I have always loved history and love doing “then and now” pictures.
Following is the historic re-purposed ATSF railroad depot in Encinitas, California, on January 5, 2017, and two historic pictures showing the depot in 1987 before being re-purposed, and in 1910 shortly after its grand opening.
1987
1910
Many readers who like my San Diego Historical Landmarks series might think that I have given up on them. Not so. I simply want to do them in order, and I got stuck at #15. Its name is “Conception,” and it’s on the United States Naval Submarine Base at Point Loma. In other words, it’s not accessible to the general public….
….Except for one day each year. Guess which day that is? Yep. Today. “Cabrillo Festival” day. So you know where I’ll be going later today, and I can resume my San Diego Historical Landmarks series. I have no idea what I’ll find there since I have not done any research on #15 year.
Meanwhile…. September has been a very active month for getting Out & About, and I’ll have blog posts on everything as the summer comes to a close and the cold, wet, fall and winter months arrive. To whet your appetite, here’s a sample of some of the places I’ve been.
We’ll start at home with Zoey the Cool Cat. I continue to take care of her every need—boxes, tummy rubs, food, clean litter box, food for the squirrels and rabbits so she can get her daily exercise running from window to window watching them, and what does she do? Turns her back on me.
September 3—Wildlife Corner at our new home
September 9—Queen Califa’s Magical Circle in Kit Carson Park, Escondido
September 10—Surf Dog Surf-a-thon at Dog Beach in Del Mar
September 13—San Diego Zoo
September 15—Getting some kicks on Route 66 in Rancho Cucamonga
September 16—Chili Cook Off & Classic Car Show in Alpine
September 18—Big Border Baby in Tecate
September 21—Watching trains in Colton
September 22—MCAS Miramar Air Show in San Diego
September 23—San Diego Bonsai Show
September 23—Wavecrest Woody Meet at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas
September 24—Cuyamaca Rancho State Park near Julian
September 24—Apple Days in historic Julian
September 24—Gold mine tours in Julian
September 24—Cool shopping in Julian at The Warm Hearth, The Birdwatcher, and the Julian Jewel Box
September 25—Newest visitor to our new home
September 29—San Diego Quilt Show
If you haven’t discovered meetup.com yet, I can highly recommend it. If there is something you want to do but you’re not doing it, I can pretty much guarantee you that there are other people just like you, and you can meet them on meetup.com.
One of the photograph groups that I’m a member of introduced me to a year-round waterfall on Copper Creek. Year-round waterfalls in San Diego County either are rare or are very difficult to get to. The one on Copper Creek is easy to get to. The trail out and back is 2.7 miles but they are an easy 2.7 miles with virtually no elevation gain on a well-used path, provided that you take the Copper Creek Falls Trail. There are 12 named trails in San Elijo Hills, some going over steep mountains. See the trails here: San Elijo Hills Hiking Trails
There is parking at coordinates 33.093945, -117.204883. Enter those into Google Maps and you’ll be on your way.
The entrance I took after parking goes by a dead sewage treatment plant:
On the way to the falls, you’ll see the creek, ponds, mini-falls, cute little bridges, and flowers.
My research indicates that this area was copper and silver mines from around 1857 into the early 1900s. There are remnants of the mines and operation structures throughout the area. The waters behind the small dam is said to be where ore would be cleaned before transport.
I always find structural ruins to be of interest, and I was not disappointed at Copper Creek Falls.
Copper Creek’s water comes from the Escondido Creek Watershed, which begins in Bear Valley above Lake Wohlford. The creek flows through a series of man-made ponds, part of the mining efforts, all the way to San Elijo Lajoon.
The Copper Creek Falls Trails takes you through a grove of Eucalyptus trees which apparently were planted for firewood during the mining days.
There were three vertical mining shafts over 300 feet long and one horizontal shaft over 200 feet long but those shafts were blasted in decades ago for safety.
Fellow photographer sitting on the largest part of the dam
Fifty years ago I wanted to be a history teacher. Then I found out how much teachers got paid in Texas. So much for that want. I still love history, though, and when I find history that has been saved, even if it means re-purposing, I get excited.
Recently I found a book titled “The Railroad Stations of San Diego County” by James N. Price. So I used it to go exploring.
I found the historic Encinitas CA depot built by AT&SF in 1887. The book has two pictures of it, one from 1910 and one from 1988, so you get to see three pictures of this beautiful structure that has been saved for others to enjoy.
1910 photo
Credited in the book to the San Diego Historical Society, Ticor Collection)
Ca. 1988 photo
No photo credit so photo probably is that of the author, James N. Price.
January 2017 photo by Russel Ray
This depot served rail passengers into the 1950s, closing completely in January 1969. Plans were proposed in 1971 to move it to the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Instead, it was bought by an entrepreneur in 1972 and moved to Leucadia (annexed by Encinitas several years ago) where it was turned into a crafts/hobby center called, appropriately, The Station.
It sits at the corner of Atheena Street and North Coast Highway 101 where it currently is the extremely popular restaurant Pannikin Coffee & Tea. And while it no longer sits trackside, it is just across the street from the busy Amtrak tracks so one can watch Amtrak and Coaster trains zoom by at 90 miles per hour.
Russel Ray Photos 