Located exactly one hour door-to-shore, Oceanside is our closest beach. It is also a City steeped in rich history and a plethora of COVID-free activities in which to be entertained. This is just another, of many posts about the Riviera in California!
The City of Oceanside incorporated on July 3, 1888 but its history dates back years further and was founded by Andrew Jackson Myers, who settled in the San Luis Rey valley in the late 1870s.Armed with the Oceanside Historical Society's walking map, we hit the town exploring!This, the site of the current library, is where founder, Myers built his home. He applied for and received a homestead grant for land which is now downtown Oceanside. In the early 1880s a railroad line was being built that would connect Los Angeles to San Diego. The trains would travel directly over Myers’ new land grant making his property very valuable. He was a smart guy!Theodore Bunker and wife came to Oceanside in 1885 with their children, Frank, Dora and Bertha. Mr. Bunker built this home, soon after his arrival.Next door he built the Oceanside Meat Market, a one-story wooden structure. The Bunker House was used as a boarding house as well as the family residence. It was also the meeting place of the First Baptist Church of Oceanside.The George P. McKay Building has stood on this corner since it was completed in 1908. Originally a general merchandise store on the ground floor, it has housed a variety of businesses through the years and is presently the Pier View Coffee Co.So many of these buildings have decorative features that cause the entire day to be a giant scavenger hunt for all the treasures waiting to be discovered.By 1886, Oceanside had a population of 350 people and boasted of “nearly sixty houses”. Streets were dusty dirt roads and empty lots were covered with brush. Two churches were established, the Congregational and the Christian, but the saloons outnumbered them two to one. This, the Congregational Church is the oldest in Oceanside. Now the Calvary Chapel Living hope, this church was built in 1887, with the distinction of being the second oldest in town.
The new kid on the block is St. Mary Star of the Sea, an excellent example of the Mission Revival architecture. Constructed in 1927, it replaced an 1896 church that was moved and restored elsewhere.
I could find no history regarding this Victorian home but I'm enamored with it.Its delightful accents caused a long linger and a desire to return.
The brick I.O.O.F. Building was built in 1924 by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge #346. The door to the far right leads to the stairway to the second floor where the Odd Fellows held, and continue to hold, their meetings. The J.C. Penney Company leased the downstairs portion of the building in 1929 and occupied it for forty years until they relocated. Various businesses have occupied the downstairs space since that time.
I've mentioned a town's history being discovered in its sidewalks (Coronado). O.U. Miracle was one of many we found but the only one with googeable history. Orville Ullman Miracle (the greatest name ever when you say just the initials and last name, Oh You Miracle) began a career in the cement business in about 1901. He later established the Miracle Pressed Stone Company, manufacturing and selling “Miracle Concrete Blocks” across the upper Midwest.However, it was his cement business that brought him the most success. He traveled from Iowa to South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and even Montana, pouring cement for roads, sidewalks and curbing for cities and townships (my goal is to find them elsewhere. Let the hunt begin).
His association with Oceanside began in 1927 when he was the low bidder on the contracts to improve streets throughout downtown and the oceanfront. He laid miles of concrete sidewalks throughout Oceanside that have long outlasted other cement walks poured decades after.
In 1938, South Oceanside became the home of Miracle Village. Miracle purchased a huge amount of land in South Oceanside. He advertised his “Oh You Miracle Tract” around the southland and began building single family homes and selling them from his office. The San Diego Union reported that Miracle sold lots cafeteria style – prices were placed on the lots, no middlemen, and buyers simply picked out their lot and brought the price tag to his office to complete the purchase. Next time, we'll be exploring this area more. It is a Miracle after all!When not looking down at sidewalks, we looked up at cool lamp posts.I appreciate the details. So ornate!And how about this cover plate?City Hall and the Library building was built in 1934 and designed by famed architect Irving Gill (one of his many lasting contributions to this ocean side town). The City Hall remains a testimony to Gill's simple and modernistic approach to architecture.The Fire Station is also by Gill and built in 1929.In 1892, the Oceanside Star was renamed the Oceanside-Blade Tribune which would become Oceanside’s longest running publication. It touted itself as “the only independent journal in San Diego County. It has views, strong views, and is not backward in expressing them.” It outgrew its original building and Irving Gill was hired to create this publishing house in 1936. It was his last project before his death.Oceanside, it turns out, is one of those magical cities whose treasures await for those willing to hunt for them. Every turn and detour allotted us unique opportunities to discover. Watch for more tomorrow.
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