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Escondido Public Library, South Kalmia Street, Escondido, CA

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Escondido Public Library, South Kalmia Street, Escondido, CA

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Escondido Public Library, South Kalmia Street, Escondido, CA

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The original Escondido library was a private one built in 1894, although the picture above is from 1967, when I was three years old—about the time I started going there with my mom. By the time I was about five, I was walking there on my own (my big sister lived a block away). In 1898, the city of Escondido took over its management, and in 1981, against the wishes of most of the town, it became privatized. Despite this, today the thriving library is a hub of valuable services that include historical archives and a literacy center.

The original library building, originally located downtown on Grand Avenue, now exists as part of historic Grape Day Park, near this downtown area.

Although there may be no dark history here, I do wonder if library materials were at all curated in ways that hid the history of certain parts of the city. This is something I am now curious about; has surreptitious book-banning been happening all along in some areas? Or, was this library a place where I could have openly learned the controversial history of this area?

Link to more information and photos

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Escondido City Hall, North Broadway, Escondido, CA

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Escondido City Hall, North Broadway, Escondido, CA

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Escondido City Hall, North Broadway, Escondido, CA

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Where: Escondido, California: Incorporated on October 8, 1888, as a city with a simple government of five trustees elected by the people. The city's voters also elected a council, clerk, treasurer, and marshal. Today, Escondido is a general law city with a mayor elected at large and four council members elected by district.

The official city website says this: "The location of Escondido was first identified and discovered by Juan Bautista de Anza, a Spanish explorer, in 1776. Later, the area became part of the Rancho Rincon del Diablo (the devil's corner) land grant bestowed to Juan Bautista Alvarado in 1843 by Mexican Governor Manuel Micheltoren. In 1886, the Escondido Land and Town Company acquired the land grant, laid out the town site, and divided the valley into small farms suitable for grapes or citrus."

When the United States won the Mexican-American war, Mexico was stripped of half of its territory. They received a monetary settlement that, as one might suspect, did not satisfy them. Interestingly, the "official" version above does not mention the war, the confiscation of territory, or Mexico's dissatisfaction with the remuneration.

Indigenous Communities: Kumeyaay/Kumiais and Payómkawichum (Luiseño)

source: sandiegohistory.org/journal/1962/escondido

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San Pasqual Battlefield State Park, San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido, CA

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Home of the bloodiest battle in California history, this atrocity happened during the Mexican-American War in an area now called the San Pasqual Valley.

One of the schools I went to, San Pasqual High School, is in this area—the same area where the Wild Animal Park, now called the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, is located.

Growing up, this was not a history I knew about. None of my history classes (1970s/'80s) mentioned the area's dark history, although the park commemorates the battle. Both sides (the U.S. and Mexico) claimed victory, although the truth was never resolved; nearly 200 years later it is still up for debate.

Link to more information

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Charles Waterhouse painting of the December 6 & 7 Battle of San Pasqual

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146 West 10th Avenue, Escondido, CA 92025

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There are about 900 homes in this historic area, many of them Victorian, like this one, built in 1896. As a child, this was always my family's favorite area to drive through. One of my brothers lived in one of the largest (fixer-upper) Victorian homes in the area when it was a rental property—before its historically protected remodel.

Today, visitors may sign up to take walking tours through the area. In some cases, a few of the homes are open for visitors to walk through. Important to the city, these homes have always been precious reminders of the oldest, prettiest parts of its history.

Link to more information

Link to "The Escondido History" (disclaimer: Written in 1963, this blog post contains some outdated terms, like "Indians."

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Felicita Elementary School, West 13th Avenue, Escondido, CA

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Felicita Elementary School, West 13th Avenue, Escondido, CA

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Felicita Elementary School, West 13th Avenue, Escondido, CA

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I went to Kindergarten here—then we moved to Nevada and Louisiana. We came back shortly thereafter, and I went here from halfway through second grade through the 5th grade.

When I was in school here (starting in 1969), the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 (BEA) was in place. This act became law, according to Wikipedia (linked below), primarily due "to the efforts of Spanish speakers." Within this act, linguistic and cultural differences were promoted as positive, and it is considered an important part of dismantling, or at least disrupting "assimilationist theories" and the "melting pot" concept.

I thought back on this when I was learning more about Proposition 227, which effectively banned bilingual education for English Language learners in 1998!

Link to important events in CA's bilingual educational policies

Link to more about the school and city

Wiki link to more about the Bilingual Education Act

Link to Prop. 227 information