History of Oceanside
Native Americans from the Shoshone Indian tribes (later known as the Luiseno Indians) of Nevada and Utah travelled to California as hunters and gathers, the first to inhabit the lands of Oceanside. [3] In their book Oceanside Crest of the Wave, historians Langdon Sully and Taryn Bigelow recap events the Luisenos endured through the Spanish conquest and San Luis Rey Mission conversion, to the Mexican takeover with the Ranchos replacing the Missions in the 1830’s. [4] The coastal land in which Rancho Santa Margarita was located upon changed ownership four times before becoming Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base. [5]
During the late 1800’s, the land of Oceanside was occupied not only by Mexican and Indian residents, but also settlers who travelled and settled in the San Luis Rey Valley and along the coasts of Oceanside. According to Bigelow and Sully, some of the first settlers began arriving around the 1860’s. Andrew Jackson Myers travelled to Oceanside from Illinois, settling in the San Luis Rey Township in 1877. Bigelow and Sully detail that Myers was awarded 160 acres of land in a grant which he applied for in 1883. The land Myers acquired became the town of Oceanside. According to historian Harriet Barnard of Oceanside, “Myers, Hayes, and Couts got together to come up with a name to attract prospective settler.” [6] Two other names that were considered for the town were; La Playa (the beach) and Orilla del Mar (shore of the sea). Ultimately it was decided among Lieutenant Cave Johnson Couts, Andrew Jackson Myer, and Judge J. Chauncey Hayes that “Ocean Side” would be the name for the new town. [7]
In her book Oceanside Where Life is Worth Living, historian Kristi Hawthorne says that Oceanside has been a long time haven for beach goers. According to Hawthorne, “in 1884 Myers, the city’s founder, built a bath-house on the beach located where the Beach Community Center now stands.” [8] Future leaders and politicians of the city of Oceanside would continue Myers drive to better the city for residents and travelers on the beach side of town. Beach-goers in Oceanside, California would continue to enjoy the long strand of sand for sunning, the Oceanside pier, and eventually a Bandshell stage built in 1919 for entertainment along the shoreside. Several decades later, Erwin Sklar would serve as the Oceanside’s mayor and deputy mayor on the city council for twelve years. According to Hawthorne, Sklar was instrumental in the development of Oceanside small craft harbor. [9] When asked what politician got things done in Oceanside, longtime Oceanside resident David Rodrick replied,
“You only have one politician in that category in the city, that was Erwin Sklar. That man did more for the city than anybody else we have ever had in the council. He’s the guy that engineered the harbor, he’s the guy that made the city act in government as a city should. He also was the one who came and persuaded the community to change to a Mayor and Council form of government.” [10]
3. Langdon Sully and Taryn Bigelow, Oceanside Crest of the Wave (United States: Windsor Publications, Inc., 1988)., 11.
4. Ibid., 14.
5. Ibid., 18.
6. Ibid., 28
7. Ibid., 28.
8. Kristi Hawthorne, Oceanside Where Life is Worth Living (Virginia Beach, VA: The Donning Company Publishers, 2000)., 33.
9. Ibid., 139.
10. Kristi Hawthorne, “History of Oceanside Harbor,” Oceanside Chamber of Commerce (February 27, 2015). https://www.oceansidechamber.com/oceanside-blog/history-of-oceanside-harbor