July 28, 2010 9 The Julian News
We have our own private parking
lot behind the office...
entrance off 'C' Street
ORNER
WWW.
1an-pro
TREET
les.com
P.O. Box 1000
Julian, CA 92036
FIVE ACRE PROPERTY WITH WELL, water
VERY SPECIAL OPEN FLOOR PLAN - 2 Bed- storage tank, electrical,shed and Septic system
I CHOICE PARCEL IN JULIAN ESTATES- 4.24[[ room/2 Bath Home with 9 foot Ceilings, Roman| instaffed ready for your home. Very private setting|||SINGLE LEVEL HOME on wooded acre in Pine|
Acres at the end of the road. Many large oaks and] Slate Stamped Concrete Floors, Granite Counter[[[ with rock wails and spectacular views• Seller wffli[IHills 2 bedroom, 2 bath, family room, ~ranite|
pines, views, underground power and phone, Tops, Plantation Shutters, RV Parking & Hookups. | also consider trade for property in San Diego area| counier tops, cathedral ceilings "in livingVroom, l[
paved roads, gated community. Au on l.w Acres _ | or Tucson. | attached garage. Private spa off master bedroom. |
$199,000 $359,000 J • $187,000 i $367,000 !
AVAILABLE LAND
• NICE SITE on Engineers Road with great[
big views. Former cabin burned in Cedar|
Fire, but well and septic are there. $7%000
• BUILDING SITE with County-approved plans
for a 2 Bedroom, 2 Bath home & garage. Was
occupied by Harrison Park Trading Post which
burned in Cedar Fire. Has well. Owners will
consider carrying 30% down. Priced at $89,000
• 4.32 ACRES on North Peak with fantastic views -
on a clear day you can see the coast line
~= . WYNOLA ESTATES- 2 bedroom/2 bath home. and also to Stonewall and Cuyamaca Peak.
[UNUSUAL AND REMOTE MO]I~;ra~"PR~P~RTV. I Spacious and open floor plan. Converted 2 car Priced at
$187,000
CHOICE SITE IN PINE HILLS. 1.28 Acres with garage with full'bath & private entrance. Attached[[[
I
20 Acres, Corn lete with dry cabin for secluded et-ll easy access, mature trees. Serviceby water company, Ill 1 bedroom/1 bath granny fiat with private entrance. [[[ JULIAN ESTATES - Gated Community of
• g
II
high end homes. 4.7 Acres with incredible
! away weeken~S.o Oak, Fir and Spruce treeS.S240,000 Views. I has approved~septic layoUt.s175,000 II]l 2.5 Acres. Bring al(offers!$578 000 [[]1 views. Has well. Priced at$275,000
II Juh Zerbe, Broker Associate Rose Steadman, Broker / Owner Kirby
Wlnn, Realtor Associate
I email: julinjoe@gmail.com email: kirbylwinn@gmail.com
email: melo-de@sbcglobal.net
Oh, the things we don't see
when we are young. When I was
a boy, attending Spencer Valley
School, I had a friend named
Johnny Huntemer. Johnny lived
two houses north of the Spencer
Valley school house. In the first
house north of the school house
lived Donny Ripley, another
schoolmate. Johnny was a few
years older than I and in my
mind's eye, at that young age, he
seemed as an adult to me. I lived
at the other end of the valley.
That mile between us might
have been a thousand miles
because I was never allowed
to stray far from home. On the
few occasions that I went down
to Johnny's to play, I must have
observed my surroundings better
than I thought, because I can still
visualize most of Johnny's yard.
Johnny's dad was a cowboy and
he also dabbled in some geology.
I always had to stop at the table
full of rocks and ore that he had
out in front of the garage. The
green colored rocks seemed to
be of the most interest to me, but
I can't remember what they were.
Later on, Johnny's dad was drug
to death by his horse, roping a
cow in the San Felipe Valley.
Johnny went away to college and
that was the last I ever saw of
him.
Ever since I became interested
in the history of Julian, I have
heard mention of the Wynola
Post Office. Someone told me
that it was located at the house
that my friend Johnny used to live
in. I asked my grandmother, who
was one of the few old enough to
remember, where the post office
was. She told me it was at the
Ford house down at the north
end of the valley. I am inclined
to use oral history with a grain of
salt. Oral history usually always
has some truth to it, maybe a lot,
but I always feel better if I have
qualified documentation before I
accept something as being true.
My grandma died a few years
ago and my cousin and aunt have
since spent many hours sorting
through my grandmother's
papers and pictures. This might
be a good place to caution
The Wynola Post Office before
anyone going through their
ancestor's belongings. Things
of value could be anywhere.
You may find someone's birth
certificate within the pages of a
book, or any number of places.
By default, I am the designated
keeper of our family history.
Over forty hours of scanning
family photo's and negatives has
provided a number of "Wow"
moments. Two of those moments
involved the Wynola Post Office.
I had never seen a photo of the
post office before, and I did not
recognize the building when I first
saw it in a picture. It appeared
to be quite tall judging from the
ladies who had lined up to have
their image captured that day•
There was only one thing to do,
and that was to hop into my truck
and head down to Johnny's old
house.
When I pulled up in front of the
house I was sure I was at the
wrong place. This house was
small, just the way I remembered
it. I got out of the truck and as I
walked toward the house I began
to smile. Aside from an apparent
addition to the south side, the
house was almost unchanged
since the day of the photo. There
could be no doubt that this was
the Wynola Post Office.
About a year had passed since
that day, when my partner in
all things history, Ed Huffman,
emailed me to ask if I knew
the turn of the century
anything about the Wynola Post
Office. He was asking because
he had had an offer for us to visit
what was thought to be the old
post office. The current owner's,
Albert and Lydia Lewis, were
also curious about, the origins
of their house. On May twenty
eighth of this year, Ed Huffman,
Albert Simonson, and I, visited
the house. It was easy to see
why I had thought the building
in the photo was so big. When
comparing the women in the
picture with the height fireplace
features, it became immediately
apparent to us; those women
were short! We spent time trying
to identify clues that would date
the origin of the building, but
it was difficult. We rapped up
our visit and thanked current
resident, Carol Frausto, for her
gift of sharing with us and headed
home.
Being home of course meant
firing up my work station and
pouring over old data. Fortunately,
a book had been written about
the origin of the post offices of
California. The data from it was
available online and through the
Julian library. The book details
when each post office was
established, discontinued, its
location, and its first post master.
Other information was given
as to the class of post office it
was, and the transfer station it
received the mail from. Some
post office locations moved
several times over their service
period. The Wynola Post Office
was established on June 5, 1889.
Knowing this however, does not
give us when the house was built.
In a taped interview of long time
Wynola resident, Red Collar, in
1984, we learn that Mary Ford is
running a boarding house there
in the early 1900's. It would not
have been uncommon for Mary
to have sold merchandise from
this central location. The post
office was designated as a class
four facility. The mail transfer
station is listed as Santa Ysabel.
The Wynola Post office was
discontinued on December 15,
1913.
There are a couple of stories
relating to how Wynola got its
name. In his memoirs, newspaper
man James Jasper tells of how
the residents had applied for the
post office to be called Spencer
Valley, the name given to the
area which had been settled by a
family named Spencer. Informed
by the U. S. Postal Service that
the name Spencer was already
taken, the residents then chose
the name of Wynola. It is the
origin of the name Wynola that is
in question. Jasper says it is the
Indian name of a spring located
west of the post office. There
is also a likely connection to a
lake back east named Wynola.
The name Wynola eventually
replaced Spencer as the name
residents used for the area.
The old photographs show
lettering below the window sills
which are on the west side of
the house. This suggests that
the mail was passed out those
windows. You might ask yourself
why a post office would be located
at what seems to be an out-of-
the-way location. The answer
to this is provided by long time
Julian resident Woody Barnes.
Woody brought to my attention
that back then, the road used to
follow the sectionalized land and
the road, which was headed east
at that point, made an abrupt
right turn to the south, right next
to the post office. The 1928
aerial photograph shows exactly
|@
what Woody had suggested. A
rural lane also extended east
toward other homesteads. This
intersection in the road, adjacent
to the post office and school
house, may have been the social
and business center of the valley.
While the post office building
has survived, other structures
on the property have not. To the
east of the. post office building
survives a small barn which
served as a milk barn and pig
feeding facility. My friend Johnny
kept his FFA project steer in the
barn. One structure that did not
survive the ravages of time was
the first fruit refrigerator located
in the Julian area. Woody related
by David Lewis
that the walls of the building were
filled with sawdust which served
as insulation. Apparently termites
considered this construction to
be ideal habitat, so the building
was lost.
The book of California post
offices reminded me that there
were eight post office locations
around the Julian area. Only
Santa Ysabel and Julian survive.
I left Carol and Albert and the
Wynola Post Office building
feeling that it was in good hands,
and that it would survive another
century, looking much the same
as it did in the photos you see on
these pages...another cultural
treasure preserved.
The Wynola tiost Office building as it appears today.
When you colne to a fork in the road,
take it.
-- Yogi Berra
The automobile is the most
recycled consumer product in the
world today,
Julian
Library Hours
Monday closed
Tuesday 9:00 - 8
Wednesday 9:00 - 6
Thursday 9:00 - 6
Friday 9:00 - 5
Saturday 9:00 - 5
1850 Highway 78
765 - 0370 ,
