The Beginning
The Early 1900's
It's hard to believe, but Mission Beach wasn't always the place it is
today. To understand its beginnings, one must also understand the beginnings
of other communities in San Diego. Before San Diego's popularity
skyrocketed, it used to be a little sleep town with danger for its survival.
Certain events, such as the building of the Panama Canal, the finding of a
fresh water source nearby, and speedy transportation with railroads helped
stimulate real estate booms which brought many people to the area. The
Panama/California Exposition was in 1915-1916 which started on of the great
booms in the area. The second thing to help this was the building and
completion of the Trans Continental RailRoad. Luckily for the city, it
terminated in San Diego in 1919 bringing mass amounts of people. 1101
In the long term history of San Diego, it was one of the very
last communities to be developed. Other communities such as Pacific
Beach and Coronado in San Diego were being very successful at that time. In
fact, the interest in Mission Beach was probably brought about by the
interests in these communities. The growth of most of these communities
usually happened during real estate booms in the area. The area's
development happened quickly and continues to change even today. The picture
to the right is that of Mission Beach from the sky during its early years. A
lot of the beach area was already developed however there was still room for
expansion. 1102
John Diedrich Spreckels was one of the developers who has a large stake in Mission
Beach. After spending much time in Coronado and other San Diego communities,
Spreckels wanted to develop his own resort. He started to think of ideas and
bring together a plan. What he came up with was a rough sketch of what
Mission Beach looks like today. His plan was the basis for other plans. He
never did, however, get to see the final product of his vision. Other
developers took over after his death and brought many other attractions to
Mission Beach. 1103
Spreckels wasn't alone in his idea. George L. Barney also helped
contribute to the development of the area. Together, a plan was filed
with the city on June 1914. The picture to the right is an updated plan in
1922 which is very similar to the original. The idea was to create resort to
extend the entire length of the peninsula. It would start at Pacific Beach
Drive in the north and go all the way down to the jetty in South Mission
Beach. The plan was so elaborate that even in order to build a home in this
new place, one had to have it be built to a certain cost. No cheap houses
here. Many of the attractions mentioned in the following pages were built as
a result of this plan. In fact, the entire plan was so grand that it even
won honors at the "Second Annual Exhibition of Landscape Architects" in Los
Angeles in 1925. 1104
While the plans were still being made, people already started
arriving in San Diego and coming to Mission Beach in great numbers.
This was probably caused by the Panama/California Exposition in 1915-1916.
San Diego was getting an huge influx of people. Because of all the new
improvements that Spreckels had made in San Diego, it was possible for town
to now be called a city. Also because of all the people, interest in Mission
Beach really began to flourish. It was a great resort place to live. All of
this really helped stimulate development in the area. In addition to all
that, in 1919, the Trans Continental RailRoad terminated in San Diego. This
created a huge population boom. Just as in the picture to the left, people
flocked to Mission Beach. Here there is a trafic jam on one of the bridges
into the beach. 1105
Spreckels and Barney had great ideas for the area. However,
what they did not have is great funds behind their ideas.
Construction of the resort was delayed several years due to financial
problems. Spreckels and other developers, lost a great deal through the
crash of the stock market around this time. If that wasn't enough of a set
back, early lot sales were very slow. Three reasons helped contribute to the
decline of the sales.
First, World War I was going on and resort vacations
weren't what was on the minds of many individuals. Second, real
estate development dropped suddenly. There was a boom in real estate
in San Diego around 1912, when construction began, but real estate declined
soon after. Construction, however, still moved on slowly. The idea of
brining in people by making better access to Mission Beach can be seen in
the picture to the left. It shows one of the bridge over Mission Bay to
Mission Beach being built. Finally, there was a huge flood in 1926 that
washed out many of these built bridges. It also destroyed the boardwalk and
buildings around there. The picture to the right shows how difficult it was
to navigate the streets during that time. 1106
Spreckels wasn't the only one with a huge history in the
foundings of Mission Beach. There were many developers from all
over that had great deal of interest in such a resort. Another individual in
the beginnings of Mission Beach was J. M. Asher. Not much is known about
him. He is the one that brought the "Tent City" to the area in 1916. Not
only that, he had strong influences in the building of a pier and bath
houses. The street car that went down Mission Boulevard was his doing as
well. The street car was very important because it linked the community with
others and made it possibly for people to live at the beach. Today, the
street car doesn't run anymore and even the track has been removed. The
picture to the left shows the street car's tracks being laid. Because of all
Asher's influence and construction in the area, he is known as the "Father
of Mission Beach." 1107
