| The Etiwanda Historical Society is hosting the fourth
annual Chaffey-Garcia open house on Nov. 24 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. It
commemorates the Thanksgiving Day in 1881 George and William Chaffey bought the
home, 560 acres and water rights from Joseph Garcia for $30,000. |
Cheryl Perdew, president of the Etiwanda Historical
Society, stands outside the newly restored Chaffey-Garcia House in Rancho
Cucamonga, open for tours on Nov. 24.
|
"In this house George Chaffey developed all the plans
for the Etiwanda and Ontario colonies," said Jim Clark, a founding member
of the historical society.
The house served not only as headquarters of the
working engineer and settler but also as a welcome mat for technological
breakthroughs.
George Chaffey installed the first
hydroelectric-powered arc lamp -- the only electricity west of the Rocky
Mountains -- before Thomas Edison perfected the light bulb, said Bob Ellingwood,
a George Chaffey historian.
The home was also site of the longest phone line in the
state, Ellingwood said. In 1882, a 16-mile line was laid enabling calls from the
Chaffey home to Colton, Redlands and Riverside.
For many years the house was uninhabited and years of
neglect had left its scars.
"It was a ramshackled house," said Clark,
director of the restoration efforts, who first toured the house in 1981. "I
thought they couldn't get it back together. It was in terrible shape."
Lewis Homes developers threatened to demolish the house
in 1981 but a group of local residents intervened and formed the historical
society.
"Our initial goal was to save the Chaffey-Garcia
house mainly because of the history," said Cheryl Perdew, president of the
historical society. "It was the first house built before the Etiwanda
colony."
In 1984, the home was moved a mile south from
where Joseph Garcia built it in 1874 to its current location at 7150 Etiwanda
Ave., north of Base Line Road, with support from Lewis Homes, the William Lyon
Company and Rancho Cucamonga.
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Entrance to Chaffey Garcia House
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Using donations from local businesses, the historical
society fenced the property, constructed a concrete foundation and reshingled
the roof. Part of a $100,000 block grant from Rancho Cucamonga went for a new
fir floor and a replica of the original redwood barn behind the house. |
"We have restored it to its original condition,"
Clark said. "The major part of the work is done, but it will be an ongoing
project forever."
The historical society has a list of priorities topped
by the purchase of antique furniture.
"Our ultimate goal is to restore it with furniture
of pre-1900 (pieces)," said Marsha Banks, house curator and a founding
member of the historical society.
Furniture displayed in the home is on loan from the San Bernardino County
Museum.
Visitors can make donations and purchase memorabilia.
Items for sale include videotapes of the house moving, original square nails,
and booklets about Etiwanda's history.
Guests can have some free cider and cookies and take
tours led by knowledgeable costumed docents like Mary Bermudez of Fontana.
"We try to show how life was in that period,"
said Bermudez.
Information: (909) 899-8432. |
