HISTORICAL NOMINATION OF THE

Arthur and Anne Dusenberry I Louise Severin House

4185 ROCHESTER ROAD-- KENSINGTON MANOR

Ronald V. May, RP A Legacy 106, Inc. P.O. Box 503394 San Diego, CA 92150 (619) 269-3924 www.legacy106.com

Legacy 1061NC.

State of California -The Resources Agency

DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION

Primary# __________________ _

HRI#

PRIMARY RECORD Trinomial ________________ _ NRHP Status Code ------- -- - ---- ---- -

Other ListinQs Review Code _____ Reviewer _________ Date _______ _

Page _ 1__ of _ 1_ *Resource Name or#: (Assigned by recorder) Arthur and Anne Dusenberry House P1 . Other Identifier: Arthur and Anne Dusenberry I Louise Mary Severin House

* P2. Location: Not for Publication X Unrestricted *a. County San Diego and (P2c, P2e, and P2b or P2d. Attach a Location Map as necessary.) *b. USGS 7.5' Quad La Mesa 7 5" Quad Date July 14 2003 T_; R ,_f __ ; ___ B .M. c . Address 4185 Rochester Road City San Diego Zip 9211fi d. UTM: (Give more than one for large and/or linear resources) Zone 11 032 46' 06.4 N, 117 06' 14.8 W e. other Locational Data: (e.g., parcel#, directions to resource, elevation, etc., as appropriate) Tax Assessor's Parcel #440-362-13. Lot 10, in Block 10 of Kensington Manor Unit No. 1, in the City of San Diego, County of San Diego, State of California, according to Map thereof No. 1848, filed in the Office of the County Recorder of San Diego County, August 13, 1925.

*P3a. Description : (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries)

The Arthur and Anne Dusenberry I Louise Severin House at 4185 Rochester Road exhibits two low-pitched front gabled Spanish tile roofs, garage on the south, and livingroom on the north. These two front gables protrude from a long side-gabled part of the house that presents a low pitched Spanish, fired red clay tiled roof. Just below the juncture of the living room and side-gabled portion of the building and inside the stucco wall enclosure is a short shed roof over the door with Spanish style fired red clay tiles. This shed porch roof with scrolled wrought iron bracket is strikingly similar to the one over the door across the street at Historic Landmark #504 and is a common trait on Louise Severin Spanish Eclectic, hacienda subtype buildings. The door is a rustic wooden door with vertical boards and simulated Medieval metal elements, such as an ornate brass door handle mechanism and wrought iron door window grill. Interior doors leading from the dining room to the front patio are two sets of wide French doors that step down a few inches. To the right of the door is a large living room window that originally had been another French door, but only the top can be seen from an extreme angle southeast of the house. The front window is rectangular, a common trait on Severin-designed houses to vary the appearance of her houses. The chimney is sculped and tapered with high relief broad stroke stucco and an ornamental inset panel at the base.

*P3b. Resource Attributes: (List attributes and codes) Single family dwelling.

o cture o o Site o District o Element of District o Other (Isolates, etc.)

*P1 0. Survey Type: (Describe) Walked around the house.

P5b. Description of Photo: The view is facing the northeast corner of the front of the residence. Photo by Ronald V. May, RPA.

*P6. Date Constructed/Age and Source: X Historic o Prehistoric 1929, Notice of Completion

P7. Owner and Address: Darcy B. Kennedy and Jonathan W. LeBaron 4185 Rochester Road San Diego, CA 92116

*P8. Recorded by: (Name, affiliation, and address) Ronald V. May, RPA Legacy 106, Inc. P.O. Box 503394 San Diego, CA 92150 *P9. Date Recorded: July 14, 2003

*P11. Report Citation: (Cite survey report and other sources, or enter "none.") Historical Nomination of the Arthur and Anne Dusenberry/Louise M. Severin House to the City of San Diego for Historic Landmark Status *Attachments: OLocation Map ocontinuation Sheet .¥Building, Structure, and Object Record o Archaeological Record o District Record ounear Feature Record o Milling Station Record o Rock Art Record o Artifact

Record OPhotograph Record o Other (List):

State of California -The Resources Agency DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION

Primary# HRI#

BUILDING, STRUCTURE. AND OBJECT RECORD

Page _1_ of _ 5_ *NRHP Status Code .3S *Resource Name or # Arthur and Anne Dusenberry/! oujse M Severin House

81. Name: Arthur and Anne Dusenberry House 82. Common Name: Dusenberry House 83. Original Use: Single family residence 84. Present Use: Single family residence *85. Architectural Style: Spanish Eclectic, Hacienda subtype 86. Construction History: (Construction date, alterations, and date of alterations.) Master builder Louise Mary Severin designed and supervised construction of this Spanish Eclectic, Hacienda subtype house in accordance with direction from Kensington Architectural Review Board architect Richard Requa in 1929. Severin specialized in rustic stucco on walls and tapered chimneys that presented a fantasy appearance of old Spanish California adobe houses. This house presents a small walled-in courtyard opened into the house by a heavy dark Medieval type door flanked by two sets of French doors on the left and one set of French doors on the right (now a solid plate glass window). An attached garage creates a "U"-shaped building facing Rochester Street. The north side exhibits four windows and a tapered stucco chimney; two of those windows are aluminum. No changes to the building footprint have occurred. The front courtyard patio and backyard patio are paved with terracotta tiles and Malibu-style polychrome tiles, as is the front step riser leading into the courtyard gate. The interior exhibits hardwood floors and a remodeled kitchen and the sink window is aluminum (but not visible from Rochester Road). A shed roof over the south side is visible from the southeast corner of the house behind the garage.

*87. Moved? ~ No 0 Unknown Date: N/A Original Location: N/A *88. Related Features: None B9a. Architect: None b. Builder and designer: Louise Mary Severin designed and built this house *81 0. Significance: Residential Architecture. Applicable Criteria (Discuss importance in terms of historical or architectural context as defined by theme, period, and geographic scope.

Criterion a. Cultural I andscape. Those sites exemplifying or reflecting special elements of the city's, community's, or a neighborhood's historical, archaeological, cultural social, economic, political, aesthetic, engineering, landscaping or architectural development.

The Kensington community of Rochester Road east of Marlborough Drive surrounding the house at address 4185 is an intact cultural landscape of Louise Severin-designed late 1920s Spanish Eclectic hacienda style houses, original palm tree-lined lawn easements, and front lawns that exemplify and reflect special elements of a continuous landscape greenbelt, sidewalks, and streetscape that follows a rhythm of bulk and scale in keeping with Master Architect Richard Requa's Architectural Review Board community design. Kensington Manor Unit No. 1 holds distinction as one of San Diego's first designed communities, which Requa enforced in the 1925-1930 period and most certainly guided Louise M. Severin's design of Rochester Road houses. A windshield survey of several blocks along Rochester, Norfolk Terrace, and Lymer Streets in Kensington Manor Unit No. 1 revealed nineteen houses built in Severin's "L" or "U"-shaped hacienda style with the distinctive rustic high-relief stucco walls. Although beyond the scope of this study, water/sewer permits for nine of the residences in the vicinity of 4185 Rochester Road were pulled and all had Louise Severin's name as builder. These houses are 4158, 4170, 4174, 4178, 4182 (City of San Diego Historic Landmark #504), and 4186 on Rochester Road, 4266 Norfolk Terrace, 4271 Norfolk Terrace and 4970 Marlborough. Directory research revealed Louise Severin lived at the latter address in 1930. Additionally, although not a proven Severin-built home, 4166 Rochester Road was the home of her brother-in-law, Urban Severin, in 1931 .

(See continuation sheet for additional criterion.)

Area: Kensington Manor Unit No. 1, east of Marlborough Period of Significance 1929-1953

Property Type single-family dwelling

Applicable Criteria (Discuss importance in temns of historical or architectural context as defined by theme, period, and geographic scope. Also address integrity.) City of San Diego Historic Landmark Criterion a, c, d (See continuation sheet for additional criterion.)

811 . Additional Resource Attributes: (List attributes and codes) HP2 Single Family Property

*812. References: (See Continuation Pages) 813. Remarks: *814. Evaluator: Ronald V. May, RPA *Date of Evaluation: July 14, 2003

(This space reserved for official comments.)

State of California -The Resources Agency DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION

CONTINUATION SHEET Page .2._ of _.5_

Primary# ---- - - ----------- -HRI#

"Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) Artb1Jr and Anne Dusenberry/L oujse M Severin House

*Recorded by Ronald V. May, RPA *Date July 14, 2003 [8J Continuation 0 Update

*810. Significance:

Criterion c. Arcbjtecture. Embodies distinctive characteristics of a style, type, period, or method of construction or is a valuable example of the use of indigenous material or craftsmanship.

The Arthur and Anne Dusenberry I Louise Severin House is significant under HRB Criterion c because it is an excellent example of a Louise Severin Spanish Eclectic, hacienda subtype architectural style from the 1925-1930 period. Severin developed distinctive single-story "L" and "U"-shaped houses based on early Spanish and Mexican California haciendas found in pueblos like Old San Diego, San Juan Capistrano and Los Angeles. Romanticized houses of the early 19111 century show enclosed courtyards surrounded by living and food preparation rooms of rustic adobe houses topped by Spanish style, fired red-clay roof tiles. The houses along Rochester Road that front address 4185 exhibit low gabled, shed, and flat pueblo style roof lines with a variety of cathedral and square bay windows, double-hung sash windows, French door openings onto garden patios, rustic high relief stucco walls, sculpted tapered chimneys with indented panels at the base, flying wing gates and niches accented by colorful and well-maintained lawns and gardens. Among these houses is City of San Diego Historic Landmark #504 at 4182 Rochester Road, also designed and built by Louise Severin. She varied wall stucco applications from smooth to bumpy to high relief broad stroke textures to add distinctive character to the neighborhood.

Criterion d. Master Builder. Is representative of the notable work of a master builder, designer, architect, engineer, landscape architect, interior designer, artist, or craftsman.

The Arthur and Anne Dusenberry I Louise Severin House is significant under HRB Criterion d because it is representative of the notable works of Louise M. Severin, who holds distinction as one of the earliest known female San Diego designer/ builders in the late 1920s period. She pioneered the Severin family construction projects when stucco revolutionized house construction, and the continued legacy of Severin construction projects in later years into eastern San Diego and the City of La Mesa are well-known. Examples are City of San Diego Historic Landmark #504 at 4182 Rochester Road, her 1930 home at 4970 Marlborough in Kensington, and her family's Severin Manor in La Mesa. She built landmark quality homes in Talmadge, Mid City, and other communities. The role of Louise M. Severin in San Diego's building industry emerged as a result of this study. Communication with her nephew, William "Erik" Severin DeCamp of Rancho Bernardo, revealed important family history of her struggle to earn standing as a serious builder in a male-

State of California -The Resources Agency DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION

CONTINUATION SHEET Page _3_ of ___5_

Primary# ------ --- ------- --HRI# --- ---- - ---- ------ -----

*Resource Name or# (Assigned by recorder) Arthur and Anne Dusenberry/Louise Severin House

•*Recorded by Ronald v_ May, RPA *Date July 14, 2003 t8l Continuation 0 Update

*812. References (continued):

Baumann, Thomas H. 1997 Kensington- Talmadge 1910 - 1997. Second Edition. San Diego: Ellipsys International Publications

Brandes, Ray 1981 San Diego An J/lustrated History. Los Angeles: Knapp Communications Corporation, Inc.

Brown, Curtis M., Walter Robilard, Donald A. Wilson 1981 Evidence and Procedures for Boundary Location. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Burness, Tad 1975 American Car Spotter's Guide 1920-1939. London: Motorbrooks International Publishers & Wholesalers Inc.

California Office of Historic Preservation 1996 The California Register of Historic Resources: Regulations for Nomination of Historic Properties. State of California, The Resources Agency, Department of Parks and Recreation

Kirker, Harold 1986 California's Architectural Frontier: Style and Tradition in The Nineteenth Century. Salt Lake City, Utah: Peregrine Books

McAlester, Virginia and Lee 1979 A Field Guide to American Homes. New York: Little, Brown and Company

National Park Service 1985 Historic American Building Survey Guidelines for Preparing Written and Historical Descriptive Data. Division of National Register Programs, Western Regional Office, San Francisco, California.

Richard F. Pourade, The History of San Diego, Chapter Nine, San Francisco Shows How Politics Should be Played"

Starr, Raymond 1986 San Diego A Pictorial History_ Norfolk, Virginia: The Donning Company

Starr, Kevin 1990 Material Dreams: Southern California Through the 1920s. New York: Oxford University Press.

The Thomas Guide 2002

Winter, Robert 1985 Architecture in Los Angeles: A Complete Guide. Salt Lake City, Utah: Peregrine Books.

Manuscripts

Romero, Kathleen 2001 California Preservation Foundation, Mills Act Workshop, May 17-1 9, 2001 , Office of the Tax Assessor, County of San Diego.

Academic Theses

Hennessey, Gregg R. 1977 City Planning, Progressivism, and the Development of San Diego, 1908-1926. Master's Thesis, San Diego State University, Department of History

State of California -The Resources Agency DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION

CONTINUATION SHEET Page .A_ of __5_

Primary# - -------- ------ --- -HRI#

*Resource Name or# (Assigned by recorder) Arthur and Anne Dusenben:y/Loujse M Severin House

**Recorded by Ronald V. May, RPA *Date July 14, 2003 ~ Continuation 0 Upda~

*812. References (continued):

Newspapers

San Diego Union, 1929 - 1965

Government Archives and Records

U.S. Census, 1920 and 1930

California Death Index

Historical Site Board Report. 4182 Rochester Road, San Diego, California 92116, September 2001 , Rowena Musico

County of Sao Diego Tax Assessor's Office

Tax Assessor's Office, Building Record, Maps Miscellaneous Book 96 pages 240, 241, 242, 243,244, 245, and 246, Notice of Location (Mining Records)

Operating Department Cjty of Sao Diego

Application Order for Water Service Sewer Connection Order

Map Search

United States Geodetic Survey, La Mesa Quad Map 7.5'

Title Search

First American Title, APN 440-362-13

County of Sao Diego Department of Public Works Map Records

Map 1245, Kensington Park, Being a Sub Divis ion of Lot 25 Mission of San Diego, San Diego County, California, AprilS, 1910

Map 1633, Map of Resubdivision of Blocks 4 & 11 , Kensington Park, San Diego County, Cal, January 22, 1914

Map 1248, Kensington Manor Unit No. 1, Being a Re-Subdivision, Sheets 1 & 2, August 13, 1925

County of San Diego Bonk of Qeeds Mining Indices and Miscellaneous Records Microfilm

Ancestry.com. www Ancestr:y com

BYU university professorships named for prominent founders. www byu edu/oews/releases/archjveOO/Nov/professors htm The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics: Gold Standard, by Michael D. Bordo. www ecooljb ocg/ljbrar:y/Eoc/GoldStandard htmt

Brad Delong's Home Page. Why Not the Gold Standard? Talking Points on the Likely Consequences of Re-Establishment of a Gold Standard. www j-bradford-delong net/Poljtjcs/whynotthegoldstaodard html

Family Search.com. www familysearch ocg/Eog/Search/frameset search asp

State of California- The Resources Agency DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION

CONTINUATION SHEET Page .1L of __5_

Primary# ----- - ---------- --HRI#

*Resource Name or# (Assigned by recorder) Arthur and Anne Dusenbeay/Loujse M Severin House

•*Recorded by Ronald V. May, RPA *Date July 14, 2003 l:8l Continuation 0 Update

*812. References (continued):

Goldinstitute.org. The Gold Institute. Nothing Works Like Gold: Important Dates in the History of Gold. http·l/goldinstjtute or:glhistoryl

Libertyhaven.com. The Great Gold Robbery by James Bovard. www !ibertyhaven com/regtJiatjooandpropertyrightslbaokjogmoneyortinancelgoldstaodardlgreatgold shtml

Pourade, Richard F., "The History of San Diego," www saodjegohjstor:y or:glbookslpourade htm San Diego Historical Society Journal of San Diego History

Santa Clara County California, Marriage Records, DUR-DZI, www rootsweb coml-camarr/santaclaraldur-dzj txt

Smoot. History of Am ira Emily Hill Harris Smoot. www angelfire comltxS/dougtx/emilyhill html

United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. http"//www bls govlcpihome htm

Utah Railroad Corporations. http·Uutahrails netlutah-rrslutah-rrs-inc-3 him , http"ilutahrails netlutah-rrslutah-rrs-inc-4 htm

z 117' OT30.00"W

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Historical Nomination of the Arthur and Anne Dusenberry I Louise Severin House

4185 Rochester Road~ Kensington Manor

by

Ronald V. May, RPA President and Principal Investigator

Dale Ballou May Vice President and Principal Researcher

Legacy 106, Inc. P.O. Box 503394

San Diego, CA 92150-3394 (619) 269-3924 Fax/Phone

www .legacy 1 06.com

Research Assisted by Leland Bibb, M.A.

Public Administration

July 12, 2003

Researched and accepted by Research Committee, Historical Sites Board, City of San Diego on , 2003

© 2003 Legacy 106, Inc.

List of Figures

1. DPR Form 523A

2. DPR Form 5238

3. U.S.G.S. La Mesa Quad Map, 7.5"

4. Rancho Mission San Diego Map

5. Abbie S. Hitchcock and Mary E. Gleason's Map 1245 of Kensington Park, April8, 1910

6. Abbie S. Hitchcock and Mary E. Gleason 's Map 1245 of Kensington Park, April8, 1910 and Map 1633, Blocks 4 & 11 ofKensington Park, comparison

7. Kensington Manor Unit No. 1 Map in greater context

8. Tax Assessor's Map

9. The Thomas Guide, Map 1268. Location of 4185 Rochester Road residence

I 0. The Henkensmeier Sisters

11. Henkensmeier and Severin Families

12. Louise M. Severin' s distinctive chimney with high relief stucco. Photo by Ron May.

13. Photographs of Louise M. Severin tapered, rustic raised stucco, chimney with inset panel: a. 1920s vintage photo of unknown Severin house (courtesy William Erik DeCamp) b. Close-up of similar tapered, rustic raised stucco, chimney with inset panel at 4185 Rochester Road. Note the low pitch, Spanish fired red clay tile roof is also similar to Figure 19.

14. Severin family and Louise M. Severin

15. A sketch of a typical Louise M. Severin Spanish Eclectic, hacienda subtype house plan

16. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map showing layout ofthe six adjacent Severin built or involved houses across the street from the Severin-designed and built Arthur and Anne Dusenberry House

17. Mining Index, Arthur Dusenberry, Lomita Hills Mines 1-9, and Fractions 1-3

18. Location of two of Arthur Dusenberry' s Lomita Hills gold mines

19. Gold mines in El Cajon

20. Financial collapse in 1929

2

21 . 4185 Rochester Road Spanish Eclectic Hacienda subtype house. a. Close-up of shed roof porch with wrought iron bracket; b. View from southeast corner looking at garage, front enclosed patio, gabled roof; c. View from northeast corner looking at living room window, north side with chimney, and view south down the street.

22. Photographs of 4185 Rochester Road: a. North side window with inappropriate aluminum window to be replaced with wood, double-hung sash window; b. Louise M. Severin's rustic raised exterior wall stucco; c. Enclosed front patio wall with wooden gate above terracotta tile steps and Malibu type tile step-risers; d. Close-up ofterracotta tile steps and Malibu type tile step risers.

23. Photographs of 4185 Rochester Road; a. Wall enclosed front patio and top of two sets of French door entries from the dining room to the patio; b. Close-up of modern ceramic address tile attached to the rustic raised stucco patio wall.

24. Rhythm and height of Rochester Road

3

List of Attachments

1. Aerial photograph of Rochester Road in Kensington Manor Unit No.1 , the year before Louise M. Severin built the houses east of Marlborough. San Diego Historical Society Research Archives Photographic Collection, #79:744-1395, Talmadge/Kensington, 9/26/28.

2. Aerial photograph April 1929 of Rochester Road in Kensington Manor Unit No. 1, three months before Louise M. Severin built 4185 Rochester Road, but while she was building the six houses across the street. (bottom) Close up view of same. San Diego Historical Society Research Archives Aerial Photograph #13433.

3. Aerial photograph, 10/9/37, Kensington Manor Unit 1 and Kensington Point, showing Louise M. Severin's five houses across the street from 4185 Rochester Road. San Diego Historical Society Research Archives Aerial Photograph #79:741-371.

4. Kensington 10/9/37. San Diego Historical Society Research Archives Aerial Photograph #79:741-371.

5. Residential Building Record, 4185 Rochester Road.

6. 6/26/29. Deed Book 1653, page 117, Helen C. Dillen, in the County ofLos Angeles (Grantor) to Louise M. Severin (Grantee)

7. 7/9/46. Grant Deed 72378 Veterans Welfare Board (Grantor) to Edgar James and Bernice A. Hurst (Grantee)

8. 6/6/62. Grant Deed, File/Page No. 95241, Bernice A. Hurst (Grantor) to Stanley M. and Clasiena A. Peck (Grantees)

9. 7/13/64. Grant Deed, File/page 169657 (801947), Clasiena A. Peck, a married woman (Grantor) to Edwin J. Franklin and Margaret F. Franklin, husband and wife as joint tenants (Grantees)

10. 2/23/87. Grant Deed File/Page 87-094524, Department of Veterans Affairs (Grantor) to Edwin J. Franklin and Margaret F. Franklin (Grantees)

11. 12/22/98. Document 1998-0840443, Affidavit death of joint tenant (Edwin J. Franklin- February 3, 1992)

12. 2/23/98. Document 1998-0091013, Margaret Franklin (Grantor) to Margaret Franklin, Trustee

13. 8/13/98. Document 1998-0512433, Grant Deed, Trustees ofthe 1998 Franklin Family Trust (Grantor) to Thomas E. Franklin and Margaret Franklin Wooten (Grantees), Tenants in Common

4

14. 12/22/98. Document 1998-0840444, Grant Deed, Thomas E. Franklin, a single man, and Margaret Franklin Wootten, a married woman as her sole and separate property, who acquired title as Thomas E. Franklin and Margaret Franklin Wootten, as tenants in common (Grantors) to James Dolak and Mia Dolak, husband and wife as joint tenants (Grantees).

15. 5/14/99. Grant Deed, Document 1999-0331933, Thomas E. Franklin, a single man (Grantor) to John Dolak and Mia Dolak, husband and wife, as joint tenants (Grantees) (Correction)

16. 5/30/03. Document 2003-0638389, Title Order No. 38089282-11 , John M. Dolak and Mia Dolak (Grantors) to Jonathan W. LeBaron and Darcy B. Kennedy, husband and wife as joint tenants (Grantees)

17. Two maps showing locations of Arthur L. Dusenberry's Lomita Hills #1 Lode and Lomita Hills #2 Lode gold mines in El Cajon.

18. Notices of Location for Arthur L. Dusenberry's Lomita Hills Lodes in El Cajon, filed in 1929. Miscellaneous Book No. 96, microfilm located in the San Diego Tax Assessor's offices.

19. Notices ofLocation for Arthur L. Dusenberry's Lomita Hills Lodes in El Cajon, filed in 1929. Miscellaneous Book No. 96, microfilm located in the San Diego Tax Assessor's offices.

20. Application and Order for Water Service, 7/25/29. Owner Louise M. Severin by H.T. Severin, 4211 Rochester Road.

5

Historical Nomination of the Arthur and Anne Dusenberry I Louise Severin House

4185 Rochester Road~ Kensington Manor

Ronald V. May, RP A Dale Ballou May Legacy 106, Inc. P.O. Box 503394

San Diego, CA 92150-3394 (619) 269-3924 Fax/Phone

Introduction

The Arthur and Anne Dusenberry I Louise Severin House is recommended for historic designation by the City of San Diego because:

Criterion a. Cultural Landscape. Those sites exemplifying or reflecting special elements of the city's, community's, or a neighborhood's historical, archaeological, cultural, social, economic, political, aesthetic, engineering, landscaping, or architectural development.

The Kensington community of Rochester Road east of Marlborough Drive surrounding the house at address 4185 is an intact cultural landscape of Louise Severin-designed late 1920s Spanish Eclectic hacienda style houses, original palm tree-lined lawn easements, and front lawns that exemplify and reflect special elements of a continuous landscape greenbelt, sidewalks, and streetscape that follows a rhythm of bulk and scale in keeping with Master Architect Richard Requa's Architectural Review Board community design. Kensington Manor Unit No. 1 holds distinction as one of San Diego's first designed communities, which Requa enforced in the 1925-1930 period and most certainly guided Louise M. Severin's design of Rochester Road houses. A windshield survey of several blocks along Rochester, Norfolk Terrace, and Lymer Streets in Kensington Manor Unit No. 1 revealed nineteen houses built in Severin's "L" or "U"-shaped hacienda style with the distinctive rustic high-relief stucco walls. Although beyond the scope of this study, water/sewer permits for nine of the residences in the vicinity of 4185 Rochester Road were pulled and all had Louise Severin's name as builder. These houses are 4158, 4170, 4174, 4178, 4182 (City of San Diego Historic Landmark #504), and 4186 on Rochester Road, 4266 Norfolk Terrace, 4271 Norfolk Terrace and 4970 Marlborough. Directory research revealed Louise Severin lived at the latter address in 1930. Additionally, although not a proven Severin-built home, 4166 Rochester Road was the home ofher brother-in-law, Urban Severin, in 1931.

6

Criterion c. Architecture. Embodies distinctive characteristics of a style, type, period, or method of construction or is a valuable example of the use of indigenous material or craftsmanship.

The Arthur and Anne Dusenberry I Louise Severin House is significant under HRB Criterion c because it is an excellent example of a Louise Severin Spanish Eclectic, hacienda subtype architectural style from the 1925-1930 period. Severin developed distinctive single-story "L" and "U"-shaped houses based on early Spanish and Mexican California haciendas found in pueblos like Old San Diego, San Juan Capistrano, and Los Angeles. Romanticized houses of the early 19th century show enclosed courtyards surrounded by living and food preparation rooms of rustic adobe houses topped by Spanish style, fired red-clay roof tiles. The houses along Rochester Road that front address 4185 exhibit low gabled, shed, and flat pueblo style roof lines with a variety of cathedral and square bay windows, double-hung sash windows, French door openings onto garden patios, rustic high relief stucco walls, sculpted tapered chimneys with indented panels at the base, flying wing gates and niches accented by colorful and well-maintained lawns and gardens. Among these houses is City of San Diego Historic Landmark #504 at 4182 Rochester Road, also designed and built by Louise Severin. She varied wall stucco applications from smooth to bumpy to high relief broad stroke textures to add distinctive character to the neighborhood.

Criterion d. Master Builder. Is representative of the notable work of a master builder, designer, architect, engineer, landscape architect, interior designer, artist, or craftsman.

The Arthur and Anne Dusenberry I Louise Severin House is significant under HRB Criterion d because it is representative of the notable works of Louise M. Severin, who holds distinction as one of the earliest known female San Diego designer/ builders in the late 1920s period. She pioneered the Severin family construction projects when stucco revolutionized house construction, and the continued legacy of Severin construction projects in later years into eastern San Diego and the City of La Mesa are well-known. Examples are City of San Diego Historic Landmark #504 at 4 I 82 Rochester Road, her 1930 home at 4970 Marlborough in Kensington, and her family's Severin Manor in La Mesa. She built landmark quality homes in Talmadge, Mid City, and other communities. The role of Louise M. Severin in San Diego' s building industry emerged as a result of this study. Communication with her nephew, William "Erik" Severin DeCamp of Rancho Bernardo, revealed important family history ofher struggle to earn standing as a serious builder in a male-dominated building industry in the 1930s and 1940s. This new research, together with family photographs, brought forth the unknown story of an important self-made, female builder and designer in the Kensington-Talmadge community who has not previously been identified. Indeed, Historical Landmark No. 504 should be modified to credit her as the builder of that house, rather than the street address as the designation. Louise M. Severin came to an untimely death in Los Angeles on a job site in I 949 when a tree branch being trimmed under her supervision for another housing development broke unexpectedly, striking her into unconsciousness and then death, thus bringing her interesting career, and the full understanding of her master works, to an untimely end.

7

Executive Summary

This historic house nomination concerns a 1929, one-story, Spanish Eclectic, hacienda subtype house at 4185 Rochester Road in Kensington Manor Unit No. 1 that is a contributor to a broader historic cultural landscape of similar Louise M. Severin houses built in the 1925-1930-time period along the palm-lined lawn-belt of Rochester Road, east of Marlborough (Figures 1, 2, and 3). Although the evidence supports a significant cultural landscape for Kensington Manor Unit No. 1 on Rochester Road, the owner only commissioned nomination of 4185 Rochester Road. The City of San Diego should incorporate the information in this report for future consideration of a cultural landscape district. Despite unfavorable odds, Severin distinguished herself as an early female general contractor and master builder who constructed many homes in Kensington Manor Unit No. 1, most of which exhibit her signature rustic adobe-like high-relief stucco wall application to these Spanish California hacienda type homes. Severin built 4185 Rochester Road for Arthur and Anne Dusenberry in 1929. Dusenberry is significant for his role in pioneering twelve of the Lomita Hills gold mines in the southeast area of El Cajon and symbolically for the impact of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's impact on small gold mining operations during the Great Depression. The Severin homes on Rochester Road fit into a cohesive neighborhood of single-story residences that match in rhythm, bulk, and scale and compliment each other in variations with Spanish style, fired red clay tile roofs, rustic high relief stucco walls, courtyard porches, rectangular and cathedral style bay windows, French doors that opened to enclosed patios, mature palm tree-lined lawn easements, and a continuous beltway oflawns that follow the east/ outheast arch of Rochester Road in alignment with streets and sidewalks. The Scvcrin-style rustic stucco siding and rooflines of this concentration of homes in the vicinity of 4185 Rochester are distinctive and contribute to the character of this historic cultural landscape in the eastern portion of Kensington Manor Unit No. 1 and the Kensington community history of the City of San Diego.

Evolution of An American Fantasy (Hyperspace) Community

Native American Land Use. For thousands of years, prehistoric people occupied and utilized the land following culturally specific concepts of use rights, access, and tradition. Families bonded by kinship, language, and socio-political status harvested resources according to time-honored ways, understandings, and agreements. A wide variety of influences such as seasonal changes, drought and floods, trade pacts, warfare, marriage alliances, and environmental change guided those traditions and understandings. The richest hunting and gathering areas often followed the water resources and the most desirable and abundant resources were associated with the San Diego River, bays, estuaries, and Pacific Coast and were utilized and lived in by these ancient peoples. Drier and hotter uplands, such as Kensington, Mission Hills, and Talmadge provided a different set of resources from the coast and waterways and less abundant opportunity for game and plant foods to be harvested. The uplands did provide cobblestones for tools, vernal pools for gathering fairy shrimp and medicines, direct access to other desirable areas by trails across the landscape, and specific plant and animal resources associated with the hotter, dryer mesas. Those traditional land use rights terminated with the arrival of Spanish colonists after 1769.

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Spanish Territory. The King of Spain's representatives sought out native civilizations in Mexico during the 16th century, explored North America, and conquered one native population after another to claim and exploit an ever-larger dominion in Spain's name. As early as 1540, Spanish exploration up the Lower Colorado River claimed portions of California. Spain planted a flag somewhere inside San Diego Bay in 1542 and incorporated California into this intense land grab. Native peoples response varied by locality and some generally ignored these usurpers and continued ancient land use strategies until soldiers arrived to build Catholic missions, military presidios, roads, and develop expansive agricultural operations. While some native peoples sidestepped most of these incursions, a few fights are documented that resulted in bloodshed.

Spanish Reduction of Native Land Use. True conflict arose when Spanish soldiers applied "the reduction," a policy designed to destroy native independence and property use rights and convert native peoples to become dependent upon Spanish military and religious authorities. This program along with European-introduced diseases succeeded in reducing both native populations and changing cultures through North, Central, and South America by the end of the 18th centuries. Nonetheless, some native peoples simply readjusted their territorial operations to avoid the Spanish. Catholic priests and soldiers captured hundreds and then thousands of native Yuman-speaking Kumeyaay and Shoshonean-speaking people and pressed them into forced labor to clear thousands of acres of native vegetation and plant crops, vineyards, orchards and release cattle, sheep, pigs and horses to eat the native shrubs and grasses. Those livestock generally avoided the steep hillsides of Mission Valley and dry mesas, although maps include the area as potential grazing sites. The same harsh, dry, and low resource opportunities encountered by native Kumeyaay afforded little opportunities for the Spanish to do much with the mesa now called Kensington. Archaeologically, the artifacts anticipated for the area would be trail breakage (pottery sherds ), knapped stone, and possibly seed-grinding tools.

Mexican Land Use. Internal revolution in Mexico City resulted in expulsion of Spanish authority from all of "New Spain" and replacement by the Mexican Republic. The Mexican authorities that arrived in San Diego in 1822 to enforce the change brought little funds to carry out their plans. The new regime sold licenses to foreign merchants to carry out business in San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Monterey, and San Francisco. Mexico closed down the Catholic mission ranch lands in 1834 as public property and released native people to live free as Mexican citizens. Priests sold cattle hides, wool, grain, and crafts to American, British, French and other sailor merchants who visited San Diego during the 1822-1846 eras. Mexican Governor Pio Pico granted Rancho Mission San Diego to retired soldier Santiago Arguello in 1835 (Baumann 1997:3).

Subdivision of Rancho Mission San Diego. The invasion of Mexico by the United States in the Mexican War of 1846 ended the Mexican regime and the conquerors instituted their concept of privatization of land. The United States Army Topographic Survey subdivided former Mexican lands into a grid of township and range with section blocks. Private land surveyors shot landmarks, such as buildings, mountains, rivers, and roads to subdivide the grid for private ownership (Figure 4). Upon Arguello 's death in 1862 and his widow's death in 1868, Rancho Mission San Diego changed hands several times and former Mexican citizens sued for recognition of Mexican land grants. The Superior Court awarded an enormous region to the City of San Diego as "pueblo lands"

9

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in 1870 and partitioned other lands as well. Court Retirees Charles J. Fox, O.H. Borden, and M.C. Woodson (a member of the former Topographic Survey) recorded with J.M. Dodge of the County Recorder on January I , 1886 to partition the lands east of the Pueblo of San Diego, north of National Ranch, and southwest of Cajon Ranch to be the "Partition of Rancho Mission San Diego, San Diego County, California" (Figure 4). The former mission lands became sixty-one lots covering 59,875 acres. The City of San Diego sold those lots to private landowners.

Lots 25 and 47 of Rancho Mission San Diego. To place this in perspective, Kensington falls within Lots 25 and 47, which runs south oflnterstate 8 for several miles to Monroe A venue, a bit west of Interstate 15 to 3 91h Street, and then east several miles. Only the northern perimeter of Lot 4 7 contains sufficient water resources to support populations of people. The hillsides of Mission Valley exceed 45% in gradient and could be traversed on narrow trails which prehistoric Kumeyaay people used to access other areas. The dry chaparral and sage scrub highlands overlooking Mission Valley below lacked natural water, other than shallow vernal pools. Neither the Catholic priests nor Arguello could conduct agriculture or move livestock up the mesas for grazing. Most of the mesa lands were too arid to support much in the way of residential land use.

Location of Mission and Native Residential Areas. The former Catholic Mission San Diego, San Diego River, and most of the significant prehistoric Kumeyaay archaeology sites lie north of Lot 47 in Lots 43, 48, and 49 (Figure 4). This lies along the San Diego River, where the important Kumeyaay villages, camps, and cultural landscape primarily existed.

United States of American Land Use. The United States Government and private investors instituted the City of San Diego with a Charter to regulate land use in accordance with the State of California and Constitution ofthe United States. The City of San Diego hired private land surveyors to subdivide the Pueblo lands for auction to raise money to operate the city and county. Purchasers of subdivided lots then paid annual taxes to the county treasurer. A number of private banks and individuals acquired some of the Rancho Mission San Diego lots and filed subdivisions with the City of San Diego to sell lots for housing.

Deterritorialism, Code-Switching, and Hyperspace Communities. Geographer Michael Kearny defined this process of subdividing former Kumeyaay, Spanish, and Mexican lands as "deterritorialism" (Kearny 1995:553). The process contracted space into townships, sections, and lot sales. Government agencies and East Coast investors promoted development of mining, agriculture, fishing, logging, and industry in these new territories to create raw material for eastern markets and industries. This system worked to expand the American west through the 19111 century. Real estate promoters dreamed up fantasy communities to advertise in newspapers, magazines, and advertisements to lure immigrants from Europe and the East to engage in these productive activities.

Archaeologist Ronald Reno noted the books, magazines, and newspapers promoted "hyperreal social expectations" that were enhanced by engineers, architects, and builders to create neighborhoods of housing styles for the immigrants (Reno 1995). People from as far away as Germany, France, and the east coast arrived and shifted identities through

lO

a process known as "code-switching" to become active participants in the newly created communities (Reno 1995:5). For Kensington, immigrants attracted to a British-style community in 1910-1 912, soon found themselves identified with the American Arts & Crafts Movement and by 1915-1920 a completely fabricated Spanish Revival era that re-shaped their personal and family identities in local schools, church, and city-county politics.

Expansion of San Diego to the East. Once established, these communities were touted in the newspapers as the "Inland Empire" and roads were built to improve commerce (Garcia 1975:72). John D. Spreckels expanded the eastern boundary of San Diego by building light rail trolley lines into the County of San Diego after the end of the 191h century, which helped spawn the "trolley suburbs."

Kensington Park

Digging a Little Deeper: the True Founders of Kensington Park. Contrary to the popularly repeated history that realtor and banker G. Aubrey Davidson owned and created Kensington Park along with a handful of male co-investors and named all the streets "because he was Canadian and had a preference for English names" (Baumann 1997:3 ), a reexamination of the chain of subdivision maps reveals otherwise. Kensington Park Map 1245, a predecessor to Map 1848, shows that two sisters, Abbie Hall Hitchcock and Mary E. Gleason acquired Lot 25 of Rancho Mission San Diego at the east end of Spreckels ' trolley line on Adams A venue and were the only owners of record on April 8, 1910 (Fig w-e 5). William Douglass was listed with them as a "party in interest". These three previously unrecognized individuals, not G. Aubrey Davidson, can be credited with the original creation of the first subdivision of Kensington Park from Lot 25 of the Rancho Mission San Diego. (Figure 4).

This exploration into the actual chain of ownership of the tract is relevant to understand the relationships of investments between the men, women, and business entities in San Diego, Los Angeles, and other areas that helped develop San Diego. Each house under historic designation review affords an opportunity to understand, add to, and sometimes revise the known information about our communities, enhance our appreciation of San Diego's rich history, and appreciate the history of the individual houses that were built as contributors to these distinctive communities.

Kensington Park Hyperspace. To learn more about the two sisters, an examination of the San Diego Historical Society Research Archives and Winifred Davidson's notes in the biographical files document that Abbie Hall Hitchcock came to California in 1875 and she resided with her husband, David H. Hitchcock, at 1360 91h Street in 1915. Abbie 's sister, Mrs. Mary E. Gleason, was in Natick, Massachusetts. It is not known at this time if Mary also lived in San Diego. Davidson notes that Abbie died August 7, 1916.

The two sisters' association with William Douglass, the "party in interest" is not clear. It is probable, but not definite, that he is the same William Douglas (one "s") who was the San Diego sales agent for the San Diego Chamber of Lands, 964 Sixth Street in San Diego. A review of the January 6, 1913 Articles of Incorporation of the Kensington Park

11

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KENSINGiTO PARK Bt:tNG A SuB DIVISION or LOT 25 Mt55tON

OF 5AN DIEGO. SAN DIEGO

COUNTY. CALifORNIA.

Land Company and Sheet 1 ofthe August 14, 1925 Kensington Manor Unit No.1 Subdivision Map do not list either Douglass or Douglas as investors. A less certain connection to G. Aubrey Davidson's later ownership to Kensington Park would be J.R. Hitchcock, who was superintendent for the Santa Fe Railway in Los Angeles. No relationship between Abbie and J.R. has been established at this time, but it is possible that Abbie's husband, David Hitchcock, was related to J.R. Hitchcock, as investments and investment opportunities often traveled through family connections.

According to this early Map 1245, Hitchcock and Gleason hired F.A. Rhodes, engineer for D.C. Collier and Company to design the Kensington Park subdivision in February 1910 (Figure 5). The subdivision created twenty-eight blocks of up to thirty lots each and ran from Monroe Avenue on the south to Lot 47 (of Rancho Mission San Diego) on the north. The choice of"28" blocks is not by chance, as London's Kensington Park has twenty-eight metropolitan boroughs and the sisters may have envisioned each block to be a separate borough in their new subdivision (Baumann 1997)

The sisters filed the 28-block Map 1245 surrounding a small park on Adams A venue with the County Recorder on April 8, 1910. It is marked, "The Map of Kensington Park." It was they who named Marlborough, Kensington, Terrace, and Edgeware, not Davidson. Possibly the plan was to recruit one or more real estate agents to market the lots with a British fantasy theme. Baumann stated that executives of Santa Fe Railway dreamed up the scheme in 1909 (Baumann 1997:3), but the map evidence shows the sisters as the creators in early 1910. Historic reports for Kensington house nominations have repeated Baumann's account, based on William Douglas' real eslate ads (Baumrum 1997:4) and the "official map of Kensington Park" (Baumann 1997 :6), which was not the official map of record. Comparison ofMap 1245 and Davidson 's real estate plan marked, "official map of Kensington Park," reveals a discrepancy of237 lots north of Jefferson Avenue (Alder). Baumann is most often cited as the authority on the development of Kensington Park, recording that George Burnham purchased the land in 1909 for Southern Trust and Commerce Bank and crediting Davidson as the founder who named the subdivision "because he was a Canadian and had a preference for English names" (Baumann 1997:5).

The crucial evidence to unravel the mystery of who actually created Kensington seems to be the statement, "escrow closed April 8, 191 0" (Ibid), which is the same day sisters Hitchcock and Gleason recorded the map. Why would Burnham purchase the land in 1909 and then have escrow close in 191 0? One possible answer is that real estate agent Douglas enticed Burnham to put a down pa)ment to the sisters on a portion of Lot 25 of Rancho Mission San Diego in 1909 with the promise to pay-off the balance when the City of San Diego recorded the map. To cinch the deal, the sisters may have allowed Douglass to be listed as an interested party on the recorded map.

Burnham is not listed among the nine men Baumann took from a newspaper ad as the financiers for the development (Baumann 1997:3), although Douglas is listed as "sales agent." Review ofthe February 8, 1913 "Articles oflncorporation ofthe Kensington Park Land Company" listed Dan Murphy, Edward Chambers, Godfrey Holterhoff, Jr. , and A.C. Riordan as the directors and trustees (Research Archives, San Diego Historical Society). This legal document does not list either Davidson, Burnham, Douglass, or Douglas. In fact, neither Davidson nor the Southern Trust and Commerce Bank is listed

12

on any available legal document for the Kensington Park Land Company, nor are they listed on the January 13, 1930 Decree and Order for Dissolution of Kensington Park Land Company, a corporation (Research Archives, San Diego Historical Society). While Davidson's known associates were the Kensington Park Land Company, Union Title Insurance Company, and the Western American Realty Company, there are no Articles of Incorporation in San Diego for the Western American Realty Company and it is not listed in the city directory, which suggests that this company may have been an out-of-town investment entity, perhaps in Los Angeles. Interestingly, the Kensington Park Land Company also does not list itself in the San Diego directory either, although it appears often in advertisements in various newspapers.

Who were these two sisters? What was their relationship to Douglass? Why did they purchase the tract in 1910 but not develop it? How old was Abbie when she died in 1916 and what other investments did she and her family own? What was their business and/or personal relationship to G. Aubrey Davidson and/or his co-investors? What social, political, or religious circles did they travel in? These are all tantalizing questions about the role of women and land development in San Diego. For now, let the record be corrected that sisters Abbie Hitchcock and Mary E. Gleason founded and named Kensington Park and some of the original English-named streets. As to the other questions, they are beyond the scope of this study and remain open to future researchers to investigate.

G. Aubrey Davidson and Associates. What role, then, did Davidson and his investors play in the history of Kensington Park? Some time between 1910 and 1912, Hitchcock and Gleason sold Blocks 11 and 4 to Davidson and J.C. Thompson of Kensington Park Land Company. They hired Civil Engineer C.D. Trounce to redesign those blocks as Map 1633 to realign lots fronting on Oxford Avenue (Canterbury Drive) and Plymouth Avenue (Norfolk Terrace) to set up for future subdivision. Blocks 4 and 11 Kensington Park recorded on March 30, 1914 (County Recorder; Figure 6). Ultimately, they were the conduit for a multitude of house designers, builders, real estate promoters and speculators to develop the lots. They funded the installation of paved streets, storm drains, sidewalks, curbs, and gutters. They paid for the installation of the cobblestone pylons at the Monroe entrance to Kensington Park.

Another piece to the puzzle of Kensington Park lies in Baumann' s statement regarding land north of Jefferson (Alder):

For some unexplained reason there are six separate small plots located on what is now Kensington Manor. However, according to the deeds of the property they are designated as Kensington Park. Kensington Manor did not open up until 1925 (Baumann ] 997:5).

This is, of course, the remaining 237 lots Hitchcock and Gleason did not sell to Davidson or Douglas and his crowd at the "Office San Diego Chamber of Lands" (Baumann 1997:4). Baumann made his mistake by not comparing the recorded Map 1245 with Davidson's real estate sales map.

13

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When Davidson and Thompson re-subdivided Blocks 4 and 11 Kensington Park in 1914, they set up a boundary adjustment for the northern 237 lots with street realignment that allowed for more creative road systems to take advantage of ridge tops protruding out over steep canyons to the north. This allowed them to redesign and sell lots in the original Kensington Park layout (Figure 7).

The big change to Kensington occurred when Kensington Park Land Company, Western American Realty Company, and Union Title Insurance Company re-subdivided the north 1/3 of Map 1245, Lots 1-9, Block 12 (excluding Lots 15-23), Block 13 (excluding Lots 7-15); Map 1633, Block 4, Block 11 (excluding Lots 16, 17, 21-25); Plymouth Avenue, Crescent Road, Oxford A venue, Cambridge Street, Scoria Place, the northerly 1 01 0 feet of Terrace Drive, the north 680 feet of Marlborough Drive, northerly 946 feet of Edgeware Road, north 1102 feet of County Road, alleys in Blocks 2-1 2 all vacated as of July 20, 1925 (Book 50, page 109, Recorder's Office; Figure 6). Civil Engineer E.P. Watson drew up the new map for Kensington Manor on August 10, 1925 and the Board of Supervisors certified approval on August 12 and Map 1848 recorded on August 13, 1925. Map 1848 changed the street west-east cross streets on Kensington, Marlborough and Edgeware to Sussex Drive, Canterbury Drive, Westminster Terrace, Norfolk Terrace, Lymer Drive, and Rochester Road.

Ironically, after making such a to-do about naming the streets with British names, Davidson's people selected American Arts and Crafts style houses for his hyperspace community at Kensington Park. This is not a community of English manors, Cotswold cottages, Tudor style cottages, or London townhouses, although a few cottages do exist south of Adams A venue and on Aldine. Baumann illustrated several newspaper ads depicting two-story Craftsman style houses for Kensington Park. Many smaller one-story Craftsman and California bungalow houses survive on Edgeware north of Adams and Marlborough, and south, between Adams and Monroe. But many of the Kensington Park lots remained undeveloped until the Spanish Eclectic craze hit San Diego following the 1915-1916 Panama-San Diego Exposition and Davidson hired master architect RichardS. Requa to design the layout of Kensington Manor Unit No. 1 and gave him complete control over the Spanish Eclectic architecture proposed by lot owner-builders. The exceptions were on Spanish style houses built on the earlier Kensington Park lots that incorporated into the re-subdivision maps in 1914 and 1925.

Site Identification

The property is located on U.S.G.S. La Mesa Quadrangle (Figure 3). It is identified as Tax Assessor's APN 440-362-13 (Figure 8). Legal description:

Lot 10, in Block 10 of Kensington Manor Unit No. 1, in the City of San Diego, County of San Diego, State of California, according to Map thereofNo. 1848, filed in the Office of the County Recorder of San Diego County, August 13, 1925.

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Figure 9 shows the property on the Thomas Brothers Map, page 1269.

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Property History

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Chain of Title, Building Permit, U.S. Census, Mine Records, and Directory History

The following is the property history, including chain of title, City Directory, and other historical document cross-references:

Date

1927

1928

1929

1929

4/23/29

6/26/29

7/3/29

7/26/29

Remarks

Directory. Mrs. Louise M. Severin, residence 4637 Oregon Street

Directory. Mrs. Louise M. Severin, residence 4650 Arizona Street

Directory. Mrs. Louise M. Severin , residence 1234 Upas Street; Hilmer T. Severin, salesman

Directory. John N. Haskell, president, Mead-Haskell, mortgage, loans, insurance, 658 Spreckels Theater Bldg., 121 Broadway

Deed Book 1615, page 275, Kensington Park Land Company (Grantor) to Helen C. Dillen (Grantee)

Deed Book 1653, page 117, Helen C. Dillen, in the County of Los Angeles (Grantor) to Louise M. Severin (Grantee)

Book 92, page 183, Notice of Completion

Water Permit, Operating Department, City of San Diego, Application and Order for Water Service, 4211 (4185) Rochester Road, owner Louise M. Severin , application by H. T. Severin

15

8/12/29

10/30/29

1930

1930

1930

1931

1931

1931

4/5/33

5/15/33

5/22/33

1933

1934

1934

1935

1935

1936

1936

10/9/36

1937

1937

1938

Deed Book 1677, page 33, Louise M. Severin (Grantor) to Arthur and Anne E. Dusenberry (Grantee)

Index to Mining Records, San Diego County, California, Book 96, pages 240-246, Lomita Hills #1 , 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Arthur Dusenberry, Location recording.

Directory. Arthur L. and Anne Dusenberry, mining, 4211 Rochester Road

Directory. Hilmer T. and Louise M. Severin, residence 4970 Marlborough Drive

Directory. Mrs. Louise M. Severin, 1234 Upas Street

Directory. Arthur and Anne Dusenberry, 4211 Rochester Road

Directory. Hilmer T. and Louise M. Severin and Hilmer T. Severin, Jr., 4590 Terrace Drive

Directory. Urban C. Severin, 4166 Rochester Road

President Franklin D. Roosevelt nationalized gold held by private citizens and ordered American citizens to surrender their gold to the government. Only $100 in gold coins or collections of rare coins could be retained .

Deed Book 200, page 465, Arthur and Anne E. Dusenberry (Grantor) to Genevieve Haverick (Grantee)

Congress enacted a law declaring all coin and currencies then in circulation to be legal tender, dollar for dollar, as if they were gold, but the president was empowered to reduce the gold content by half.

Directory. 4211 Rochester (vacant)

Directory. Hilmer T. (Louise M.) Carpenter, 4717 Talmadge Drive (they were gone in 1933)

Directory. Walter B. (Gladys) Sandusky, 4211 Rochester Road

Directory. Henry E. (Edith) Biedebach, district plant manager, Southern California Telephone Company, 4211 Rochester Road (moved from 3560 32nd Street)

Directory. Walter B. (Gladys) Sandusky, moved from 4211 Rochester Road to 4161 Lymer Drive

Directory. Henry E. (Edith) Biedebach, 4211 Rochester Road

Directory. Hilmer (Louise M.) Severin, Building Contractor, 4727 Biona Drive

Deed, File No. 65655, to Veterans Welfare Board of State of California

Directory. Edgar James (Bernice) Hurst, 4211 Rochester Road (moved from 4771 Vista Lane)

Directory. Edgar James Hurst, Superintendent, Prudential Insurance Company, 1014 San Diego Trust and Savings Building, 1014 Broadway

Directory. Edgar James Hurst, 4185 Rochester Road (City of San Diego changed street addresses and this one from 4211 to 4185 Rochester Road)

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1939 Directory. Edgar James Hurst, 4185 Rochester Road

1940 Directory. Urban C. Severin, carpenter, 4850 Alder

7/25/41 43821, Veterans Welfare Board Notice of Non-resp

1944-1958 Directory. Edgar James Hurst; Virginia A. Hurst, 4185 Rochester Road

7/9/46 Grant Deed 72378 Veterans Welfare Board (Grantor) to Edgar James and Bernice A. Hurst (Grantee)

1947-1948 Directory. Severin Construction Company, Nels G. President, (also Severin Stores) residence 4941 Kensington Drive

1947-1948 Directory. Severin Construction Company, Urban C. Severin, Treasurer, residence 4845 E. Alder Drive

1947-1948 Directory. Severin Stores, EarlL. (Eunice) Severin, 8274 La Mesa Blvd; Severin Construction Company, 3504 El Cajon Blvd.

1/8/54 San Diego Union, Severin Manor subdivision set aside 10-acres for school and shopping center 6:3-5

4/26/59 San Diego Union, Severin Construction Co. built a plastic home F-6:3-5

1956-1960 Directory. Severin Construction Company, Nels G. President, William H. DeCamp, Vice President, 3504 El Cajon Blvd. (Nels was also president of Severin Motors, Inc, used cars, 3500 El Cajon Blvd., and president of Palomar Mortgage Company and Severin Pontiac, Inc., 1935 National Avenue, National City)

3/29/60 File No. 64102, Edgar J. Hurst (deceased) to Bernice A. Hurst, Superior Court No. 64366 (probably probate)

1/15/61 San Diego Union, F-7:5-7, Severin Construction Company won a home award

1961-1962 Directory. 4185 Rochester Road (vacant)

6/6/62 Grant Deed, File/Page No. 95241, Bernice A. Hurst (Grantor) to Stanley M. and Clasiena A. Peck (Grantees)

1963-1964 Directory. Stanley M. (Ciasiena) Peck, ret'd 4185 Rochester

4/2/64 File/Page No. 60016 O.R. Stanley M. Peck (Grantor) to Clasiena A. Peck (Grantee)

7/13/64 Grant Deed, File/page 169657 (801947), Clasiena A. Peck, a married woman (Grantor) to Edwin J. Franklin and Margaret F. Franklin, husband and wife as joint tenants (Grantees)

9/17/64 169656; 169658; 169659, Quit Claim Peck to Edwin J. and Margaret F. Franklin (joint tenants)

1965 Directory. Edwin J. (Margaret) Franklin ret'd, 4185 Rochester 1968 San Diego Union C-8:7, Obituary for Urban C. Severin

10/3/71 San Diego Union B-23:1-2, Obituary for Earl R. Severin

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10/19/73

2/23/87

2/23/98

3/13/98

8/13/98

12/22/98

12/22/98

5/14/99

5/30/03

San Diego Union E 1:1-2, Obituary for Hilmer T . Severin

Grant Deed File/Page 87-094524, Department of Veterans Affairs (Grantor) to Edwin J . Franklin and Margaret F. Franklin (Grantees)

Document 1998-0091013, Margaret Franklin (Grantor) to Margaret Franklin, Trustee

Document 1998-0512433, Trustees of 1998 Franklin Family Trust to Thomas E. Franklin and Margaret Franklin Wootten

Document 1998-0512433, Grant Deed, Trustees of the 1998 Franklin Family Trust (Grantor) to Thomas E. Franklin and Margaret Franklin Wooten (Grantees), Tenants in Common

Document 1998-0840443, Affidavit death of joint tenant (Edwin J. Franklin-February 3, 1992)

Document 1998-0840444, Grant Deed, Thomas E. Franklin, a single man, and Margaret Franklin Wootten, a married woman as her sole and separate property, who acquired title as Thomas E. Franklin and Margaret Franklin Wootten, as tenants in common (Grantor) to James Dolak and Mia Dolak, husband and wife as joint tenants.

Grant Deed, Document 1999-0331933, Thomas E. Franklin, a single man (Grantor) to John Dolak and Mia Dolak, husband and wife, as joint tenants (Grantees) (Correction)

Document 2003-0638389, Title Order No. 38089282-11 , John M. Dolak and Mia Dolak (Grantors) to Jonathan W. LeBaron and Darcy B. Kennedy (husband and wife as joint tenants)

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Louise M. Severin. Photo courtesy William "Erik" Severin DeCamp

Louise Mary Severin (owner, designer, and builder)

Louise M. Severin held distinction as one of San Diego's earliest female successful master building contractors in the 1920s (Figures 10, 11 , 12). She designed Spanish Eclectic, hacienda style houses that exhibit distinctive sculpted rustic application to the exterior walls and chimneys. She bought clusters of lots in existing subdivision blocks in upper economic scale communities, such as Kensington and Talmadge, designed harmonized rhythm and scale to the neighborhood, and then site-supervised construction crews to carry out her work. She organized her family members on the construction teams and they moved their families into neighborhoods under construction as she relocated her building efforts to new neighborhoods.

A review of the city directories during the 1920s and 30s shows that she and her husband Hilmer rarely lived in the same house from one year to the next as she built homes around the city. Family testimony reveals that Hilmer served in a secondary role as laborer and helper to Louise, and she did the estimating, contracting, designing, and supervised the building. Hilmer began working in the automobile industry in the teens and, in 1918, he and his brothers designed the Severin Roadster, a popular touring car. His brothers, Urban and Nels weighed into the automobile craze after World War I, eventually owning new and used car sales lots along El Cajon Boulevard. Severin family members also sold the Severin Roadster. After the Severin Roadster ceased production in 1922, Hilmer went into the construction trade as a helper for Louise (Evening Tribune October 18, 1973). During her career she built custom and speculation homes between 1925 and 1949 in San Diego, La Mesa, and Los Angeles. Her sudden and untimely death from a falling branch while on a

Severin Roadster. American Car Spotter's Guide, 1920-1939

construction site in Los Angeles on September 22, 1949 was a shock to the family at the time, and Severin family members today are trying to piece together her building legacy from a patchwork of fragmented family records (DeCamp, 2003).

Louise began life in Kansas City, Missouri on August 1, 1892. Her parents were Martin Luther Henkensmeier and Elizabeth Georges Henkensmeier (Figure 1 0). Her parents were descended from families in Frankfurt and Hamburg, and her nephew, William DeCamp, recalled she used to tell people, "I am half hamburger and half frankfurter." When Louise was in her early teens, her father died of spinal meningitis leaving the widowed mother to endure terrible hardships to care for her children because women were not well accepted in the workplace (DeCamp 2003). Overcoming the challenge of gender discrimination, Louise apprenticed in the construction trade and worked her way to learn the skills necessary in carpentry, concrete, flooring, roofing, stucco, and estimating and then passed tests necessary at the time to become a general contractor in the 1920s. She married Hilmer Severin and her sister Stella married his older brother, Urban C. Severin (Figure 11). During World War II, she built government designed and

19

Henkensmeier

Martin Luther Henkensmeier + Elizabeth Laura Georges

- Frances Henkensmeier Fair (+ ? Fair)

-Louise Mary Henkensmeier Severin(+ "HT" Hilmer Severin)

- Ste lla Irene Severin(+ " UC" Urban Severin)

Figure 10. The Henkensmeier Sisters. Photos courtesy of William "Erik" Severin DeCamp.

Severin

Johan Conrad "JC" Sever in + Mary Jane Davis

~:,---1--- - Hilmer Thaddeus "H T" ,---:.-+--- - Urban Conrad "U C" :-'-1-+---- Earl w-+--- - John

• ....+1--- Nels -Anna - ?

- ?

- Hilmer "Sonny" Jr. ----------.

- Robert

} Different mothers

- Louise

"UC"

approved Federal Housing Authority houses for defense contractors and returning veterans. After World War II, the Severin family continued in the construction trade forming the Severin Construction Company in 1945 (California Secretary of State, Corporate Records) and Louise continued her building efforts in Los Angeles with Hilmer's assistance.

Following the 1915-1916 Panama-San Diego Exposition, general contractors like Louise Severin built custom and speculation houses that generally followed the Spanish Eclectic architectural style. Louise learned to design comfortable one-story, "U" and "L"-shaped Spanish style houses with large interior rooms, tapered stucco chimneys, and small front courtyards surrounded by low stucco-coated walls (Figure 13). The houses generally exhibited her signature rustic stucco that today provides the curb appeal that distinguishes many of her home designs from the work of other builders. Of course, some clients probably preferred smooth exterior walls and other builders may have copied her stucco technique, so specific identification of her houses requires some research beyond a windshield survey to confirm. Nevertheless, her homes featuring small courtyards or patios were quaint and livable in Kensington's sunny climate and simulated the idealized Spanish California haciendas of early 19th century San Diego (Figure 15).

William DeCamp reported that the family usually lived close to one another when they were building houses in the late 1940s (DeCamp 2003). Although his memories begin in the early 1940s, he relates that as Louise completed a house, one of the families would often move in until it sold unless a buyer was already in place. He recalled the family living close in a Pacific Beach neighborhood on Felton Street, a row of houses surrounding 7531 University Avenue, Marlborough, Upas Street, Lincoln, and Biona.

Rochester Road is an interesting and intact cultural landscape of late 1920s Spanish Eclectic hacienda style houses (Figure 16). It features the original palm tree-lined easements and Louise Severin-designed homes front 4185 Rochester Road. A windshield survey of several blocks along Rochester, Norfolk Terrace, and Lymer Streets in Kensington Manor Unit No. 1 revealed at least nineteen houses built in the hacienda style with distinctive rustic high relief stucco walls. Although water permit and Notice of Completion research on the entire Kensington Manor Unit No. 1 or even this neighborhood is beyond the scope of this single-house study, water/sewer permits for nine of the homes in the immediate vicinity were pulled and all had Louise Severin' s name associated with the house. These addresses are 4158, 4170, 4174, 4178, 4182 (City of San Diego Historic Landmark #504), and a windshield survey of 4186 on Rochester Road, 4266 Norfolk Terrace, 4271 Norfolk Terrace and 4970 Marlborough.

20

' -----

Figure 12. Louise M. Severin's distinctive chimney with high relief stucco. Photo by Ronald V. May

, ... ,·,":~--'":::. _.._____! ~ .. __ ~

..;

Figure 13. Photographs of Louise M. Severin tapered, rustic raised stucco, chimney with inset panel: a. Left. 1920s vintage photo of unknown Severin house (courtesy William Erick DeCamp) b. Right. Close-up of similar tapered, rustic raised stucco, chimney with inset panel at 4185 Rochester Road. Note the low pitch, Spanish fired red clay tile roof is also similar to Figure 19. Photo by Ron May.

Directory research also revealed that Louise and Hilmer Severin lived at 4970 Marlborough 1930 and another home further south on Marlborough on the same block features her signature stucco. Additionally, although not a proven Severin-built home, 4166 Rochester Road was the home ofUrban Severin in 1931 and may have been one ofher designs. It nevertheless shows the family's placement in the neighborhood.

I ' . . r .

. ·~- 1'~4 ..,_~ ~ ~,~ ·•'.ci... . ""' ·~ ~ • ..o...,] ..,,

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1930 Census showing Louise Severin and her family living in Kensington.

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Although the Directory listed Louise and Hilmer Severin for 4970 Marlborough, DeCamp reported that in reality they lived a nomadic life out of moving cartons, eating out frequently instead of cooking at home, and constantly moved from one place to another (DeCamp 2003) as Louise focused her building efforts around the community (Figure 14). Perusal of the directories show this to be the case, as she lived at 4637 Oregon in 1927,4650 Arizona in 1928, 1234 Upas Street in 1929-1930,4717 Talmadge Drive in 1934-1935 and then Los Angeles in 1936. DeCamp also reported that she and Hilmer would drive down on a holiday to visit with family and then depart back "home" for work, never staying too terribly long to socialize. Further review of the directories revealed the family lived in groups around 4590 Terrace Drive, 4717 Talmadge Drive, 4727 Biona Drive, 2936 Felton Street, 5063 Mansfield Street, 4629 Polk Avenue, 4941 Kensington Drive, 7531 University, 3504 El Cajon Boulevard, 8006 University Place and 5655 Severin Drive.

Hilmer and Louise Severin had a son named Hilmer, Jr., who also answered to the nickname, "Sonny" to distinguish himself from his father, as he worked for Severin Construction Company in the later years (DeCamp 2003). The family remained involved in Louise's housing projects. The family has remained close to this day, and was especially so after Louise's death in 1949. After her death Hilmer worked as a deputy tax assessor, real estate broker, and then became president of Severin, Garzenelli & Stenbeck Real Estate Company. Under his leadership, they brokered the first Federal Housing Authority- approved loans for the Kensington-Talmadge area in the early 1950s. A significant figure in his own right in the post-war real estate industry, Hilmer was a member of the San Diego and La Mesa Board of Realtors, California Real Estate Association, and the National Institute of Real Estate Brokers. He died on January 8, 1986 at his home on 9299 Lemon A venue at age 87. Hilmer, Jr. died in Hayward, California in 1982 at age 71.

21

Figure 14. Severin family and Louise M. Severin. Photos courtesy of Erik DeCamp.

GARAGE VARIATIONS

1) BEHIND HOUSE 2) AT GARDEN WALL

FLAT BACK ROOF

LOW ~--------------------------------~GABLED

FD FD

PATIO GARDEN

G

FD

,,, __ m ~

CATHEDRAL OR RECTANGULAR

BAY WINDOW

0

ROOF

LOW GABLED

ROOF

Figure 15. A sketch of a typical Louise M. Severin Spanish Eclectic, hacienda subtype house plan.

Louise Severin Rochester Road & Norfolk Terrace Cultural Landscape ~

12-3-40 NC Severin I Water Permit (4158)

1931 Directory lists UC Severin at this address (4166)

10-3-28 Meade & Haskell to Louise Severin I 12-22-28 L Severin to C.A. Taylor (4170)

1-10-29 Meade & Haskell to Louise Severin I 2-26-29 L Severin to Arthur Woodward (417 4)

1-10-29 Meade & Haskell to Louise Severin I 3-7-29 L Severin to JA Rafferty (4200141 78)

10-23-28 Meade & Haskell to Ida Gerig Parker 3-30-29 IG Parker to Louise Severin

.u .. ,, 8-1-29 L Severin to Paul J. Adams & Marie Titus (418214220) NOTE: HISTORIC LANDMARK NO. 504

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\I. ~ S'{ 4oS11 6-13-29 Meade & Haskell to Louise Severin 6-13-29 L Severin to Maxfield & Shirley Herries (4186/4230)

4-23-29 Kensington Park Land Company to Helen C Dillen 6-26-29 H Dillen to Louise Severin 7-1-29 Notice of Completion 7-26-29 L Severin Water Permit 8-1 2-29 L Severin to Arthur & Anne Dusenberry (4211 /4185)

PS _:_,: p~ L.·; •L, . _ · · -1 1 ] , 1 :I~!' .] '-- .r. A 12-22-28 Loutse Severin to Meade & Haskell Co , ... :d ·_ J. 'I .v J' .. 1 I '' . ~f../ •t... 1-3-29 JF & N Evelyn Thomas to Louise Severin

J" "J "-J k" · ·1 ( lJ .u l ~/' · .... , -~210 ~,.I 3-9-29 L Severin to Frank & Johanna Lindner (4266/4220 :_'IL!:_I{ 'f!...'T-8_.:,_ Y!~J .. I '1/'f~ _l----::., ~)1~ ~- . . .p

;, n .t ~., "· .~ '"'" • , .--.,.r • ¥./ ~ •I \ . ; :--~- -~· !1 TF f·' -~-.:'; ,.. I ' ,, I -::{~11·/, , I .· '"-t.;-- -~ . . . . ., . --·~ . a CJ ];~ .. , ·..._ ;1 ~~0 . ":j..-.:.. I . .. · · · .,_._.. - ~·7S~·s•.- r~· ~~, -- ~-;t$ ~~it r- -- .. ,-?' ~Jt 1- · 4frl'- j• J.~ r; • .- '·. J ••• ·,{ ," ~. -,- ----....

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1t' 11 . .. ~ j ~· :~ ---t .. ~_J~ P§J u~k , ~~~ f"""iil ~-~L:j ~

,./ 4-24-29 ER Severin - Notice of Completion ·~-~ '··, "· :·· .. ·[.'.nt 1 _. L.s' ._,-., \~> ~ :., · i' 7-19-29 ER Severin - Water Permit

. " -~to.f...: 11 ~,0 ~118;q,s'- _'t~· ·, .:- '·' ' 6-10-31 Edna L & Earl R Severin Quitclaim to i · ·• · · ·· . ,. .._,~~ S. ,· Crescent Realty Co (JF Thomas)

f.c: ' h ~ : , :. . ,,1 1 I l i-:J~ l 1? ' .. . , ~ l . ' !- ~~ ' f--~--1 - f?~"' I

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A s

KEY

Confirmed Severin Property (water permit I directory I or title)

1930 Directory - Louise & Hilmer Severin reside at 4970 Marlborough I Figure 16. nl

NOTE: S-ome street addresses changed in 1938, caus ing confusion in directory research, as both addresses need to be known to complete tit le search.

PS Possible Severin Property (design & stucco pattern)

Arthur and Anne Dusenberry (owner)

Ousenherrr Arth 1 (Anne) mining h 4~11 Roch -ester rd

1930 San Diego City Directory

Arthur Dusenberry distinguished himself as a pioneering mining operator of the Lomita Hills Mines in rural southeast El Cajon at the time he lived at 4211 (4185) Rochester Road in Kensington Manor Unit No.1.

He was involved in the local gold mining industry in San Diego County and exemplifies the mobility of residents out of the Kensington community because of the financial hardships of the early 1930s (Figure 17). He also represents the often-overlooked story of the effects of Congressional economic recovery programs on the mining industry and the impact of changes in currency standards away from the use of precious metals (gold and silver) in contract obligations and currency transactions in the 1930s to paper money during the tumultuous Great Depression.

Arthur L. Dusenberry was born on February 29, 1880 in Provo, Utah to 44-year old Warren Newton and 35-year old Adelaide Elizabeth Webb Dusenberry (www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset search.asp). He grew up among influential leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (aka Mormons), just after Statehood and all the changes to Utah at the end of the 20th century. His father and uncle, Wilson Dusenberry, founded Provo High School and Dusenberry Academy in Provo, Utah. In 1863, they changed the Dusenberry Academy to found the "Timpangos Branch of the University ofDeseret" (Ibid). At age 29, Warn:n married 20-year old Adelaide Elizabeth Webb on June 18, 1865 in Payson, Utah (Mormon Genealogical Library). Arthur's uncle Wilson married into the influential Smoot family.

In 1847, the Mormons had pioneered a large territory in the former Mexican territory and declared their own separate country called "Deseret" (roughly Utah, Nevada, Idaho and portions of other states). Meanwhile, the United States invaded Mexico in 1846, defeated their army in1848, and negotiated the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1852. The United States Army then turned their attention to the Mormons in Deseret. Left alone by Mexican authorities, the Mormons planned Deseret as a sovereign religious nation from Mexico, as distinct as Canada from the United States, where they could practice their religion free from constraints of the laws ofthe United States. This changed when the United States Army surrounded Salt Lake City and laid siege in 1857, forced a peaceful settlement, deleted the name Deseret from maps, and then declare the Utah Territory under the control of the United States. Congress accepted Utah as a state of the union in 1892. Mormon leadership continued to dominate Utah and southern Idaho well into the early 20th century and today the state remains about 50% Mormon.

Brigham Young, President of The Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter Day Saints in the 19th century, acquired the building occupied by the Dusenberry Academy in 1875 and incorporated the school into the church. Young administratively separated this school from the University ofDeseret and renamed it "Brigham Young Academy" (Brigham Young University Newsnet). Warren Dusenberry became the first principal in 1875-1876. Under these circumstances, it is likely that all the Dusenberry children studied at Brigham Young Academy, which later became Brigham Young University (BYU).

22

505 INDEX TO MINING · RECORDS, SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

:;, __ .:::........__ .,. .......... ; ,.';,;L'~=~-=~~-~·~-- • ::::: : ; ;=- ::;..; ~ I ·- I .~ ! i Where Rrtorded ·: N A ~I I:: ~ ~ ... ~~ f. S ' lnstr:.&me!nt : \\'~n R«•lrdc-..S

·I • 1---~-~ ~ ;I ---~- j Bonk Paat: Fil~

Numhcr

; ;z~J-;__ N~c-d~ :/ Ito !~~~~ I¥.-/! ._, ~~

Warren Dusenberry left the academy to enter law practice and become a judge, and his brother Wilson went on to be a Utah County Superintendent of Schools, secretary-treasurer and held a seat on the Board ofT rustees of Brigham Young Academy, Utah County clerk, cashier of First National Bank of Provo, a member of the State Legislature, mayor of Provo, secretary-treasurer of Provo Theater Company, assistant postmaster, and on the Executive Board of Brigham Young University. Warren helped incorporate and became a director of the Iron Mountain and Utah Railroad in 1873. He joined the Provo City Railroad and Provo Street Railroad in 1890 and served on the board of directors. When Wilson stepped down after seven years as mayor of Provo, Warren ran and won the two-year position in 1892. The Dusenberry legacy in Utah is commemorated by professorships in economics and humanities at Brigham Young University. Cody Dusenberry, a descendent, reported BYU commemorated the Dusenberry legacy with a memorial celebration about five years ago, and many descendants attended (Dusenberry 2003).

From this background, Arthur Dusenberry surfaces in the historic record as the first owner of 4185 Rochester Road with his wife Anne. He married Annie Elizabeth Samuel on July 13, 1915 (Certificate No. 1500485, Santa Clara County). She was a native to California, having been born June 22, 1886 to a Jamaican father and American mother (California Death Index). At the time of the 1920 United States Census, they lived at 1209 Scott Street in San Francisco and he worked as a building contractor. It is unclear what brought Arthur to California, but by the 1930 United States Census, they were living at 4211 (San Diego changed the address to 4185 in 1938) Rochester Road in Kensington with their nine-year-old son, Arthur W. Dusenberry. They owned their Louise Severin-built house, which had a listed value of$7,500. Arthur indicated that his occupation was a prospector in mining.

Additional research into San Diego's mining indices located at the San Diego Historical Society's Research Archives and microfilm at the San Diego County Recorder's Office reveal that in 1929 before and after the time he purchased and moved into this house, Dusenberry had filed location claims on nine mines and three "fractions" in the Lomita Hills, southeast ofEl Cajon (County Recorder's Office).

Titles for each of these mines were obtained for this study to try and determine the type of mineral he prospected and to understand the possible importance of his role in San Diego's regional mining history. A search ofEl Cajon records revealed that Dusenberry's contributions to El Cajon's mining history to date have been unexamined by historians, genealogists, or other researchers, and clues to his activities have been hidden in the records of official county mining documents.

For the purpose of this study, Leland Bibb, a licensed Land Surveyor, was engaged to ascertain the exact location of two of the nine mines and three fractions (Figure 18). From the official recorded mine Location Records, Bibb was able to pinpoint the immediate area of Dusenberry's two mine claims and determine that this area contains several well-known and documented gold mines (Figure 19). Since his activities to date have been unexamined, the question then remained, what was Arthur L. Dusenberry's role in gold mining in the San Diego region and how important were those activities to the region's mining history?

23

Figure 18. CA.

Page12 El Cajon Californian- Weekly Edilio11 Thursday, November 12, 1992

Mines yield rich history by Jamet H. Graves FAMOUS

Editor's note: This is the 13th in a series of articles on famous firsts in c."/ Cajon. The writer james H. Craves, is a local author and a co"espondml from lite t1 Cajon Historical Society.

FIRSTS vercly paralyzed in his lower limbs. His doctors held little hope that he would ever walk again and be able to enjoy a normal life. He fooled them by training him-self to walk, but never forgot his trial and in later years always helped others with similar handi-caps.

EL CAJON - Much has been written about the Knox Hotel having been built in 1876 by Amaziah Knox a t "The Corners" in El Cajon. First his land and then the hotel were used as a ha-ven for the travel-weary miners winding their way from the Jul-ian mountains to San Diego. Men and burros used this trip to re-plenish supplies, deliver gold, en-JOY night life in San Diego, and return to the "diggings."

Everll Parsons married Edna Harrington in 1923 and moved out of the family home to the property located on Fuerle Drive where four years later, ~'ranees Parsons (Hill ) was born. (She has been of !,'Teat help in this story of her father. l However, it was also true that

later in the 1930's a t least three famous mines were located in our own El Cajon Valley. One was on the property owned by Minnie L. Harris, then known as Crest-lands and now as Mt. Merrill. Another was run by Harry Phil-lips at the juncture of Chase Ave-nue and Grove Road. The lhird was operated by Everett Parsons on part of his extensive ranch on Fucrte Drive. This a rticle will concern itself with the latter as it was the only one operated in a "learning environment." Fuerte Elementary School is now located on the former Parsons property and nearly on top of the actual mining area.

Willis Nathaniel and Marcia Frances (Evans) Parsons arrived in t he El Cajon area in the late 1880's from the Northeast . Willis began working at the Chase Ranch as foreman. Their home at 1501 East Chase Avenue at that time included four rooms - two bedrooms, a kitchen, anrl living room. It cost $400 to build. Out-s ide buildings included a small barn which was later removed when a bigger barn was built across the road.

There were five children born of this couple at the Chase home be-tween 1891 and 1899 of which Everett Francis Parsons was the middle child. In 1911, some years afU!r the death of his wife, Willis married his son's school teacher, Eva Cox, and two more children arrived. Everett soon assumed an added responsibility of lakin!; care of his new little sister. He

According to many, Everett was a ·~ack of all trades" and many a neighbor had their problems fixed by him. He became a citrus farmer for Sunkist Corporation, served as a deputy sher iff, loved nature and its wonders, hiked and knew most of the country's mountains, valleys, and deserts, and was an avid prospector.

One of Everett's neighbors was Fanny Hooper, who with her hus-band, Warren, ran one of the larg-~-st egg and chicken ranches in the El Cajon area. She recalled that Evrelt was president of the Farm Bureau in the early 50's. Meetings were held at the new Meridian School. He was very proud of being president. He al-ways wore a rd plain jacket. The business meetings were held once a month with a pot-luck dinner and was "quite a s