We have been going to Oceanside for decades and have admired this old bridge from afar. Today, on our trek to bring supplies to Steve's mom, we decided it was time to finally explore this piece of history.
The Bonsall Bridge (also known as the San Luis Rey Bridge) was built during a boom in bridge construction around the state. An impressive 672 feet long, it includes five open-spandrel arches flanked by two smaller arches at either end. It carried US Highway 395 and, later, State Route 76 across the San Luis Rey River just west of the tiny town of Bonsall from 1925 to 1990, when it became a bike path and popular photography location.
The old bridge’s graceful concrete arches held a heavy traffic load for decades. Concrete railings and other braces are also arch-shaped. The effect is a confection of arches, a mirror of Mission San Luis Rey’s architecture.
It could not have been a more perfect morning to walk in history.
We even had the added pleasure in delighting in some nature as well.
This is the mission the bridge mirrors. Mission San Luis Rey de Francia is a former Spanish mission, named for King Louis IX of France. This the King of the Missions was founded in 1798, the eighteenth of the twenty-one Spanish missions built in Alta California. It is just a very cool space to visit. How often, in California, can we meander in something 222 years old?
It wasn't the Mission that brought us here today, however. We've been several times. We were here to explore, for the first time, the San Luis Rey Pioneer Cemetery.
This small cemetery sits on a knoll across from the Mission. Few notice it is even there and its anonymity has perhaps contributed to its near demise. While commuters busily drive Mission Avenue or Highway 76 they scarcely look up at the resting place of the valley’s non-catholic pioneers.
The most important of the residents is Andrew Jackson Myers (1840-1907) whose tombstone reads, "Founder of Oceanside. In 1882 A. J. Myers settled on the land west of the San Luis Rey Valley near the coast. The following year he filed and received a patent for 160 acres and hired Cave Counts Jr. to survey and lay out the townsite which became the city of Oceanside."
Over time the number buried there increased. Early lists estimated 84 burials, but recently, with more in-depth research, that number has risen to 120. Other names include Lusardi, Cerda, Salgado, Goldbaum, Lanpher, Libby, Borden, Hubbert, Freeman, and Meza- a who's who of Oceanside's early greats. What a wonderful history lesson and a happy discovery.
It has been said that it is not the destination but the journey that matters. In these simpler times, that is even more true. We certainly have learned to pause more and absorb fully. Silver linings!
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1 comments:
I remember when that bridge was the ONLY bridge over the river. And I remember when they built the new bridge. And I remember first driving over the new bridge. Ummm, does that make me old or just a local? Ha. Keep on enjoying my neck of the woods! ;)
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