxes; telescopes; and Southern California Gazetteers.
We are grateful for each donation because each is unique and special and treated with respect, as each one helps us understand and create a complete picture of our history.
Carlsbad names Geoff Patnoe as new city manager
Since December 19 we have a new City Manager. Geoff Patnoe has replaced Scott Chadwick, who left to go work as president and CEO of the Port of San Diego. Mr. Patnoe has been with the City for almost 5 years, working as assistant City manager. He has a degree in political science and public service from UC Davis. He is credited with playing “a key role” in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic and with implementing solutions to reduce collisions involving e-bikes.
Prior to Carlsbad, Mr. Patnoe worked for more than 20 years in local government as director of the county’s Office of Strategy and Intergovernmental Affairs and as chief of staff for Supervisor Dianne Jacob.
Kevin Shin elected as new City Council Member
Mr.Shin enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1997 and served for 13 years. He was a firefighter from 2005 to 2023 in Culver City, and retired as a Fire Captain.
A resident and homeowner in Carlsbad since 2007, Mr. Shin was honored to receive the 2022 Business of the Year Award from Assemblymember Tasha Boerner. Kevin co-created the Southern California Asian & Pacific Islander Festival, for which he received an award in 2022 from Congressman Mike Levin.
New Life Members
Danté Farenga & Tim Wolfe
Historic Photograph
Shipley Magee House in the mid 1970s
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Carlsbad Historical Society
258 Beech Ave. Carlsbad CA 92008
(442) 500-4471
www.carlsbadhistoricalsociety.com
*Open Saturday and Sunday, 11 am to 3 pm
*Private Tours by appointment
*School, Scouts and Families welcome
