Fallbrook Historical Society

Fallbrook Historical Society The Fallbrook Historical Society was chartered in 1976 and is dedicated to collecting, preserving and displaying the history and artifacts of Fallbrook.
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The Main Museum - Upper Level: Native American Display and Artifacts Early Settlers Information Fallbrook in miniature (scale model replicas of early Fallbrook buildings) Model train (replica of train that once served this community) Exhibits on agriculture, education, community organizations, the fire department and the military. Guides to Fallbrook Historic Registry Sites Museum Library and Primary Research Material Lower Level: The Bud Francis and Parke McClean Collection of Rocks and Minerals: Geodes, Petrified Wood, Smokey Quartz Crystals, Agates, and Tiger Eye. The Ford Room: Antique Ford cars -Two 1930 Model A, One 1922 Model T. The Pittenger House: A 1900 restored Victorian farmhouse, which was once owned by Rev. William Pittenger, a Methodist Minister, Civil War soldier and early recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. The Barn: Display of vintage agricultural tools and machinery Quilt collection Weaving looms Unique barbed wire exhibit Center for oral histories Reche Schoolhouse

Some Fallbrook history on Memorial Day 2020 By Tom Frew The Fallbrook Veterans of Foreign Wars post, VFW 1924 on Old Sta...
05/22/2020

Some Fallbrook history on Memorial Day 2020

By Tom Frew

The Fallbrook Veterans of Foreign Wars post, VFW 1924 on Old Stage Road, is named for the first son of Fallbrook to be killed in World War Two. Seaman 1st Class Charles E. Swisher was killed in the early moments of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Swisher family, Charles parents Leon and Mary and his younger sister Mildred, were well known around Fallbrook because of their involvement with civic activities. Young Charles had attended West Fallbrook Union Elementary School as a child. He went on to play football on the Fallbrook Union High School team in 1939. After the football season, he joins the Future Farmers student organization. Charles enlists in the U.S. Navy in November 1940 just 2 weeks after turning 18 years old. Following his basic training in San Diego, he is assigned to the battleship USS Arizona then docked in Bremerton, Washington. Just a year later he is promoted to Seaman 1st Class while the Arizona is docked at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. On Saturday night, December 6th, Charles attends a concert on the navy base with some Fallbrook friends also stationed there. He then returns to the ship to stand watch from midnight to 4 a.m. Seaman 1st Class Swisher is sleeping in Sunday morning in the bow area of the ship when Japanese planes make a surprise attack on Hawaii at 7:55 am December 7, 1941. The Arizona is hit several times; explodes, burns and sinks taking the lives of 1,177 sailors and Marines.

Full story at https://www.fallbrookhistoricalsociety.org/about/fallbrook-history/featured-articles/naming-of-fallbrook-vfw-post/

Post from Ricardo Quintana Ricardo Quintana Favela - Sharing for FHS Fallbrook's own 5 de Mayo.Today is May 5th and the ...
05/06/2020

Post from Ricardo Quintana Ricardo Quintana Favela - Sharing for FHS

Fallbrook's own 5 de Mayo.

Today is May 5th and the birthday of one of Fallbrook and California's most historically significant figures. His family's last name can be found in many Southern California cities on streets, parks, schools, campgrounds & more, including Fallbrook's Pico Avenue named after his nephew. Pio Pico, born on May, 5th, 1801, was the last Mexican governor of California, an Afro-Mexican who in his lifetime was a citizen of New Spain, Mexico, and the US, and whose family was intricately involved in the founding of each of these colonial states in these lands.

As an Afro-Mexican he took the more progressive political stances within that time and along with his brother Andres, led the fight against the US invasion of Mexico and California. Knowing that slavery was legal in the US in the 1840s, he fought for California to remain with Mexico, which had already abolished slavery. After California was occupied and forced into the US, he later advocated for the abolishment of slavery by endorsing Abraham Lincoln for president. The effort of Mexicans in California to support the Union during the Civil War is what led to the popularization of 5 de Mayo in the US today. Californios (Mexican Californians) celebrated and politicized the victory by Mexican forces in Puebla, Mexico as a symbol against French imperialism. France was known to be sympathetic to the Confederacy. Through 5 de Mayo celebrations they raised funds for the Union cause, which they saw as another front against France and oppression.

Despite Pico's progressive positions, he still operated as a colonizer especially regarding relations and land issues with Native people. Conflicts regarding land seizures, including the pueblo of Las Flores on the Camp Pendleton coast and Temecula, contributed to long standing tensions and conflicts between Native and Mexican people in this area.

He stands as a reminder of the historic presence of Mexican people in California and as a founder of the state.

Attached is a painting that was commissioned in 1876 about an event that took place in the 1840s on Pico's ranch. This could have taken place anywhere between Camp Pendleton, Fallbrook or De Luz. The painting itself might be the first image of life in the Fallbrook area, when it was part of Mexico.

The Fallbrook Historical Society is curating, and collecting information about Fallbrook's heroes in past wars. On Viet...
03/31/2020

The Fallbrook Historical Society is curating, and collecting information about Fallbrook's heroes in past wars. On Vietnam Veteran's Day we remember, Private First Class Dennis Kipp USMC killed in action near Da Nang on October 20, 1969. He was just 18 years old. Dennis attended Fallbrook High School in the 1960s as Dennis Shoudy (his mother's married name).
The only phograph we found for him was his sophomore picture in the 1968 Fallbrook High School yearbook.

If you have photos or letters and you want to share with Fallbrook Historical Society, Please contact us or Tom Frew, Historian at FHS.

Please visit our website during social distancing as our museums are closed until further notice.

https://www.fallbrookhistoricalsociety.org

Stay safe and positive.

Great read while social distancing...Fallbrook History By Tom Frew. —— Rancho Monserate —-Alvarado Street running acros...
03/19/2020

Great read while social distancing...

Fallbrook History By Tom Frew.

—— Rancho Monserate —-
Alvarado Street running across the center of our town is named in honor of the Alvarado family, the first non-native family to reside on the land that later became Fallbrook. Since 1846 the Alvarado family owned 13,322 acres of the Rancho Monserate. Thousands of cattle and sheep herded by Mexican and Indian vaqueros once grazed across the unfenced Rancho Monserate.

Modern day spelling differs slightly from the old records. The Rancho was named for an ancient monastery in Monserrate, Spain near Barcelona. The Alvarado’s Monserate cattle brand, shown here, is one of the classic Californio “picture” brands whose meanings have since been lost.
Bordered on the south by the San Luis Rey River and on the north by approximately where Stagecoach Lane and Reche Road are today, the Rancho Monserate stretched east/west between the old ‘Road from Temecula’ (now I-15) to roughly where Mission Road is today. See 1872 Plat of Rancho Monserate below.
Luiseno Indian families were living here when California governor Pio Pico granted the land to California born Ysidro Maria Alvarado in 1846 as a reward for his father’s long military service.

Ysidro Alvarado's father arrived in San Diego as a Spanish soldier in 1769 with the earliest expedition. Retiring after 35 years of service, his family lived in Los Angeles. Ysidro Alvarado and Micaela Avila were married in the church at San Gabriel Mission, initially raising their children in Los Angeles where Micaela’s father was an important official.

To the marriage of Ysidro and Micaela Alvarado three children are born: Tomas (1839), Dolores (1840) and Lugardo (1842). In 1845, Micaela Avila de Alvarado died of unknown causes. Soon after her death, Ysidro married Micaela's younger sister Manuela. The family moved to the Monserate where Ysidro Alvarado built a large adobe home on the rancho near the NE intersection today’s I-15 and SR76.
In 1862, an outbreak of smallpox swept northern San Diego County killing hundreds. The epidemic ravages Rancho Monserate. Don Ysidro and his wife nursed many of their dying servants, vaqueros, and farm hands. Ysidro and Manuela eventually contract the disease themselves and also die. It has been said that many of the victims of the smallpox epidemic were buried in a common grave near the Alvarado Hacienda.
Ysidro had expressed his wish that he wanted to be buried at the San Luis Rey Mission. Although the mission was now in private ownership with Alvarado’s neighbor, Colonel Cave Couts of Rancho Guajome, it was still La Mission to the faithful. Col. Couts did not want smallpox victims buried there. Couts’ men confronted and shot dead one of Ysidro’s mourners during the burial.

Ysidro Alvarado’s 3 adult children could not immediately inherit the Rancho. The boundaries and title were still being determined by the U.S. Land Commission, according to the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo that ended the Mexican American War and conceded the state of California to the United States. This 9 year delay also affected a Canadian settler from New York named Vital Reche, who could not gain title to his nearby Live Oak Canyon homestead until after the Rancho boundaries are confirmed.
The final survey is finally approved in 1872 and Rancho Monserate is equally divided, with approximately 4,400 acres to each of the heirs.
Tomas Alvarado, the son, receives the eastern portion which includes today’s Pala Mesa. Under Tomas’ management, cattle and sheep become more numerous and the Rancho is profitable. Tomas’ sister Dolores Alvarado de Serrano and her husband inherit the middle portion where Gird Road now runs. Their younger sister Lugarda Alvarado Palomares and her husband receive ownership of the western portion, where Fallbrook High School is now.
Eventually the presence of so many homesteaders on or around the unfenced rancho make large scale stock raising impractical. Over the years Rancho Monserate is subdivided and sold off into many smaller parcels of ranches or farms.

Acknowledgements:
1) Don Rivers, Fallbrook Historical Society, In Village News Oct. 29, 1998
2) Elizabeth Yamaguchi, Fallbrook Historical Society, 1998
3) James S. Copley, Historic Ranchos of San Diego, 1969

*****Free Admission ***** ———————————////// For High School students with Student ID.//////Fund raising Event for...
03/10/2020

*****Free Admission *****
———————————
////// For High School students with Student ID.//////

Fund raising Event for Fallbrook Historical Society. We need you! Please share on your Facebook or Instagram or LinkedIn page and Tag your friends.

Please save the Date 3/28 for amazing award winning film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, produced by Fallbrook native Frank Capra.

The Historical Mission Theater
231 N. Main Ave,
Fallbrook. CA 92028

There will be two showing:
First show: 1 pm social hour. Film start 2 pm

Second Show: 5 pm social hour. Film start at 6 pm.

Please buy tickets at https://m.bpt.me/event/4506494

Ticket Price
Online: $10
At the door : $12

https://fallbrookmissiontheater.com

Fund raising Event for Fallbrook Historical Society. We need you! Please share on your Facebook or Instagram or LinkedI...
03/04/2020

Fund raising Event for Fallbrook Historical Society. We need you! Please share on your Facebook or Instagram or LinkedIn page and Tag your friends.

Please save the Date 3/28 for amazing award winning film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, produced by Fallbrook native Frank Capra.

The Historical Mission Theater
231 N. Main Ave,
Fallbrook. CA 92028

There will be two showing:
First show: 1 pm social hour. Film start 2 pm

Second Show: 5 pm social hour. Film start at 6 pm.

Please buy tickets at https://m.bpt.me/event/4506494

Ticket Price
Online: $10
At the door : $12

https://fallbrookmissiontheater.com

Map showing Fallbrook Train Station in California Southern Railroad route. From San Diego to Barstow. Learn more about F...
01/19/2020

Map showing Fallbrook Train Station in California Southern Railroad route.
From San Diego to Barstow.

Learn more about Fallbrook by visiting Fallbrook Historical Society Museum today.

Open Sunday and Thursday from 1pm to 4 pm.

Please also visit FHS page for interesting stories about Fallbrook.
When you are there please click on the like button.

Origin of the Name of De LuzBy: Tom Frew - Historian FHS. Long before American settlers came to this area, there was a s...
12/22/2019

Origin of the Name of De Luz

By: Tom Frew - Historian FHS.

Long before American settlers came to this area, there was a small adobe house, about 12 square feet, on the point of a hill near a stream. Cattle from the adjoining Rancho used to range over this area because Pio Pico and later Don Juan Forster, believed that the valley between the Santa Margarita and the Santa Rosa Mountains were part of Rancho Santa Margarita. Vaqueros said a Spaniard or Californian by the name of Jose de Luz had built a corral and kept stock in there at one time. An American settler, A.J. Foss, said there were still a few stubs of posts of a corral visible around the adobe in 1877. This place was known as Corral de Jose de Luz.
The earliest known documentation of the name De Luz locally was on a map dated 1878 of Rancho Santa Margarita (today’s Camp Pendleton) that designated this stream as the Arroyo Corral de la Luz.
Downstream, where the arroyo emptied into the Santa Margarita River, the California Southern railroad built a station in 1882, shortening the name to De Luz. A post office was contained in the station. Following the establishment of the De Luz Post office here, settler homestead records of the 1880s were signed and dated as being in De Luz.
For many years an unsubstantiated story has persisted that De Luz was named after an Englishman named Luce who kept a string of horses in a corral at Judson’s hotel near the hot springs in the canyon, as reported in the 1983 History of San Bernardino and San Diego Counties This report cannot be true. The first problem is Luce is not De Luz. Most importantly, this place was known by Californios as the Corral de Jose de Luz and documented by Americans as De Luz many years before Mr. Luce visited the hotel that Mr. Lemon Judson built in the 1880s.

Albert J. Foss, was the son of a pre-1870 settler in San Luis Rey. Albert Foss’ family grew up as neighbors to Jose Antonio Pico and his family. Jose Antonio was a brother to the former California governor and the original owner of Rancho Santa Margarita Pio Pico . A.J. married Harriet Neff of West Fallbrook. The Neff who kept sheep and camped at the old adobe in the 1870s was Millard Neff, A.J’s brother in law. Also, Orlando Stewart, the American who first homesteaded this spot and planted a vineyard here, had married A.J’s older sister Florence, so he was another brother in law. A.J. Foss had family in this place, he knew the people, and he spoke with Forster’s vaqueros. We ought to trust his report.
A Californio named Jose de la Luz. The name Jose de la Luz was not uncommon. We looked at several Jose de la Luz’s, but only one fits the time and place. We do not have proof, but a California born Spanish soldier of mixed blood, who traveled around Southern California from Monterey, to San Diego to San Gabriel, uniquely meets the vaqueros’ description of a “Spaniard or Californian” who could have built this corral before 1850. His name was Jose de la Luz Linares. He was born at the Mission San Antonio de Padua, a short distance from Monterey on the El Camino Real on 20 January 1800. When he became of age, Jose de la Luz Linares followed in the footsteps of his father, Salvador Linares, to become a leatherjacket soldier (soledado cuero). Attached is a picture of a leather jacket soldier.
Jose de la Luz Linares married Maria de Jesus Bruno Garcia at the Presidio in San Diego on 19 July 1819 where he was stationed. Soon thereafter, in 1821, Mexico became independent from Spain. Although a soldier of Spain, Jose de la Luz Linares naturally chose to remain in California where he had always lived, and become a Mexican citizen.

We do not know what Jose de la Luz did immediately following his release from military service (about 1829?). Perhaps he tried his hand at ranching in the 1830s along the Santa Margarita River. We do know that in 1840, as part of the secularization movement to distribute Spanish church lands, Governor Juan Alvarado deeded to Jose de la Luz Linares 4,340 acres, presumably as a reward for his military service, and possibly for his support for Mexican Independence. With his new property, Jose de la Luz Linares founded the Rancho Los Nogales, just 70 miles from today’s De Luz. The City of Diamond Bar is located on that site today. Life was hard and short in those days. Jose de la Luz Linares died at Mission San Gabriel in September 1846.

RENT Reche School House! For Holidays Events, weddings, reunions, business meetings and social events.The Reche School h...
12/12/2019

RENT Reche School House!

For Holidays Events, weddings, reunions, business meetings and social events.

The Reche School house in Fallbrook is the first school built. This is one of the oldest buildings in Fallbrook.

Completely renovated in 2016, the Reche School House preserves the history and traditions of the early development of the Fallbrook community.

Fallbrook Students Historical timeline.
1893: 20 students
1934–1938: 160 students
1950: 244 students
1953: 539 students
1958: 750 students
1978: 1875 students
1994: 2300 students
2007: more than 3000
2015–2016: 2071 students

Reche School House is OPEN to the Public! Admission is Free!

2nd Saturday of each month from 1-4PM

For Event reservations please email

[email protected]

or Call 760-723-4125.

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Please like our page.

Please donate at https://www.gofundme.com/f/campaign-for-fallbrook-historical-society?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet

12/02/2019

Dear Historical Society Member,

This past year The Historical Society continued its mission to preserve Fallbrook history and to educate the public on its past.

We held an open house in June, a Reche School open house in September, a barn sale in October and will have an old-fashioned Christmas open house this coming week.

We showed the classic Buster Keaton film, “The General” at the historic Mission Theater and worked with the Fallbrook Village Association in providing docents for the 5500 people that visited the historic train caboose in the heart of downtown.

As with any non-profit, particularly one that oversees the historic Pittenger House, the historic Reche School house as well as the Heritage Center Museum and Barn, our expenses for maintenance and repairs are great.

We hope that you will continue to support the Historical Society by renewing your membership (form is attached) or if you are able a (tax deductible) donation of any amount would be appreciated.

Your support will go a long way to helping us continue in preserving our rich heritage.

With the best wishes for the holiday season,

Roy Moosa
President

The Historical Society is a 501c/3 non-profit.
“The Fallbrook Historical Society’s mission is to bring History to Life
by educating the community and others about Fallbrook’s rich heritage.”
Federal tax ID 51-019676

Address

1730 Hill St. (corner Of Rocky Crest And Hill) P.O. Box 1375
Fallbrook, CA
92028

General information

Sunday and Thursday - 1-4 p.m. or by appointment (760) 723-4125 MUSEUM ADMISSION IS FREE - DONATIONS ARE WELCOME Fallbrook Historical Society and Reche Schoolhouse are available for event rentals.

Opening Hours

Thursday 13:00 - 16:00
Sunday 13:00 - 16:00

Telephone

(760) 723-4125

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Fallbrook Historical Society posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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Caboose tour and FHS booth.

High school Madrigals!!!! Beautiful!

Potter choir delighten us with their sweet voices

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I am on the board of the FHS . The Fallbrook Historical Society is in need of your help. Our main museum was built in 1981. The museum and the grounds are in need of critical maintenance and we are short on funds. We have launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds. With your support we can continue serving Fallbrook at facilities that everyone will want to visit.
Today, Saturday June 8th 1pm- 4pm, The Historical Society is having an Open house and annual meeting. There will be a scavenger hunt with prizes for the kids. Docents, including myself, will be there to show visitors around. See you!
Memorial Day 2019. Did you know one of the very first American casualties in Work War 2 was a young man from Fallbrook? Seaman 1st Class Charles E Swisher was serving on the USS Arizona on December 7th 1941 in Pearl Harbor when the ship was bombed, exploded, and sunk with the loss of more than 1,000 sailors and marines. He is still entombed in the ship at the USS Arizona memorial. Charles had joined the Navy in 1940, a year before the war began. The Fallbrook VFW Post in Fallbrook on Old Stage Road is named for Charles E Swisher.
You're invited to join us tomorrow July, 6th at Gracey Lane Farm! Bohemian Bliss Art Show and Complimentary Summer Cocktail! July 6th 3:00-6:00pm $15.00 Event Donation Tickets On Sale @ http://graceylanefarm.com/…/bohemian-bliss-art-show-july-6…/ Selected and curated pieces by local and Southern California artists will be featured. You will have the opportunity to view and purchase one-of-a-kind original art pieces. The art mediums in the show include: photography, acrylic on wood, acrylic and resin on wood, resin pour, acrylic pour, and hand-crafted macramé on wood pieces. FEATURED ARTISTS Taylor Gallegos, Visual Artist and Owner of TG Fine Art Local Artist - Fallbrook, CA Taylor Gallegos Jeannie Jeffries (JJ), Visionary Artist and Co-Founder of JJ Freshy Collective Venice Beach, CA Jeannie Jeffries Marissa Gerlach, Macrame Artist Valley Center, CA Marissa Gerlach Art pieces will be on display and available for purchase the day of the art-show. Art pieces will be on display and available for purchase the day of the art-show. For a private viewing or art purchase prior to July 6th, please contact us. Location: 2111 Gracey Lane, Fallbrook CA 92028 Advance Ticket Purchase Recommended Photography by: Susie Fiebich Photography
You're invited to join us tomorrow July, 6th at Gracey Lane Farm! Bohemian Bliss Art Show and Complimentary Summer Cocktail! July 6th 3:00-6:00pm $15.00 Event Donation Tickets On Sale @ http://graceylanefarm.com/…/bohemian-bliss-art-show-july-6…/ Selected and curated pieces by local and Southern California artists will be featured. You will have the opportunity to view and purchase one-of-a-kind original art pieces. The art mediums in the show include: photography, acrylic on wood, acrylic and resin on wood, resin pour, acrylic pour, and hand-crafted macramé on wood pieces. FEATURED ARTISTS Taylor Gallegos, Visual Artist and Owner of TG Fine Art Local Artist - Fallbrook, CA Taylor Gallegos Jeannie Jeffries (JJ), Visionary Artist and Co-Founder of JJ Freshy Collective Venice Beach, CA Jeannie Jeffries Marissa Gerlach, Macrame Artist Valley Center, CA Marissa Gerlach Art pieces will be on display and available for purchase the day of the art-show. Art pieces will be on display and available for purchase the day of the art-show. For a private viewing or art purchase prior to July 6th, please contact us. Location: 2111 Gracey Lane, Fallbrook CA 92028 Advance Ticket Purchase Recommended Photography by: Susie Fiebich Photography
Main and Alvarado. Probably 1930's? Safeway stores. Creator Burton Frasher, he is from Pomona, Calif.
This is my Grandfather Anthony Clarence Reche, Jr. Photo taken in Big Pine, Ça
There is a "Historical Tree" next to Carls Jr on Mission and Ammunition. I was wondering what they "history" behind that was?? Does anyone know??
Hi! I'm with the Girl Scout Fallbrook/Bonsall/Rainbow service unit. I'm looking for anyone who was a part of the White Rose Troop 7 in Fallbrook at any point in time, as a leader or as a girl member. My S.U. is hosting a celebration later this year and would like to invite any Troop 7 alumni to join us. If you, or someone you know, was in Troop 7, please let me know so I can send a formal invitation! Thank you!!
We have brand new Fallbrook Historical Society tee shirts in beautiful new colors. We also have a brand new tee for the Historic Fall-Brook Reche School House, red like the school house. My concept, design by local artist Daniel Martinez.
I heard there is an Open House in early June, is that right?