Lake Elsinore Historical Society

Sharing for Elsinore Then, Elsinore Now group.

Andrew Kittilson Homestead Certificate Sum of $16. Paid in Los Angeles in 1883 Section 14; Township 6 South: Range 3 West

The Homestead Act of 1862 has been called one of the most important pieces of Legislation in the history of the United States. Signed into law in 1862 by Abraha...m Lincoln after the secession of southern states, this Act turned over vast amounts of the public land to private citizens. 270 millions acres, or 10% of the area of the United States was claimed and settled under this Act. A homesteader needed to be the head of a household and at least 21 years of age to claim a 160 acre parcel of land. Settlers from all walks of life including newly arrived immigrants, farmers without land of their own, single women and formerly enslaved people worked to meet the challenge of "proving up" the land. Each homesteader had to live on the land, build a home, make improvements and farm for 5 years before they were eligible to "prove up". A filing fee was the only money required. The Homestead Certificate shown is for Andrew Kittilson who filed 1883 in Los Angeles for a fee of $16. How was the property surveyed? A survey party consisted of a surveyor using a transit, a rodman using a rod, and two chain men using chains. Each chain is made up of 100 links, measuring 66 feet. A 160 acre parcel measures 2,640 feet on each side. The photo of this survey party is dated 1890 - location unknown. The surveyor is on the far right and the chain men and rodman are in the center Some of Menifee's best known early Homesteaders include the Kittilson, Harrison, Kirkpatrick, Christensen, and Ferrell families. #menifeehistory

Losing another piece of history in the valley

https://www.temeculahistoricalsociety.org/

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3704049909692838&id=656728054425054

The Chimes building is for sale.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/207314265980718/permalink/4171284136250358/ Sharing from Corona Historic Preservation Society.

Here is a memory written by Rosamond (Brown) Morrison in 1992 about her early years growing up in Menifee, when life seemed a lot simpler. #MenifeeHistory

This coming Saturday at 2:30 pm a friend and I will be hosting a free family history class for beginners over Zoom! If you're at all interested let us know and we'll send you the link!

THE ROBERTS HOUSE In 1890 Charles Roberts bought this house known as the Emmalita Villa. At the age of 43, he married Callie Walker in 1915 and they lived there.... Charles farmed with seven horses. He grew grain, raised cattle, goats, pigs, chickens and turkeys. He planted a large orchard and vineyard. There was a wonderful spring that supplied water for the house and irrigation for the orchard. There were two other springs - one hot and one cold on the property. Their two children (Alice Emmalita and Lerner) learned how to herd horses, cattle and goats before they were old enough to go to school. They attended the one room schoolhouse in Antelope and were driven to school everyday except when it rained - they had to walk in the adobe mud for 3 1/2 miles round trip! Their shoes dried by the wood stove until it was time to go home. The home was located on the west side of Briggs Road just south of Scott Road. Lerner and his mother lived and farmed on the property until 1950 when it was sold. They moved nearby to Hemet and bought an apricot orchard. The family farm was bought by the Anheuser-Busch Company, where they operated their Western States Headquarters and raised Clydesdale horses to show in parades and fairs. #menifeehistory

On Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1914. 106 years ago, The headline of the Corona Courier read Corona Presents World Auto Festival, Corona First to welcome Speedy International Racers

Welcome . . . The Lake Elsinore Historical Society does not know when the restrictions will be eliminated/reduced and when we can open our Museum. Therefore, this... post will have to do for our regular September meeting. Here is the latest news about LEHS and the community . . . New Developments USS Lake Elsinore The replica of our namesake ship has been received and is ready for viewing. It will be exciting to share her history since her service of more than 100 years ago during World War I.. Membership Dues The Executive Committee has unanimously voted that existing memberships will be extended at no cost for one additional year, i.e., dues will now be payable in June 2021. If you have already paid your dues, the next due date for your dues will be June 2022. The extension is due to COVID-19 and being on lockdown. Lake Elsinore has a large number of new projects in progress. A few are listed: 1. Alberhill Elementary School opened in August 2020. It is the Lake Elsinore Unified School District’s first new school since 2007. It is a state-of-the-art facility with a new campus for 21st Century learning. 2. Walmart Super Store - The concrete block walls are up and appear to be finished. The store is scheduled to open in October 2020. Grading around the perimeter of the property is underway for new businesses coming to the Walmart Center. 3. I-15 Railroad Canyon Road Interchange is underway with work presently being done during daytime and nighttime hours. Anticipated completion - 2022. 4. North Main Street & Camino del Norte - Work will begin soon to install traffic signals on both sides of I-15 offramps. A new way to avoid Railroad Canyon offramps. 5. New Circle K is being built at Riverside Drive & Joy Street with new signal lights. 6. Butterfield Overland Trail will connect with the new Murrieta Creek Multi-Use Trail. When complete, the trail will connect with the existing Levee Trail near Diamond Stadium providing a link between where you live, work, and play. We will keep you informed about our future activities. Executive Committee Lake Elsinore Historical Society

The two Walker sisters shown here are Callie (Walker) Roberts on the left and Zona (Walker) Drake on the right. They are the daughters of Samuel and Alice (Wick...erd) Walker. Samuel Walker called their daughter Callie, his California ruby because she was born in California. Her sister was his Arizona diamond and called her Zona since she was born in Arizona, or so the family story goes. The girls came with their parents to the Menifee Valley in 1889 and settled on what is now Haun Road, just south of Holland Road. #menifeehistory

#3 in a THEN & NOW series of posts. THEN: Oscar Thieme, the original owner of Lemonia Grove citrus estate, built this packinghouse just north of East Grand B...lvd. at Howard Avenue in 1905. Shortly after in 1906, Thieme fell on hard times and left Corona, necessitating the sale of all of his properties to W. H. Jameson. A year later, the packinghouse was renamed Orange Heights Fruit Association. TODAY: a commercial structure just north of the railroad tracks is located at the site of the former packinghouse. The first 3 images are from my Personal Collection. All citrus crate labels from this packinghouse that follow are courtesy of the Linda Faxon Collection.

Check out this cool virtual event tomorrow, August 2!

Zora (McGrath) and Hans Christensen Jr. are sitting under the trees at their first home on Antelope Road. She is holding her poodle. Zora was the daughter of... John and Maude McGrath who came to the valley in 1912. Hans Jr. is the youngest child of Hans Christensen Sr. and Rosetta Holland. When Hans Sr. arrived in Menifee in about 1882 there were only a few families in the area. He met Rosetta the same year and soon after they had four children. Hans Sr. grew wheat and barley on his land and eventually became one of the largest landowners in the valley. He died in 1922 at the age of 70. His son Hans Jr. lived his entire life in Menifee and farmed with his four sons when they became of age. Hans Christensen Jr (1894-1975) Zora (McGrath) Christensen (1896-1995). The next photo is the two of them at a younger age. #menifeehistory

Another cool resource to dig into:

Ya all seem to love the Rock House, so here is a story we know you will enjoy. This photo shows Paul Wright as a young boy sitting on his donkey "old Joe". His... father Edward is on the left and his mother Christine is second from the right. The rock house was built using Rose Quartz mined from nearby Crowfoot Mountain. The walls of the house were 2-3 feet thick and kept the house cool in the summertime. Kerosene lamps and candles were used for light. In the kitchen was a Majestic Wood Range on which all the cooking, baking and ironing was done writes Christine in her 1973 Biography. Christine utilized everything and nothing went to waste in her household. The photo is dated 1936. #menifeehistory #murrietahistory See more

The Bouris brothers had orange groves, peach and fig orchards, and a 100 acre vineyard at their ranch off Scenic View Drive, south of Keller Road. Many people... came up the driveway to buy fruit and vegetables at their produce stand. The home was a gathering place for family and friends from San Diego to Los Angeles. Their hospitality knew no bounds. They entertained and fed guests for days and weeks, and in some cases, months. They were Aunt Mary, Uncle George, and Uncle Sam to many children who spent their summer working and living here. #menifeehistory #murrietahistory See more

Luther Menifee Wilson was born in Mount Sterling, Kentucky in 1842. At the age of 18 he worked for the railroad. Civil War Records and several Riverside Count...y newspaper articles referred to him as Colonel Luther Wilson, suggesting that he was a Civil War veteran. He made his way to California before 1870 and found work as a miner in Kern County. In 1872, Wilson married Mary Jane Clark, whose father operated several stagecoach lines, express wagons carrying gold bullion and 20-mule team ore wagons in San Bernardino. In 1879, records show Wilson was a hotelkeeper in Ivanpah, a small silver mining town located in the Mojave Desert. He was employed at the local mines in the area, and it was there he improved his skills at prospecting. In the early 1880’s there were gold mining districts being formed in nearby Perris and Hemet. Wilson had separated from his wife, and his prospecting ventures led him to our area. In 1883, after initial discovery of a gold near present day Holland and Murrieta roads, Wilson filed a claim with the San Diego County Recorder’s office for his Menifee mine. Government Survey maps of the time included labels depicting the Menifee Mining District and the area was then referred to as the Menifee Valley. Wilson’s gold bearing quartz vein was approximately three feet wide. There were four shafts on the vein, one reaching 125 feet deep. The main shaft had a 5’ x 11’ double compartment, which allowed two kibbles containing men, ore or water to traverse the shaft at the same time. Wilson sold his claim for $10,000 in 1884 and was one of the few miners who profited from the mines in the area. A steam-powered 5-stamp mill was erected at the mine site that could crush 5 to 10 tons of ore per day. The sound of the stamp mill could be heard many miles away. In 1893 the County of Riverside had been formed. Wilson and some partners were working new mining claims at the King Wilson or Alice mine, which was located just south of present-day Scott and Lindenberger roads. It was 2,800 feet on the surface and the shaft was 80 feet deep. A few years later the mine played out, and the equipment was sold to a company in Mexico. Luther died in 1899. He was destitute, had a number of outstanding debts, and buried in an unmarked grave in the Riverside Olivewood Memorial Cemetery. Although named for the area’s first gold miner, the Menifee Valley was actually settled by grain farmers seeking land and a place to raise their families. Written by Bill Zimmerman, Vice President - Menifee Valley Historical Association #menifeehistory

Biddy Bridget Mason (1815-1891) was born into slavery and given as a wedding gift to a Mormon couple in Mississippi named Robert and Rebecca Smith. In 1847 at a...ge 32, Biddy Mason was forced to walk from Mississippi to Utah tending cattle behind her master’s 300-wagon caravan. After four years in Salt Lake City, Smith took the group to a new Mormon settlement in San Bernardino, California in search of gold. Biddy Mason soon discovered that the California State Constitution made slavery illegal, and that her master planned to move them all to Texas to avoid freeing them. With the help of some free blacks she had befriended, she and the other slaves attempted to run away to Los Angeles, but they were intercepted by Smith and brought back. However, when he tried to leave the state with his family and slaves, a local posse prevented his flight. Biddy had Robert Smith brought into court on a writ of habeas corpus. She, her daughters, and the ten other slaves were held in jail for their own safety until the judge heard the case and granted their freedom. Now free, Mason and her three daughters moved to Los Angeles where they worked and saved enough money to buy a house at 331 Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles. Biddy was employed as a nurse, midwife, and domestic servant. She was one of the first black women to own land in the city of Los Angeles. She had the gumption to use part of her land as a temporary resting place for horses and carriages, and people visiting town paid money in exchange for the space. This can be considered the first "parking lot" in Los Angeles! Knowing what it meant to be oppressed and friendless, Biddy Mason immediately began a philanthropic career by opening her home to the poor, hungry, and homeless. Through hard work, saving, and investing carefully, she was able to purchase large amounts of real estate including a commercial building, which provided her with enough income to help build schools, hospitals, and churches. Her financial fortunes continued to increase until she accumulated a fortune of almost $300,000. In today's money, that would be $6M. Her most noted accomplishment is the founding of the First AME Church in California. #BiddyMason #BlackHistory

The world as we know it has changed forever.