Background
In the summer of 2006 about
a dozen residents, property and business owners in the Southwest started
meeting informally as a Steering committee to discuss forming a civic
organization in southwestern Chula Vista. An invitation to all the property
owners and registered voters (6,000 people) was mailed in early September. Our
first meeting was held at the Boys and Girls Club at 333 Oxford Street. We had
around 60 people at our first meeting on September 27, 2006. We voted on a
name, boundaries of the organization, membership make-up and possible dues.
People filled out surveys listing their concerns and volunteering for
committees and/or the board of directors.
At subsequent meetings in October,
November and December we discussed bylaws and other organizational matters as
well as hearing from a variety of speakers: Mayor Padilla, City Engineer Leah Browder,
and Chula Vista Police Community Service Officer Sgt. Joe Cline. Councilman
Castaneda has attended all of our meetings. Councilman Rudy Ramirez has also
been at all of our meetings-first as a candidate and now as a council member.
We official incorporated as a California
non-profit public benefit corporation on December 31, 2006. We are now in the
process of completing the paperwork for the IRS and the State Franchise Tax
Board in order to become a 501C3.
History
The
southwest is comprised of a number of communities. The oldest is probably Otay,
which means “brushy” in the language of the Kummeyaii, the first
inhabitants.
National City & Otay Railway
Photo taken in the 1880's
From Joseph Hawley given to Eric Sanders
(244kb)
The Otay Valley is on both sides of the Otay River. Most of the land
south of the river is in San Diego and most of the land North is in Chula
Vista. The community of Otay is now in two different cities. These four web
sites have information about the river part of the valley, which is now being
developed into a regional park by the county of San Diego and the cities of
Chula Vista and San Diego:
http://www.angelfire.com/ca5/best/otay/indexnew.htm
http://edtech.suhsd.k12.ca.us/Acerro/survey/surveypage2.htm
http://edtech.suhsd.k12.ca.us/Acerro/survey/background.htm
This website tells the history of the
valley. There are interesting old maps on the site as well as a wealth of
information: http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/local/otay.html
1901 - The Klauber Wangenheim Company purchased the La Punta
Salt Works at the south end of the bay that had been founded in 1871 by Shaffer
and Stone as the Otay Salt Works, and owned by E. E. and J. E. Shaffer since
1888. In 1902 the Western Salt Company was founded by Graham Babcock. Graham
was the son of Elisha Spurr Babcock, Jr. who built the Hotel del Coronado in
1888. After the death of Graham, Elisha bought the company in 1911 and expanded
its operations. The flood of 1916 almost wiped out the company, but L. M. Drown
of the Merchants financed the rebuilding of the salt works, and became
profitable by 1918 under Frank Riehle. The bank foreclosed on the property in
1922 after the failure of Elisha Babcock's La Jolla Railway that was supported
by loans on the salt works property. Henry G. Fenton, a contractor who had
worked for E. S. Babcock, bought the company in 1922, paid its loans, and under
the management of Neil B. Ditterhaver the company again became successful.
The Salt Works qualifies to be a
National Historic Business.
778 Ada
A
Spanish Colonial Revival 2 bedroom 926 square foot home, which is to be torn
down to build CONDOS.
The Otay Baptist Church
The Otay Baptist church was
built in 1890. It is at the corner of Zenith and Third Avenue in southwestern
Chula Vista. It is one of the few buildings to survive the Hatfield flood that
burst the Otay Dam in 1916. It is an important reminder that there once was a
thriving town of Otay. It has not been
used for church services since the 1960’s.
It costs around $3,000 a year in upkeep. The congregation has offered it
to the city of Chula Vista. See http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20051113/news_1m13church.html
for a discussion of the controversy surrounding this building.