On April 22, 1884, the San Diego Union’s column on happenings in “San Luis Rey Valley and Vicinity” included this item:

The “Barham” referred to John Barham, a farmer and feed store owner who was also trying to develop a little town around his homestead and that of his father James. A post office named Barham had opened in May of 1883. By 1884 the town of Barham’s feed store had been joined by a blacksmith shop and a weekly newspaper, The Plain Truth. The newspaper’s editor, William Webster Borden, was also the town postmaster.

Barham is one of the places I’ll be talking about this Friday in my Oasis class, “What’s In A Name? Origins of San Diego County Place Names,” at 1:30 at the Ramona Community Library. To register for the class, go to https://www.oasisnet.org/San-Diego-CA/Classes and type in class number 798.

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