One

THE BEGINNING

At the time the El Cajon Valley Land Company began to promote Lakeside as a town site, there were few inhabitants in the area. This is Lakeside looking northeast with the Lakeside Inn and its farm in the center in 1892.

In 1886, this advertisement appeared in many magazines luring people to purchase land and move to the new town of Lakeside that was being developed and promoted by the El Cajon Land Company.

Lakeside is the “garden of San Diego County” according to this 1888 advertising folder on the advantages of El Cajon Valley.

This image is looking north at Lakeside and the Lakeside Inn on Lindo Lake. The El Cajon Land Company completed construction of the Inn in 1887.

Ames Ranch (1859–1888) is pictured above. Jessie Julian Ames built the adobe ranch house and stable on de la Canada de Los Coches Rancho, California’s smallest Spanish land grant (California Historical Landmark No. 425). The original grantee, Apolinaria Lorenzana, raised hogs for the San Diego Mission de Alcala until 1843 when it was abandoned. This was also the site of the old Grist Mill located at Los Coches Road and Old Highway 80.

This 1887 picture features Lindo Lake with Lakeside’s first home, the “Castle House,” on the hillside in the background.

Once the show place of Lakeside, there is still an air of grandeur surrounding the Castle House. The first home in Lakeside, which cost $9,000 in gold, was built of Redwood from Oregon with double floors of pine. The shingles on the second story and the tower were diamond-shaped. All of the original windows in the house have a border of small panes of various-colored glass, typical of Colonial days. On the first floor is a large pantry. The staircase leads to the second floor with its five bedrooms, two large hall closets, and second tower room. A narrow circular stairway leads to the top tower room, which makes an excellent observatory for viewing the valley.

George H. Mansfield, vice-president of the El Cajon Valley Land Company, was a bachelor from New York. The El Cajon Land Company built the Castle House in 1887 for him as a show place in the style popular in New England at that time.

Lakeside’s first church was organized in 1883 with 13 charter members. Worship services were conducted on the porch of the old Lakeside Inn, which was located approximately where the Lakeside Post Office now stands.

In 1895, construction began on the sanctuary which still stands as a familiar landmark at the corner of Parkside Street and Maine Avenue. The first service in the new sanctuary was held on February 9, 1896, and formal dedication was held on March 29, 1896. It is now designated as an historical site within the Presbyterian Church and is now owned and occupied by the Lakeside Historical Society. Pictured above, boaters enjoy Lindo Lake with the newly completed Lakeside Inn in the background.