Emery: Poway’s varied past

By Bob Emery

Sometimes it is too easy for those of us who were involved in the incorporation of Poway in 1980 to think that we “created” Poway and not much occurred before that date. Nothing could be further from the truth. I was reminded of that twice over the past two weeks when I heard of the passing of two individuals who contributed significantly to Poway’s history and development long before we became an “official” city.

Bob Emery

Lavene Powell, a longtime employee of the Poway Municipal Water District and a historical contributor in her own right, wrote to let me know of the death of Jim Stanton, a member of the water board from 1967 to 1981. Recalling Jim reminded me of the men who brought water to Poway in 1954 and created PMWD to distribute the water and manage the district’s infrastructure. Men like Harry Frame, Dave Shepardson, Harry Tassel, Rubin Tannenbaum and John Kent foresaw that Poway would never be a viable community without a reliable source of water and worked tirelessly to connect to the San Diego Aqueduct and create the water district. One of the very first employees of that district was a kid named Lester Berglund who worked for the district and later, the city, until retirement in the 1990s. Poway’s water treatment plant is named after him in recognition of his long service.

For most of its history before the coming of imported water, Poway’s population fluctuated with the weather. In rainy years, crops were bountiful and people moved to the valley. But when rain was scarce, people moved away and abandoned their farms.

Poway also lost Delora Powers this past week. Delora and her late husband, Ralph, were early residents (Ralph was a native) who farmed the valley and operated a dairy for many years along what is now Poway Road. The building that is now the home of Evans Tires was once a drive-thru dairy store and was still in operation when I moved to town in 1968.

One only need look at numerous street names in Poway to remember those who contributed to our past: Kent Hill Way, McFeron Road, Budwin Lane (for Budwin McFeron), Tassell Road, Powers Road, Stowe Drive, Hilleary Place and Tobiasson Road. Hilleary Place and Hilleary Park are named for Dr. Louis Hilleary, Poway’s first doctor who also contributed the land for Dearborn Memorial Park, our cemetery on Tierra Bonita Road. Many, many more attest to former residents who helped make Poway what it is today.

Of course, we cannot forget the original inhabitants who gave this area its name, Poway, or Paguay, or Paui, or however they said it, the Kumeyaay Indians who lived in this area for thousands of years along Poway, Rattlesnake and Green Valley creeks. They lived off the land and called it “the meeting place of the valleys or creeks, Pauwai.”

I know I have left out many, many significant names of those who have contributed to Poway’s past and perhaps in the future I can reminisce again, but I thought with the passing of Jim Stanton and Delora Powers we should be reminded that what we call Poway today is the result of years of community involvement by hundreds, even thousands, who have come before.

Reach Emery at Powaybob@cox.net

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Posted by Staff on Dec 28 2011. Filed under Columnists. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry