INTRODUCTION

The story of Mission Hills begins with three seminal figures—Sarah Johnston Cox Miller, Kate Sessions, and George Marston.

Miller’s stepfather, Capt. Henry Johnston, was the captain of the SS Orizaba. The Orizaba was a wooden side-wheel steamer, nicknamed the “Mayflower of the West.” Johnston steered the ship up and down the California coast, bringing newcomers to San Diego. In 1869, Johnston bought 65 acres on a high plot of land above San Diego Bay, in what would eventually become Mission Hills. He died before building his dream home there. In 1887, his stepdaughter Sarah Miller filed a subdivision map for Johnston Heights, and in 1888 she built a magnificent Victorian house, known as the Villa Orizaba.

In 1903, after losing her Balboa Park lease, Kate Sessions, horticulturalist and “Mother of Balboa Park,” and her brother Frank began buying up property in what was then known as North Florence Heights to establish her nursery business. She chose land near West Lewis Street and Stephens Street for both her nursery and growing grounds, because of the rich soil, moist sea breezes, and remote location. They built lath packinghouses at the north end of Lark Street, relocating them a few years later to where Ulysses S. Grant Elementary School lies today. From these sites, poinsettias were grown, packed, and shipped throughout North America. In 1922, Sessions sold the nursery to Giuseppe and Pasquale Antonicelli, and the Antonicellis moved the nursery to its current site on Fort Stockton Drive in 1925.

Around 1905, George Marston, a prominent businessman and progressive civic leader, brought John Nolan to San Diego to develop the first city plan; however, the city never adopted the Nolan Plan. The plan did provide a development guide aligned with the City Beautiful Movement of the late 19th century and resonated with Marston.

Meanwhile, Percy Goodwin and others organized a syndicate to buy 60 acres adjoining the north end of Sarah Miller’s property (along modern-day Sunset Boulevard) for $36,000. On January 20, 1908, Marston, along with family members Tom and Charles S. Hamilton, Hotel Del Coronado developer Elisha S. Babcock, John Kelly of Kelly Investment Company, and coinvestors John F. and James D. Forward, filed Subdivision Map No. 1115, composed of 22 acres. They called their new subdivision Mission Hills, reflecting Nolan’s ideals that San Diego embrace its “romantic history . . . and give happy recognition to its topography.” The location was close to the original site of the San Diego Presidio and the 1769 Mission San Diego de Alcalá, known as the birthplace of California and Plymouth Rock of the Pacific. Marston’s syndicate hired Frank A. Rhodes to survey the land and New York landscape architect George Cooke laid out the tract. Cooke used the principles from Nolan’s plan, such as following the topography of hilltops and deep ravines for streets and leaving canyons undisturbed for the purposes of recreation, scenic enjoyment, and open space. There is a hierarchy to the street pattern. Queen palms were planted along Sunset Boulevard to “dress the street . . . but avoid shading the homes.”

The early developers intended to make Mission Hills one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in San Diego. It was a restricted subdivision, requiring that homes cost at least $3,000 to build, when the average worker earned $10 per week. At the time, the area was mostly barren, with the exception of a citrus grove on Trias Street, olive and lemon orchards on Fort Stockton Drive and Jackdaw Street, Calvary Cemetery (now buried within Calvary Pioneer Memorial Park), Kate Sessions’ nursery, and a few dairy and chicken farms.

Street names in the original Mission Hills subdivision reflected San Diego’s early history. Fort Stockton Drive references the old US Army fort at nearby Presidio Hill, from the Mexican War. Sierra Vista, Valle Vista, Hermosa Way, and West Montecito Way reflect Nolan’s vision that topographical descriptions “express themselves in the soft words of the Spanish language.” Portola Place is named after the Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portolá; Couts Street pays homage to the wealthy 19th-century landowner Cave Johnson Couts; Cosoy Street was named after the Native Americans that lived below Presidio Hill; Altamirano was named after members of an important Spanish pioneer family; Arguello was named after Santiago Arguello, a former Californio and alcalde (mayor) of San Diego; Bandini is named after Juan Bandini, a prominent Old Town leader; Witherby was named after a prominent local judge, and Sheridan Avenue after the Civil War Union general. A literary reference is represented by Arden Way, supposedly named after a forest in Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Other streets were named after trees, such as Palmetto, Pine, and Hickory Streets.

In 1907, Sessions and Alice Rainford sought support from John D. Spreckels, the owner of the San Diego Electric Railway Company, to extend the electric trolley line from First Avenue to Washington Street. Although Sessions’s new growing grounds proved to be fertile, she found that the location was too remote for her customers. In 1908, Sessions succeeded in convincing Spreckles to extend the route No. 3 trolley line, and by 1909 it stopped at West Lewis and Stephens Streets, right in front of her nursery.

In September 1909, Johnston Heights was subdivided again by Harry L. Miller, the son of Sarah Johnston Cox Miller, and renamed Inspiration Heights (map No. 1212). Inspiration Heights was a more appealing name, and promotional materials were designed to attract newcomers. The old street names of Johnston Avenue, Dunkirk Avenue, Jerome Avenue, William Street, and Leverett Street were renamed Sunset Boulevard, Orizaba Street, Bandini Street, Alameda Drive, and Loma Pass.

The 1909 announcement for the 1915 Panama California Exposition drew builders from around the country to San Diego, creating a building boom that started in 1912 for Mission Hills and lasted through World War I, with the area mostly developed by the time the United States entered World War II.

By 1909, several houses were built in the area: the Willis and Florence Ehrlich House, a pebble-dash stucco bungalow built by Powell and Fogg at 1836 Sunset Boulevard; the Cheney-Stevenson Craftsman designed by Emmor Brooke Weaver at 1816 Sheridan Avenue; and the John H. Ferry Craftsman at 4204 Randolph (unknown builder). It is believed that in 1908, L. Eugene Fuller started to build his Dutch Colonial home after a handshake deal with Percy Goodwin. Fuller was a carpenter and mechanical engineer. By 1909, the Fuller residence at 1815 Sunset Boulevard was well underway.

During the early 20th century, most of San Diego’s important architects designed or built houses here, including notables such as Frank P. Allen Jr., Edward Depew, Henry Lord Gay, William E. Gibb, Louis Gill, Del Harris, William S. Hebbard, William Templeton Johnson, Walter Keller, Henry J. Lang, Cliff May, Frank Mead, Henry Preibisius, the Quayle Brothers, Robert Raymond, Richard Requa, Lillian J. Rice, William Wahrenberger, Emmor Brooke Weaver, and William Wheeler Sr. Notable master builders were represented also, including David Owen Dryden, Richard Hathaway, Ralph Hurlburt, Morris B. Irvin, Wayne McAllister, Martin V. Melhorn, Parkinson & Parkinson, Nathan Rigdon, Alexander Schreiber, Charles Tifal, and Frank O. Wells. Talented builders such as Chester Eastman, John S. Graves, Robert Hall Orr, Edward L. Rambo, as well as building companies such as the Pacific Building Company, A.M. Southard Building Company, Trepte Builders, and others constructed distinctive Mission Hills homes of fine craftsmanship. Many of these builders lived in Mission Hills as they worked, including Graves, Irvin, Johnson, Melhorn, Requa, Rigdon, Schreiber, Wheeler Sr., and later, during building infill projects, Samuel Hamill and Modernist architect Homer Delawie.

The architecture of Mission Hills ranges from vernacular to spectacular. Styles include bungalow, Craftsman, Prairie School, Mission, and Spanish Revival designs. The Midwestern Prairie School, popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright and his contemporaries, had a profound influence upon the physical appearance of Mission Hills. There are over 50 Prairie School houses in Mission Hills, more than in any other San Diego community. Builders Nathan Rigdon, Morris B. Irvin, Joel E. Brown, Alexander Schreiber, Martin V. Melhorn, Joseph Burness, and Harry L. Turner embraced a San Diego version of the Prairie School style. This indigenous, American style embodies a horizontality that seems to be an outgrowth from the earth. Following World War II, there was a significant shift in architectural designs as Delawie, Hamill, Henry Hester, Frank Hope Jr., Frank Liebhardt, Lloyd Ruocco, Sim Bruce Richards, and John Lloyd Wright built Modernist homes on the remaining available land, usually along the steep hillsides or in the canyons.

During the early 20th century, many leading artists and civic and business leaders called Mission Hills home, including freeway builder Roscoe E. “Pappy” Hazard; Rough Rider Capt. Thomas Rynning; tuna industry magnate Wiley Ambrose; District Attorney Stephen Connell; Catholic bishop Charles F. Buddy; San Diego mayors Percy Benbough and John F. Forward Jr.; store owner Guilford Whitney; attorney Ralph Jenny; plumbing contractors Fred Heilbron and Calvin Powers; Kate Sessions, her brother Frank, and her nephew, landscape architect Milt Sessions; State Sen. Edwin Sample; mortician Claude Woolman; Arthur Hay, the grandson of John H. Hay who served in the McKinley and Lincoln administrations; capitalist Edward Guymon; aviation pioneer T. Claude Ryan; journalism magnate Col. Milton McRae; as well as middle class residents such as dairy farmer Fred J. Allen; boxer, tavern owner, and father to San Diego mayor Maureen O’Connor, Jerome “The Kid” O’Connor; and the family of future state senator James Mills.

Several Mission Hills residents had a connection to the Chicago Prairie School, including Clara Sturgis Johnson, founder of the Francis W. Parker School; artist Orlando Giannini, who was associated with Frank Lloyd Wright; John Lloyd Wright; and Clara Barck Wells, retired founder of Kalo Shops and Arts and Crafts silversmith.

Mission Hills became a progressive and artistic community. Indeed, artists such as architectural critic and writer Eloise Roorbach; musician Alice Barnett Price Stevenson; poet John Vance Cheney; singer Augusta F. Sample; painters Hope Mercereau Bryson and Belle Baranceau; muralist Orlando Giannini; Bertha Bliss Taylor; the White Bungalow writers group; and the Hillside Artist Colony all took residence here.

The 1912 Mission Revival Rigdon and Italianate Montclaire apartment buildings became the centerpiece of the West Lewis commercial district. Powers Plumbing was established in 1914 downtown by Luther B. Powers. In 1917, Powers Plumbing moved the shop to West Lewis Street, and in 1923, commissioned Martin V. Melhorn to build a Spanish Revival building on the corner of West Lewis and Stephens Streets.

Along Washington Street, the 1912 Griswold Building and the 1927 Spanish Revival Florence Apartments anchored local businesses. Some remember the 1952, modernized Mission Hills Shopping Center as an important shopping center for the community with a Piggly Wiggly, Ace Drug Store, and about 20 other businesses—recently restored to the original style.

Mission Hills has three churches and three schools. Clara Sturgis Johnson came to San Diego from the University of Chicago. She followed the progressive educational philosophies of Col. Francis W. Parker, and in 1912, she established the Francis W. Parker School. Her husband, architect William Templeton Johnson, designed it. In 1914, Ulysses S. Grant Elementary School opened and was a beautiful Mission Revival building, which was demolished in 1974; it awaits another major remodel.

Around 1909, the Mission Hills United Methodist Church was established in a small, old wooden building at the corner of Falcon Street and West University. In 1914, needing a larger space, architect William E. Gibb designed a Mission Revival church at Lark Street and Fort Stockton Drive, which cost $13,500 to build. It features outstanding art glass from the Los Angeles firm Judson Art Studio.

St. Vincent de Paul Catholic church was built in 1910 as a Mission Revival structure at Hawk Street. The original church was demolished in 1968. The Mission Hills Congregational Church, now the United Church of Christ, began in 1911 in a redwood board-and-batten bungalow chapel along Fort Stockton Drive and Jackdaw Street. In 1921, Louis Gill designed a larger modern Craftsman-style church.

Mission Hills would play a role during World War II, with many residents doubling up with Navy personnel due to a housing shortage. Many locals worked at nearby Consolidated Aircraft. Balboa Park was taken over for military training during the war, so the Fine Arts Gallery temporarily moved to the 1912 Milo C. Treat Mansion (demolished) on Sunset Boulevard.

Mission Hills is in proximity to two parks rich in San Diego history. To the west lies Presidio Park, originally home to the Kumeyaay people. In 1769, the Spanish built a presidio and the first mission, Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá. In 1907, George Marston, appreciative of the importance of the site, purchased the land to preserve it. In 1925, he began to develop the park and had William Templeton Johnson design the Serra Museum. In 1929, he donated the land to the City of San Diego.

Fr. Antonio Ubach was the “Last of the Padres.” In 1866, he arrived in San Diego from Spain and was in charge of the Catholic parish. In 1873, he dedicated Calvary Cemetery, where thousands of Catholics were laid to rest, including Old Town pioneers such as Cave Johnson Couts, the Altamirano and Serrano families, Juanita Wrightington, and aviation pioneer Charles Francis Walsh. Father Ubach was also laid to rest here along with other Catholic priests, over 60 Civil War veterans, those in the potter’s field, and about 200 infants. Burials continued until 1960. Though the markers were removed, this site remains a burial ground for thousands. Parts of the 1939 WPA adobe wall that once surrounded the cemetery can still be observed today. In 1970, Calvary Pioneer Memorial Park was established after the city closed Calvary Cemetery, removed the headstones, and developed it as a park, leaving the bodies to rest for eternity.

Mission Hills continues to be a community that celebrates its rich architectural heritage. The romantic name Mission Hills set it apart from other subdivisions that were often named after the developer. By the 1950s, there would be 53 named subdivisions in what is now generally referred to as the community of Mission Hills. Locals value the graceful old houses, and businesses thrive here. Many historical sites have been lovingly restored and preserved. In 2007, the City of San Diego designated Mission Hills and Fort Stockton Line Historic Districts, which include over 175 buildings. In June 2014, ninety-nine additional homes were added to the Mission Hills Historic District. The dynamic community ambiance embodies a unique sense of history and its romantic beginnings at a depth that is appealing to natives, newcomers, and visitors alike.