Life in Crest in the 1980s
The reported population in Crest in 1988 was 3,077. A rural bus served Crest six days a week. A survey reports one resident stating, “The good thing about Crest is that no one knows where it is.”
In the 1980s, Ann Holton, Crest resident and columnist for the Back Country Trader, reported in her Crest Chronicle column that local businesses included Rainbow Market, Canada Steak Burger, and the Wizard of Vid video rentals. The St. Louise Thrift Shop was open for business and the Crest Gas Station was ready to repair your auto (they did not sell gas). Other businesses mentioned included La Cresta Food Market (also known as Elias Brothers), a Mexican restaurant in the Hilltop Café, and also an Italian restaurant and pizzeria. There was even a chimney sweep company owned by Richard Fiedor called Soot Your Needs.
Activities on the hill included the Crest School Halloween Carnival, fun horse shows, church activities at the Lighthouse Christian Church (formerly known as Chapel of the Hill), St. Louise, and the Crest Community Church. There were Girl Scout meetings to attend as well as art classes at St. Louise Church for adults. The Crest Horse Club and the E-Crestrians Horse Group had activities all the time. You saw more kids on horseback than you did on bicycles. Folks were attracted to Crest because they wanted kids to spend their times in the country instead of a shopping mall. People locked their doors but it probably wasn’t necessary. Incidents of serious crime are few and far between. Resident Debbie Swanson described Crest as “it’s a place where a young family can have plenty of room to spread out, keep animals and appreciate the quiet away from the hectic pace of the city.”
While many of the original homes survived the 70’s Laguna fire, striking, expensive custom-built homes have filled in around them.
Al Fehiberg was the fire chief and serviced on the local water and planning boards and his wife was the postmistress (Jan 1985). In the front of their house Evelyn ran a beauty shop although it was more sedate than 20 years ago when the town’s fire siren sat in the reception area.
The July 4th event was still a grand event with Brian Sipes, Aztec football hero and grandson of a local Crest resident, as Grand Marshall for one Crest parade.
Crest still continued to have growing pains. The Crest-Dehesa-Harbison Canyon Subregional Planning Group, along with water issues and the Crest Fire Department dominated the news in the 1980s.
Even in 1985 residents still faced severe water shortages in the summer (a moratorium was set on new water connections). In 1985 Crest nearly ran out of water as the supply dwindled to one day’s worth. Emergency rationing began. Folks proposed annexation to the much larger Padre Municipal Water District. The pipes bringing up the water from El Cajon were made from government surplus in the ‘40s and they were no long good.
Crest Historical Society Established May 17, 1989
In 1989, a group of dedicated Crest residents recognized the need to preserve the history of Crest. The Crest Historical Society was founded May 17 during Historic Preservation Week by Don Noble, Ann Holton, and Billie Tate. Charter members also included Shirley Alvarado, Sandy Artaz, Kathryn Hawkins, Guy Holton, Linda Keck, Dorothy Miller, and Rick Ricker. Historical Society members have collected valuable documents and wonderful stories regarding Crest’s beginnings. Echoes, a quarterly newsletter, has been published and mailed to members since the society’s inception. On December 30, 1991, the society incorporated.
1985 – Padre Dam Water Company annexes Crest Public Utility District
Fears about rising costs of maintaining its aging infrastructure, plus the need for greater water storage, led Crest to merge the Crest Public Utility District with Padre Dam Municipal Water District. The system was several years past it’s 30 year life span. No plans had been made, or funds set aside, to compensate for this normal aging process. The amount of $1.62 million was needed to re-vamp the aging system. An agreement was finally reached that Crest would pay for the needed upgrade to the pumping system. Crest residents continue today to see the “past debt service” fee on their Padre Dam bills. There was much dissent regarding the merger issue as residents gave up the local control of the utility district. In the end, the measure passed. An article in the Crest Grapevine reported that the Crest water pipe contract was awarded to the Mur-Vic Co of San Diego who submitted the low bid of $365,052 for replacing some 13,000 feet of water pipe in 17 separate locations within the Crest Water District.
Friends of Crest – Established 1988
Friends of Crest, a non-profit organization, was established in 1988 by four Crest moms: Bobbi Hobbs, Mary Ryan Meshot, Peggy Meredith, and Christina Seebold. Through their involvement with Crest School, they came to the conclusion that the school needed a multi-purpose room for school assemblies and community meetings. The group rallied the community and district to raise the needed funds. Through the use of recycling, annual Christmas tree sales, and the raffling of designer school quilts, they continued to accumulate money and work with the Cajon Valley School District until they attained their goal. In 1998, they watched with pride as their vision took shape and the auditorium was built.
Later, this group was instrumental in assisting Crest by facilitating their role as fiscal agent during the fire recovery of the 2003 fires. After 22 years of service to the Crest community, Friends of Crest dissolved in 2011 and donated their remaining funds to the Earth Discovery Institute at Crestridge Ecological Reserve.
Crest Continues to Develop – Mountain View Estates and Cornelius Ranch
Crest continued to grow throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s. Two large developments built during this period was Mountain View Estates (located off Rios Canyon Road) and Cornelius Ranch (located off Horsemill Road). These developments are located near the area where Barney and Dollie Cornelius raised their family on their 324 acre Circle A Ranch. They are located close to the present day Crestridge Reserve.
Today, John Gibson, developer of Mountain View Estates, is quite familiar with this area because in 1962 when John was a young boy, his dad purchased 600 acres, including much of the Circle A Ranch, from Barney Cornelius. John remembers that cattle were in abundance on these hills and the entire Cornelius property was fenced. John states, “They didn’t pay much attention to property lines back then since the land was used mostly for grazing.” John pointed out that the Cornelius Truck Trail is today’s road called Montana Serena and also pointed out the McClain Ranch Truck Trail on the back side of Montana Serena. During a tour of the area with John, he indicated the remains of the old Cornelius homestead within the boundaries of today’s Cornelius Ranch development. While only portions of the foundation remain, it was amazing to see how remote the location was. When Mr. Cornelius wrote about transporting the kids to school down the old Suncrest grade (the original road to Crest that terminates down by Shadow Mountain Church), it really brought to life the hardship of living in such a remote area.