Life in Crest 1970s

By 1976, the population of Crest was 2,144 with a reported total of 670 homes. Numbers the following year grew to a population of 2,333 and 745 residences (288 in La Cresta, 286 in Suncrest, and 171 in North Crest). The results of a community survey in 1978 showed that people lived in Crest for the country atmosphere, clean quiet air, and friendly people. Folks selected Crest so they could do their own thing in peace and quiet. They wanted to be informed, but did not necessarily want to be involved with most community activities.

In the mid-1970s, Elias Brothers Market (today’s Rainbow Market) advertised as “The Best in Crest” and Lavicio’s Market (now Crest Foods) sold milk for $1.36 a gallon. Other businesses were Garner Realty, Farrell O’Neill Realty, St. Louise Thrift Store, and the Hilltop Cafe, serving breakfast for 55 cents. There was a rural bus service twice a week from Crest to Parkway Plaza shopping center for 75 cents each way.

The major event of the 1970s was the Laguna Fire in 1970 in which Crest lost 118 homes.

Fire Strikes the Crest Community – September 26, 1970  The Laguna Fire.

                The first thought that comes to everyone’s mind during this time is the 1970 Laguna Fire. It certainly changed the life of the community residents. On September 26, 1970, fire broke out in the Kitchen Creek area of the Laguna Mountains. A strong Santa Ana was blowing eastward fanning flames from a fallen power line downhill through young timbers and burning wildly out of control within two hours. Roughly 36 hours later, the inferno had reached the Sweetwater Reservoir. Fanned by Santa Ana dry winds, the flames moved quickly eastward and northward roaring through the hills and canyons, eventually blackening over 175,000 acres and destroying over 380 homes and more than 1,000 structures in San Diego County. Eight people lost their lives.

The townspeople fought shoulder to shoulder for three days against the Laguna Fire, but it burned more than 100 Crest homes as it blazed from from Mt Laguna to El Cajon.  Women joined the volunteer fire department out of necessity, because most of the men were working off the mountain during the day and couldn’t get to town quickly to fight a  fire.

The Behrens watched the Laguna Fire rage from their mountain perch for a week. Then the fire hit Crest.  The men and even the young teen-age boys fought for three days.  A lot of women finally left when things looked too dangerous.   The Behrens got out right as the house next door was going up

Once the fire was contained, hundreds of people worked night and day to restore service to Crest and other areas ravaged by the fire. Friends, neighbors and strangers provided the most basic of needs to those who had lost everything.

Only those who lived through this fire and experienced its destruction first hand can appreciate fully not only the terror and hardship suffered but also the triumph of Crest’s rebirth.

The fire wiped out one-third of the town. Most of  the residents built new homes. For a lot of them the fire was a blessing in disguise.  The value of  the old houses had gone way up and with insurance and low interest government loans, just about everyone built a house that was much nicer than they had before.  It made for a big change in the town.

1970 – The Community Blackboard

When you drive by and look at the community blackboard at the top of the hill, have you ever wondered how and why it got there?

Within a few days of the 1970 Laguna Fire, a donation of several thousands of dollars was collected by administrators and employees of Pacific Southwest Airlines to be given to the survivors of the fire as needed. The board of the Crest Civic Group and the pastors from the three churches in our community were in charge of dispursing the funds. When most of the funds were gone and there were only a couple hundred dollars left, the decision was made to make a new board for the community as the old board was just two 4x4s and a sheet of plywood. Skip Conard was asked to make the board since he was the best cabinet maker around. Skip gave us a bulletin board to be proud of and it was crowned by Ken Clark of El Cajon Roofing. The dedication statement “Donated by PSA through the 1970 Fire Disaster Committee” was routered into the bottom board of the sign. The bulletin board has been replaced in the last few years with the same basic design and same dedication statement. The Crest chalkboard is still used to post weekly events and keep residents informed.

Straightening of the Crest Grade – 1970

In 1970, a committee approached the Road Commissioner regarding straightening the La Cresta grade and filling the chuck holes. They were informed that the allotment of money for the district was already spoken for. Stan Douglas recalled, “We contacted Supervisor Bird, but his hands were tied. The following year he did add us on the agenda before they started discussing the budget. We did our homework. We gathered photos of the accidents, some of which were very gruesome, as well as photos of the chuck holes. The cars usually hit a boulder or ran over the side.

“On the day of the hearing, a transit bus that held 50 people and 5 cars holding 25 people left Crest. We bought 75 pie tins and painted them orange with the word Crest in white. We hung them around our necks with ribbons. All the pictures were rolled up. We also had pictures taken from a bi-plane. We put them together to make one big picture of the whole area. We imprinted on this picture a route that could be used. We had a road engineer that helped us out at no cost. Arriving at the meeting the group stood in the back rather than sitting. Supervisor Bird looked up and said, ‘it looks like we have a delegation from Crest. I think before we start the meeting, we will give the Crest people a chance to present their case.’ We had a retired public speaker present.

“During the meeting, as he brought up the different facts, we unrolled the pictures which were very shocking. When we showed them our air pictures and the new route imprinted on it, the board was very impressed.

“They thanked us very much for our presentation. Two hours later we received a phone call that they had allotted us three million dollars- one million a year to be used on our road for three years. The road today is two and three lanes because of these efforts.”

The Crest Library moves to new building – 1976

           The Crest Library relocated to their present building located on Juanita Lane on October 14, 1976. This building, which was the original Suncrest Market, was a great improvement from the small library located behind the La Cresta Women’s Club. The location was chosen because it was near Crest Elementary School and also because it had ample parking. With this move the library became a full service facility with 1,343 square feet of space. It was open 20 hours a week and increased its volumes from 1,300 to 10,000.

South Lane Park – Established 1979

Today’s South Lane Park was formerly known as the Suncrest Ball Park, part of the original Suncrest development. Ball games were entertainment for the “resort” members who visited their cabins on weekends. At one point, Suncrest, Inc. gave the property to the Baptist Church for building a retirement home. The home was never built. The property reverted to the county which was later sold  to a private party. Over the years private owners tried to develop the area unsuccessfully due to drainage issues. For some time the park and the horse ring were privately owned.  Shows and activities were based on the permission of the owner, Mrs. Dyer.  In the 1970s the property was sold once again and activities stopped.

On October 24, 1974, the Civic Group wrote a letter to the county asking them to acquire this 10.5 acre site for a Crest park. It took four years before it was included in the local Parks Implementation Program because the Park Land Dedication Ordinance fund for our local park planning area was insufficient to cover acquisition costs. No federal or state grants were available as a supplement to that fund until 1978.

From May 30, 1978 to March 14, 1979, there were hearings before the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, the Environmental Review Board, the Planning Commission, the CPO of the Parks and Recreation Director, the CA State Parks and Recreation Director, the executive committee of CPO, the State Clearinghouse, and the Board of Supervisors (again). Finally, the property was acquired by the county for the sum of $140,000. It was designated as an undeveloped park.

The ETI Horse group was formed in 1979 with Sally Bowlby elected as first president.  ETI sponsored trail rides, horse shows and trips. The horse group – E-Crestrians, Inc.– was granted a non-exclusive use and occupancy permit for the five acres closest to South Lane. Through their efforts, the horse ring and an announcer’s booth for horse show competitions were constructed. The announcers booth, which was the old library building located behind the La Cresta Women’s Clubhouse, was moved to its new home in the park. The Crest Civic Group ran the concession stand for some time.

South Lane Park was known for its beautiful eucalyptus grove. The park remained rustic and forest-like for many years. Unfortunately, after the 2003 fire, the county deemed the trees too weak to remain and a liability to the county. In 2006, they cut down 300 trees, many of them over 100 feet tall, leaving only 40 trees. That same year, the park was upgraded with landscape planting and the installation of a physical exercise area and a walking path through the center of the park. The park today still has the two horse arenas plus four hitching posts and water for horses.

1977 – Beginning of the Crest Sub-Regional Planning Group

The County Board of Supervisors authorized the election of a citizen planning group which would aid the board with planning and zoning matters in the unincorporated areas of the county. The elections were held March 7, 1977. The Harbison Canyon-Crest area covered approximately three square miles. The planning group today is called the Crest-Dehesa-Granite Hills-Harbison Canyon Sub-Regional Planning Group.