The small valley in Encinitas, now called "Olivenhain," has a very interesting history. The first race of people to inhabit this area was the American Indian, predating European man by thousands of years. Three types of Indians occupied the valley, the "San Dieguito," the "La Jolla," and the "Diegueno." Indian artifacts found in Olivenhain include a variety of arrowheads, pottery, smoking pipes, grinding metates and spears. When the first Spanish expedition penetrated this area in 1769, they encountered many small villages of friendly Diegueno Indians. They found a series of grass covered valleys, speckled with small oak trees which they named "Los Encinos." The Spanish mission system was by design, intended to benefit the Indian, but in effect had a very detrimental impact on both their culture and population. Their numbers were mainly reduced by terrible virus diseases, of which the Indian had little understanding or resistance. And finally, the Mexican and American colonization made the Indian an unwanted trespasser and ultimately the subjects of secluded reservations. By 1850, it was very doubtful that any Indians remained in the area.

In the early 1800's California was a vast, sparsely inhabited territory of Mexico. The Mexican government was attempting to populate this territory by granting good ranch lands to its friends and supporters. One of these supporters was Andreas Antonio Ybarra, who won his popularity as a military leader in 1831. Some time after the war, Ybarra moved to San Diego and a short time later made a formal request to the Mexican government that he be awarded the rancho called "Los Encinitos." On July 3, 1942, Juan Bautista De Alvarado, then constitutional governor of the department of the Californias, granted him his request, the rancho Los Encinitos containing one square league of land or 4,431.03 acres. Soon after acquiring the land, Andreas Ybarra built an adobe house beside a natural spring where he and his wife resided for 18 years. You can still see the walls of his home standing at Stage Coach park.

In May of 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico. After thousands of American and Mexican lives were lost, the peace treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in 1848 and the United States owned California. The peace treaty guaranteed existing rancho owners immunity from land confiscation as long as they could show valid proof of ownership. Ybarra filed his claim, which was confirmed and accepted by the United States Board of Land Commissions. Although the spelling was changed to "Las Encinitas," the boundary lines of the original land grant are still referenced on current county maps. Andreas sold the Rancho Las Encinitas in December of 1860 to two men named J.S. Mannasse and Marcus Schiller, for a sum of $3000. This was the first cash sale of the Rancho Las Encinitas and amounted to about 68 cents per acre.

Under the management of Mannasse and Schiller, the rancho began to prosper. By 1863 the rancho supported more than 1200 stock animals including 600 cattle and 500 sheep. The first known commercial crops were reported in1872, which included tons of grapes and corn. Mannasse and Schiller converted Ybarra's adobe rancho houses into a stage coach station which serviced the Seeley-Wright Stage Coach Line. This is where the name came for "Stage Coach Park." This station was the second out-going stage stop from San Diego and was appropriately named the Mannasse Station. Here passengers were fed and the horses changed while in route to the next stop at Mission San Luis Rey.

Mannasse and Schiller ran into financial difficulties and lost the rancho to foreclosure. The rancho was then auctioned twice and then sold to a Mr. James Courier for $5000. Mr. Courier turned around three months later and sold the property to Frank Kimball and Warren Kimball, two brothers in 1880 for the sum of $5225. The Kimball Brothers were land speculators and at the time owned vast parcels of land in National City, Chula Vista, Jamul and other areas. The Kimball brothers anticipated a financial opportunity in the resale of the Rancho Las Encinitas, especially to a colony as this was very popular during this period of time.

During the middle and late 1800's, millions of immigrants entered the United States. The German migration stemmed from financial stringency, overpopulation and the harsh obedience to the military service. Most of the migrants settled in cities where they might find employment in the trades and occupations that Germany had monopolized for so many years. But their hopes were short lived and most were channeled into factory work or mining. Their income was usually substandard and many were forced to live in undesirable areas of the cities.

Because they were not accepted in these established areas, some of the immigrants formed or joined a colony with their own nationality. These colonies offered the immigrants a place where their language and customs were understood and together they could start a new and prosperous life as proud citizens of the United States.
The Kimball brothers advertised the Rancho Las Encinitas for approximately four years. In spring of 1884, Frank Kimball received a letter from a Mr. Theodore Pinther of Denver Colorado. In the letter Mr. Pinther signified his willingness to organize a German colony and relocate 100 to 200 families on the property during the coming fall and winter. Pinther began a very energetic and successful membership campaign in Denver. In a very short time he had acquired several people whom he deemed desirable associates, and on May 21, 1884 the colony was officially formed. At this time there were only seven members in the colony. Their names were Theodore Pinther, Joseph Ullrich, Louis Denk, Otto Pinther, Lina Pinther, Johann Bumann and Paul Glave.

There were five to thirteen colony meetings per month in Denver, depending on the amount of business decisions on hand. The meeting on June 15, 1884 has lasting importance. It was in this meeting that the colony established a name. The first and later accepted name was "Olivenhain," pronounced Oh-Lee-ven-hine, which means "Olive grove." The other proposed names were "Friedensheim" which means "Home of peace," "Vaterland" which means "Father land," Portici" which means "Portal," "Glucksburg" which means, "Castle of luck," and "Pintherheim" which means "Pinther home." The reason Olivenhain was favored over the other proposed names or for what significance it had is unknown.

The general purpose of the colony was to establish a German settlement in Southern California. Each member would pay a membership fee and therefore be entitled to a small portion of the land, on which they could earn a living by growing agricultural produce. The colonists were led to believe that with proper irrigation and cultivation, one acre was sufficient to maintain one family. Other essentials such as workhorse teams and fruit processing machinery would exist under the common ownership of the colony and made available to its members. The colony's financial income was based totally on membership fees of $500 to $600. The fees were pooled into a common treasury and used to purchase the colony land and other necessary items.

The Colony used newspaper advertising as their main campaign tool to attract potential colonists and the colony's post office box was soon filled with letters requesting information. Once a certain portion of the membership fee was paid a house would be built on their land and a well partially completed.

In late August, Pinther proposed that a land selection committee be sent to Southern California to investigate and purchase the colony land. His proposal was excepted and a committee of two, Theodore Pinther and his close associate Conrad Stroebel were sent on their way in mid-September. After examining each portion of land, Pinther and Stroebel selected the Rancho Las Encinitas as the best land for the colony. Pinther and Stroebel entered into a legal contract with Frank Kimball to purchase the land consisting of 4,431 acres for the sales price of $66,500 plus interest.

On October 31, 1884 the first 67 colonist anxiously boarded a train in Denver and began their journey. Their journey ended on August 8, 1884 when they set foot on the Rancho Las Encinitas. The colonists were pleased with their new land. They called it the "Colony Ranch" or "Encinitas Ranch." The name Olivenhain was the name of the colony and was not originally intended to name the land where they settled.

The colonists began to work their ranch land. Hundreds of acres of brush covered soil would soon be cleared and plowed. Construction of homes, roads and the colony owned farm would soon begin. To insure an adequate labor force, each member was obligated to work thirty days for the colony or pay a $60 waver. The colonists were paid for their thirty days labor, which started at $1.50 per day and was later increased to $1.75 per day. The money earned was not actually paid given to the colonists; instead the amount was deducted from the debt which many of the colonists still owed the colony.

Conrad Stroebel began a survey of the rancho with the purpose of subdividing the land and establishing all the streets. The first area surveyed was the San Elijo valley (which is the present day Olivenhain.) The colonists because of its many natural resources selected this location. The San Elijo valley was subdivided into 5-acre parcels. Additionally, a large number of lots, measuring 30 feet wide by 140 feet long, were subdivided along the east side and paralleling the present day Rancho Santa Fe Road. These lots were for the future town site and could be purchased for $25 to $50 each. The large mesa where present day Village Park development is located had good farming soil but presumably lacked adequate water.

Before surveying was complete, the colonists were selecting their parcels of land. Each parcel was carefully analyzed and evaluated for such things as terrain, farming potential, and the prospect of water. In due time, the colonists had unofficially picked out their desired plot of land. The official land distribution began January 1885. Quit claim deeds were issued to each property owner thus confirming ownership. Additional property could be purchased by any member for $190 per 5-acre parcel, however only a few were financially able to do so. After many homes were built the colonists began to dig wells, a task which they had underestimated. After several futile attempts to dig wells by hand, it soon became clear that a well boring machine would be required. Several attempts with a well boring machine also proved futile. Only a few wells were produced and they were brackish and somewhat alkaline. Since wells would not supply enough water for the colony, the colonists provided it by damning a creek and channeling water into the valley.

The colony population would reach 300 by March of 1885. The sense of security was wide spread. Amongst the colonists was Bernard Reseck, who built his home on his ranch named "Lone Jack Ranch." The road leading to his ranch was appropriately named "Lone Jack Road." The first privately owned store opened in February 1885 and was owned by Alex Beller. Then a discovery occurred that would eventually cause the colony to collapse. The colonists discovered they were paying too much for the land. Remember the Kimballs purchased the rancho in 1880 for $5225 and sold it to the colony in 1884 for $66,500 plus interest. The colonists also discovered the contract to pay the Kimballs for the land wasn't what they were originally told. The original contract was written in English, however the colonists were mostly German. It would be many more years before they obtained clear title to their farms and if for some reason the remainder of the colony failed to develop, they would lose their land, house and related improvements. What ties all this together, including the inadequate water supply, was that in the very beginning during Theodore Pinther's original trip to California to find and purchase the colony land, Pinther was offered and excepted a substantial commission from the Kimballs. The commission was around $10,000. Many of the colonists began leaving Olivenhain. It wasn't long before Olivenhain became a near ghost town. More than half the farms were abandoned. Following the collapse of the colony system, each remaining colonist faced the reality of financial income and how to earn it. Some returned to their former trade and a few succeeded, but the vast majority became farmers. This was the beginning of the farming era in Olivenhain, which lasted well into the 1950's.

Olivenhain Meeting Hall in 1976
In 1895 the Olivenhain Meeting Hall was built and it became the center for activities in Olivenhain. Community gatherings including dances, picnics, 4th of July celebrations were all held at the meeting hall. The most frequent event at the hall was the Saturday night dances. People were attracted from mile around. They came by foot or horse-drawn buggies. Dances were a success until the 1950's when the modern nightclubs and dance halls in San Diego dated the live Violin and guitar and piano. The Olivenhain Meeting Hall is still in its original location, right in the heart of Olivenhain.

The last 25 years has seen Olivenhain grow from a sleepy little town, where the community gathered at the meeting hall for picnics and at H&H Feed for horse shows, to one of the most desirable living locations in San Diego County. It wasn't until the early 70's that Lone Jack Road was paved with asphalt. Now it isn't an uncommon site to see a Mercedes Benz or BMW being driven into the driveway of a multiple acre, million dollar estate. Beautiful estate developments like the Double L Ranch, Country Rose, Wild Flower, Windsor Rose and Knights Bridge are surrounded by perfectly placed custom homes.

The names of some of the original colonists and settlers that are identifiable today are the Bumanns, the namesake of Bumann Road in Country Rose. The Coles, the namesake of Cole Ranch Road. The Tetens, the namesake of Teten Way and the Wiegands, the namesake of Wiegand Plaza. All of these original Olivenhain heroes have relatives still living in the area today.

*Information for this report was paraphrased from the book "Colony Olivenhain, " written by Richard Bumann. Richard and his wife "Twink" live in Olivenhain and are direct descendents of the Bumann settlers
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