I saw this piece of paper, as well as a few other pieces off of Ebay. My goal is to turn this piece of paper into a story.
"June 14th 1867
Book 2 Page 319
Consideration: $80.00
Covenants: Grant bargain sell release ***** Claim
NAME OF GRANTOR AS SIGNED
J.S. Mannasse (LS)
E.W. Morse (LS)
Thos H Bush (LS)
Trustees of the City of San Diego
NAME OF GRANTEE IN BODY OF INSTRUMENT
JS Mannasse
Marcos Schiller
Ack'd June14th 1867 before G.A. Pendleton, San Diego Co. co clerk with Official Seal.
Filed, June14th 1867 at 6h P.m. G A Pendleton Recorder
DESCRIPTION
Fractured lot of parcel of land laying + being between lots 1156 +1157 + the bay of San Diego + bounded on the N by the sec lot 1156 and on the E by the sec lot 1157+ on the S + W by the sec Bay of San Diego situated within the limits of the Pueblo lands of SD City as per official map of sec Pueblo lands by Charles H Poole in 1856"
It's an 1867 deed to a piece of land in San Diego, CA. What was going on in San Diego around this time? Let's go back to 1850 as it was told.
In that year, the Mexican State of Alta California became part of the United States of America. Only about 500 people lived in San Diego during that time. They were mostly crowded in what was then called Old San Diego, a Mexican pueblo that started as a Spanish fort and mission. Yet without a proper port, the small pueblo hadn't grown much during the Mexican days. Once the United States took over there was an attempt to start a new city on the spot known to the Spanish as "Punto de los muertos", named so because a Spanish ship once buried their dead there. The man who tried to start the new city, William Davis, bought 160 acres by the bay and with four other partners, built a wharf and a residence for himself in the "New Town", and sold some lots until a depression in 1851. A fire in San Francisco further destroyed his fortune. With no more money to continue the business venture, Davis abandoned New San Diego and most of what was built was either dismantled or destroyed.
On October 2, 1858, an unusual hurricane hit the region. According to the first, but shortly lived San Diego newspaper, The Herald, and relayed by the Daily Alta of California, it began on a Saturday morning around 11 am. It started as just wind coming from the southeast. It blew so hard, it frightened the keeper of the Point Loma Lighthouse and he had evacuated the area by noon.
Residents intending on enjoying a stroll down the street were greeted with surprisingly strong and consistent wind gusts. While the micro-climate, the cool air from the Pacific that condenses into clouds during the morning, usually broke up by the afternoon. This time, the cloud only grew thicker, darker and seemed to hang a bit lower in the sky. It started to sprinkle, then it started to rain, then it started to pour.
The wind blew the rain sideways toward the northwest and with so much force, it began to pick up dirt and mud from the ground, scattering it into blinding and stinging particles of swirling dust covering the towns within San Diego County. To the person trying to enjoy a stroll along the unbeaten path of Lot 1157, just east of New Town, it would have been difficult to maneuver in wind this powerful and the dust would have made it impossible to see very far, and would pelt at any exposed skin with enough force to feel a sting and leave a mark.
By 1 pm, the wind and rain would become violent. Wooden boards, unable to take the pelting, broke away from their fences one by one until there was no fence left to speak of. Roofs and porticoes blew off of houses. Some houses and trees collapsed and a recently built windmill was completely destroyed. Schooners that were docked at the bay were either dragged onto shore, anchor and all, or blown over and damaged. Most of the buildings that stood in New Town that hadn't been taken apart by then would have probably been blown apart. However, despite the sudden appearance of the storm and its severity, it doesn't seem like there were any casualties reported. The winds would start to die down as the Sun set , about 5 pm that day, and things would return back to normal by evening.
The 1850s transitioned into the 1860s and New Town remained abandoned. Alonzo Horton tried his luck next and is said to be the father of modern day San Diego... because he was successful. He tells his story in William E. Smythe's History of San Diego. Years after Davis had abandoned New San Diego, Horton was in Seattle and attended a meeting where the speaker spoke about which cities in California would grow to be the largest. It seems as though the speaker built up San Diego to the point where Horton was unable to sleep that night, until he got out of bed at "balls thirty" and searched for San Diego on a map. The next morning, he announced to his wife that he was selling everything and moving to San Diego to build a city.
He sold much of his stock and in April of 1867, took a steam ship down to San Diego. On the way down, he met a man named E.W. Morse, who is one of the "Grantors" in this deed. Arriving in San Diego, his ship docked at the old Davis wharf. When he stepped ashore, he was impressed with the large, bare and relatively flat land he saw before him:
"We landed at the old wharf, near where the coal bunkers [Santa Fe wharves] now are, and had to wait there an hour for a wagon to come and take us up to San Diego (Old Town). While we were waiting, I walked up to where the court-house now is and looked over the ground. There was nothing there but sage-brush then. I thought San Diego must be a heaven-on-earth, if it was all as fine as that; it seemed to me the best spot for building a city I ever saw." - Alonzo Horton, History of San Diego, 1542 - 1908
Once the wagon took Horton to Old San Diego though, they tried to get him to buy a plot of land there. Though he was impressed with the ruins of New San Diego, he didn't like the town center that lay just three miles north of where he landed. There used to be an old Spanish fort on the hill overlooking Old San Diego, but it was now deserted and much of the land was uneven and far from the coast. He said he wouldn't take the whole lot as a gift and that it would be a terrible place to build a city, so Morse asked him where he thought a city should be. Horton replied "Right down there by the wharf" and asked if any of that land was for sale.
It seems as though the old city Trustees were simply sitting on the land and were way past their terms. Horton thought that it was time for a new election, and approached another man about setting one up. That man was George A. Pendleton, who is the County Clerk and Recorder in this document, but he was reluctant to do so because the town was broke and couldn't raise the five dollars needed to call one. Horton gave him $10.
Pendleton set up the notices and Morse showed Horton the best parts of land to buy. Getting to know the local businessmen, Horton thought that Morse and two others, Joseph S Mannasse and Thomas H Bush, would make decent Trustees. The election was held April 27, 1867 and all three men were elected: Mannasse as President, Morse as Treasurer, and Bush as Secretary.
They then did what they came together to do:
"On motion of E.W. Morse it was Resolved that an order be entered for the Sale of certain farming Lands of the city property. Said Sale to take place on the 10th day of May, 1867, at the Court House."
The auction occurred on May 10, 1867. Legally the local sheriff, James McCoy, should have acted as auctioneer, but it seems like Morse took on that role as a deputy. When the first lot of land went on sale, Horton started off his bid at $100, which led to minor embarrassment when he learned that the average price of a lot was around $15-$20. After a person let Horton outbid him over what may have been lot 1133, he told Horton, "That land has lain there for a million years, and nobody has built a city on it yet." Horton would show that the area was timeless and perfect for a new city.
In the end, it seems as though Horton got most of the land he wanted. He won lots 1146, 1147, 1156, 1145, 1134, and 1133 for a total of 930 acres for $265. If you look at the receipt I was able to find online though, you'll notice that there are two other names who bought land along side Horton. One is John Murray, who paid $20.50 for lot 1173. The other is Edward Heuck, who also happens to be the "Grantee" in our document. Both documents talk about a "fractured lot" that was purchased for $9.50. The information on this document coincides with the information on the deed, except for the date on the document of November 5, 1867, vs the auction date of May 10, 1867. The approximation of the dates, however, suggest that Heuck may have had trouble acquiring additional documentation, or slacked off on said documentation and didn't get things together until he was ready to sell.
Document from San Diego History Center.
"Fractured lot lying between 1156 +1157"
So that means that the deed is from the original auction where Horton bought the plots of land that would be added to New San Diego called "Horton's Addition". Horton's efforts resulted in one of the town's first booms.
But where exactly is this land located? To help us find out, we need to know where all these lots are. Luckily, the deed references an 1856 map by Charles H Pool.
A large version of Charles H Pool's 1856 map of the Pueblo lands of San Diego, along with Horton's addition, can be found by clicking here. A smaller one can be found below.
Let's pull up the same section up on Google Earth:
I will now overlay the old map, and line them up by street.
That's a little hard to see. Better get rid of the 3D buildings and roads.
Not perfect, but I'm happy with it. Now to plot out the lot in accordance to what it says on the deed:
"Fractured lot of parcel of land laying + being between lots 1156 +1157 + the bay of San Diego + bounded on the N by the sec lot 1156 and on the E by the sec lot 1157+ on the S + W by the sec Bay of San Diego"
This was the best I can translate it into.
After playing with the maps a little, I concluded that the plot was located inside the yellow. Wow! That's beach front property! Looks like there was also a pier located there as well. Now let's remove the 1856 map, but keep the yellow marker to see what is located on this lot now.
Is that the San Diego Convention Center?
No, it wasn't. It wasn't even in Horton's addition, but one can be hopeful!
Approximate location of the San Diego Convention Center is lined in white.
Come back next time to learn more about the history of lot 1156, just above the fractured lot and the surrounding areas from 1867 to 1912 when the area was known as the "Stingaree".
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