By Debbie L. Sklar / Special for the OB Rag
There was a time when Mission Valley was measured in acres of farmland rather than shopping centers, freeways and stadiums.
Along the San Diego River, fields stretched across the valley, cattle grazed and family farms produced vegetables for San Diego markets. Dairies became an important part of that landscape, but they were only one piece of a much larger agricultural community.
Before World War II and the wave of urban development that followed, much of Mission Valley was farmland. Farmers of different cultural backgrounds operated family businesses, raising crops and livestock on land that eventually would become one of San Diego’s busiest commercial areas.
A Valley of Family Farms
The city of San Diego’s historic research identifies dozens of agricultural and dairy operations that once occupied the valley, including the Ferraris, Allens, Guglielmettis, Jepsons, Obres, Gibsons, McDermotts, McCreadys and others. The same historical record identifies vegetable gardens and nurseries, showing how varied the valley’s agricultural economy was.
One of the better-documented farming families was the Ferraris.
Louis Ferrari, an immigrant from Genoa, Italy, purchased about 60 acres in Mission Valley in 1896 and initially began truck farming. He later followed many of his neighbors into dairying, starting with 30 cows, a barn and several horse stables. His dairy operation dates to 1914 and continued until 1968.
Under his son, Pete Ferrari, the operation expanded dramatically. During World War II, the Ferrari Dairy reportedly became the largest dairy in San Diego, producing about 600 gallons of milk a day.
That history is significant because it shows how farmers adapted to changing opportunities. Ferrari did not begin as a dairy farmer. He began by growing crops on Mission Valley land.
Fields of Vegetables
Other families continued growing vegetables.
Japanese American farmers became an important part of Mission Valley’s agricultural history, operating vegetable farms that produced celery, corn, tomatoes, lettuce and other crops. Their produce was sold through farm stands and local markets.
The Segawa family was among them.
The family leased farmland at Old Mission Ranch beginning in 1947. They were the last commercial vegetable farmers on that particular site before the property was sold to the city of San Diego in 1966.
Their story provides an important reminder that Mission Valley’s agricultural economy survived in the postwar years and was not limited to the large dairies that appear most often in photographs and historical accounts.
There were fields of vegetables alongside barns and cattle operations, with different families making use of the valley’s fertile land.
The Dairies Multiplied
Dairying nevertheless became one of Mission Valley’s defining industries.
The first dairy in the valley was established in the 1880s. By the 1950s, dairy products ranked as the third-largest agricultural product in San Diego County, and about 20 dairies dotted Mission Valley.
The Allen Dairy was among the earliest.
Seveno Allen established the dairy in 1885 after moving with his wife from Kansas. The operation remained in Mission Valley until 1957, when Allen’s grandson, John “Jack” D. Allen, relocated it to El Cajon.
The family built a prominent business through door-to-door milk sales and a storefront in Hillcrest. The Allen Dairy’s Mission Valley history is preserved in the San Diego State University archives, which contain maps, architectural plans, personal effects and other records documenting the operation.
The city’s historic research also preserves the names of numerous other dairy operations, providing a glimpse of just how extensive the industry once was.
The Land Became More Valuable
Mission Valley’s agricultural era began to change rapidly after World War II.
Improved highways made the valley increasingly accessible, and commercial development began moving into areas that had previously been farmland. The city of San Diego identifies the construction of U.S. 80, later incorporated into Interstate 8, as an important force in the growth of commercial development and the displacement of the agricultural economy.
Rezoning in the 1950s also changed the equation for farmers. As land values increased, many sold their properties and moved on.
The transformation can be seen particularly clearly at the site that would become San Diego Stadium.
In a city of San Diego photograph dated Jan. 14, 1966, the Guglielmetti Dairy (below) still stood on the property as grading work for the future stadium was underway.
The city identifies the photograph as showing the Guglielmetti Dairy, then owned by Pete Ferrari, still standing on the stadium property as construction began. The photograph also notes that 20 dairies had once dotted Mission Valley and that by 1965 only one dairy remained.
A second city archival record identifies the Guglielmetti Dairy as the historic dairy site where the stadium was built in 1967. It notes that the Guglielmetti operation continued until the late 1960s.
The image captures two eras occupying the same piece of ground: a working dairy and the construction of the urban Mission Valley that would replace it.
More Than a Dairy Story
It is easy to remember old Mission Valley simply as a place where cows once stood.
The historical record tells a broader story.
There were dairy barns, but there were also vegetable fields, family farms and other agricultural operations. Farmers represented different cultural backgrounds and adapted their businesses as markets, transportation and land values changed.
The change was gradual, but by the 1960s the landscape was being transformed at an accelerating pace.
San Diego Stadium was completed in 1967, while commercial, residential and hotel development continued to reshape the valley. The city’s community plan notes that major urban development in Mission Valley began taking shape after 1958, driven in large part by improvements to the regional highway network.
The farms disappeared beneath a new landscape of roads, businesses, hotels, apartments and recreational facilities.
Yet the agricultural history did not vanish completely.
It survives in family names, archival maps, historic photographs and the records of the people who worked the valley. SDSU’s history of its Mission Valley property, for example, still documents the Segawa family’s vegetable farm, while the city’s archives preserve images of dairies standing on land that soon would be covered by the next era of development.
Perhaps the most revealing image is the one taken in January 1966.
Construction equipment is moving across the future stadium site, but the Guglielmetti Dairy is still there.
For a brief moment, Mission Valley’s agricultural past and its urban future occupied the same frame.
Read more history stories here. Do you have a story to tell? Send an email to DebbieSklar@cox.net.
Sources
City of San Diego, Mission Valley Community Planning Area Historic Context Statement — historical documentation of Mission Valley agriculture, dairies, the Ferrari operation and the transition to commercial development. Mission Valley Historic Context Statement
City of San Diego Digital Archives — Grading and Dairy on Mission Valley Site of San Diego Stadium — Jan. 14, 1966, photograph and information about Guglielmetti Dairy and the decline of Mission Valley dairies. Guglielmetti Dairy and stadium-site photograph
City of San Diego Digital Archives — Guglielmetti Estate Plaque — historical information about the dairy and the 1967 stadium site. Guglielmetti Dairy historical record
San Diego State University Special Collections & University Archives — Allen Dairy Collection — documentation of the Allen Dairy, including its 1885 establishment and 1957 relocation from Mission Valley. Allen Dairy Collection
San Diego State University — Mission Valley Farming History — information on Mission Valley’s family farms, dairies and Japanese American vegetable farmers, including the Segawa family. SDSU Mission Valley farming history
City of San Diego — Mission Valley Community Plan — historical overview of the valley’s agricultural economy and the role of highway construction in its urban development. Mission Valley Community Plan
