Digging into history can reveal a lot about how life evolves, right down to the words we speak. When most of us hear the word “broadcast,” we undoubtedly think of radio, t.v. or (trying to keep ahead of the curve here) podcasted electronic programming. I certainly did.

But some of you readers may recall a post I did last fall about the aftermath of a windstorm in the Poway Valley in January of 1896. I quoted from a newspaper account that reported “Several barns and other outbuildings were overturned or scattered broadcast…”

That use of the word led me to Merriam Webster and the discovery of another, older definition of “broadcast,” which is “to scatter or sow (seed or something similar) over a broad area….”

Sure enough, a check back at other issues of the Poway Progress newspaper bore out that definition. For example, an 1894 column about how to resurface a road with gravel advised that “the broken stone should be spread broadcast with shovels to insure a thorough mixing….”

I also found that historical usage in a book by Kumeyaay scholar Michael Connolly Miskwish in his 2006 book, Sycuan: Our People. Our Culture. Our History. In describing the agricultural society of the original indigenous residents of San Diego County before the coming of Europeans, Miskwish notes that a “traditional harvest practice” included “the burning of the fields after harvest, and then hand-broadcast reseeding.”

Food for thought, you might say.

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As we deal with sheltering in place and social distancing, I’d like to offer my readers a virtual visit to a piece of San Diego County history.

Just across the street from the Westfield North County Shopping Center in Escondido stands the Sikes Adobe Historic Farmstead. A part of the San Dieguito River Park, the farmstead includes a house which has been restored to its period of significance, the years from 1869 to 1899 when it was occupied by the Sikes family, pioneer settlers in northern San Diego County.

Here’s a photo of the farmhouse, circa mid-1880s and courtesy of the Poway Historical and Memorial Society:

It shows Eliza Sikes and one of her daughters standing near their open gate, perhaps preparing to go out in the family “car,” the horse-drawn wagon visible just outside the gate.

Now here’s a photo of the same house, from roughly the same angle, 126 years later, in 2011.It was snapped by yours truly while I was working as a docent at the farmstead:

This farmstead has survived a lot of history which the River Park was able to preserve and share with the public. Right now just these views are available as the farmstead is off limits due to the local and state pandemic restrictions. You can find out more about its history from my books, Valleys of Dreams, and: Once Upon A Town:Bernardo, Merton and Stow, which are available for sale on this site. You can also check on the San Dieguito River Park’s website , http://www.sdrp.org/wordpress /for updates on visiting the farmstead.

In the meantime, keep safe everyone!

Here’s a snapshot of San Diego County in the depths of the Great Depression.

“Build Highways for Board While Jobs Are Scarce” was the headline from a San Diego Union article on March, 5, 1933.

“Eight hundred men, ranging in age from 16 to 84 years, occupy five state labor camps in San Diego County,” the article began. The camps, run by the state division of forestry, were part of a network of 46 camps statewide and 22 in southern California, according to the article.

“In return for six hours work daily, except Sunday, the men are given lodging, subsistence and such clothing and tobacco as the camp management thinks necessary,” the article stated, adding that since the setup of the camps the workers “have constructed 15 miles of new highway and 25 miles of firebreaks. In addition they have maintained a nine-mile stretch of arterial highway.”

The national unemployment rate was at 25 percent at that time, and the widespread joblessness was reflected in the local camps.

“Artists rub elbows with laborers, teachers discuss the depression with expert accountants; cooks, bakers, stewards, railroad men, including several engineers, mechanics, undertaker and a dentist, are some of the many trades and professions represented in the camps.”

One thing the camp residents didn’t have access to, the Union noted, was writing materials and stamps. A few days earlier, on March 3, the paper announced a drive for writing materials and stamps for camp residents.

“Many young men at the camps cannot communicate with their relatives and friends unless this help is given. Mail or bring your donations to the business office of The Union with packages plainly marked, ‘State Labor Camps.’ “

You can get regular updates of San Diego History Seeker automatically in your email by clicking on the “Follow” button in the lower right corner of the blog page. You’ll then get an email asking you to confirm. Once you confirm you’ll be an active follower.