Complete Issue Online - San Diego History Center

Patriotism and Profit: San Diego's Camp Kearny
At the time, Linda Vista was sparsely settled, with “vast stretches” of open
land at the “very door of the city.” The community had a tiny railway station
located on the line running north out of Rose Canyon at the top of the grade
before heading down the long, winding slope into Soledad Canyon, today’s
Sorrento Valley. Edward W. Scripps’s estate, Miramar, was located at the end of
Murphy Canyon and between Carroll Canyon and San Clemente Canyon. When
the Land Committee escorted General Liggett out to Linda Vista, he pronounced
it the “finest” he had seen and generally a “bully camp site.” 11
Once President Woodrow Wilson confirmed the declaration of war, the city
presented its plan. Mayor Wilde, representing both San Diego and the Army
Base Committee of the Chamber of Commerce, wired a telegram to General W.
Siebert in Los Angeles tendering San Diego’s proposal. The city offered a five-year
lease of 8,000 acres of land at $1.00 per year—essentially a rent-free lease—plus
additional land for an artillery range and other land if needed. Significantly, the
agreement did not mention the recovery of any damages to the land after the
army departed. The city promised to supply the camp with water, gas, electricity,
and roads within the designated time frame. As Aubrey Davidson put it, “San
Camp Kearny, c. 1918. ©SDHC 81:9442.
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