San Diego’s most prominent figures circa 1907, including landowners Alonzo and Lydia Horton, Mayor John F. Forward, and railroad developer Frank A. Kimball gathered recently at the Campo Railroad Park and Museum to break ground on construction of the San Diego and Arizona Railway—again.
This time, however, the notable figures were portrayed by actors—Kim Keeline in the role of Lydia Horton and James Keeline as Kimball— who recreated the historic event dressed in period clothing, recreating the original scene.
The reenactment was held to commemorate the 112th anniversary of the actual railwaygroundbreaking, which took place on Sept. 7, 1907 and is part of an ongoing centennial celebration hosted by the non-profit Pacific Southwest Railway Museum Association.
C-100 Chair Reena Deutsch planned every detail of the reenactment to duplicate the historic event from a century ago, going so far as to make sure that the shovel used in the groundbreaking looked silver-plated and had a scarlet ribbon and bow for decoration, as described in an original newspaper article at the time.
In addition to using archived articles, Deutsch pulled clues about the original event from photographs and journal accounts.
The weather in Campo last Saturday— 106 degrees—was considerably warmer than at the original groundbreaking more than a century ago, but Deutsch tried to convey the essence of the event through details while shortening the original presentation for the modern day audience.
“We took all the speeches that we were able to find in old newspaper accounts and we used excerpts because we would have been here for hours and we knew it was too hot. The original groundbreaking was in San Diego, by the harbor… We had to compromise, but we do have the original program and used the right order of the speakers… we tried to be as authentic as we can. They sandblasted the shovel to get it that shiny,” Deutsch said.
The Valhalla High School marching band stood in for the brass band that played for guests back in 1907, with Deutsch serving as narrator to connect the excerpts that were taken from the original speeches into one presentation in combination with music.
After the reenactment was finished, Deutsch gleefully shared a bit of trivia that she had deliberately waited to reveal at the end of the event: the person who played Mayor John Forward for the reenactment is actually the great, great grandson of John D. Spreckles, connecting 1907 with 2019 through three generations.
Back inside the depot, volunteer Ricky Rickets stood in his historically accurate suit and provided humorous comments such as tossing out the observation that an event like this only happens every 100 years before going on to suggest that trains bring out the happiness in people, while volunteer Roark Stump took a more serious tone, saying that keeping history alive is what the museum is all about.
Pacific Southwest Railway Museum Association Vice President Martin Caestecker, decked out in the recognizable cap and blue coveralls of a train engineer echoed that sentiment.
“We get bitten by the Thomas the Train bug then grow up and turn 16 and decide to ride some real trains. This is the best place to do that,” Caestecker said.
Keeline said that she is one of the few females who participates in historically reenacted gunfights at the Poway train depot.
“I use the name Katherine Shrewsbury of Poway so I sound kind of fancy… I have to be sure and shoot first in case there are any young viewers who might be upset at seeing a woman get shot,” Keeline said.
Members of the Mountain Empire Historical Society were also on hand to answer questions with a spread of books on local history for sale, as well as members from the Imperial Valley Desert Museum.
Deutsch said that while the Sept. 7 event was a success, she hopes that people will attend the grand finale in the centennial celebration: a historically accurate dinner to be held on Nov. 1 at the John D. Spreckles center in Coronado to replicate the original gala. Information on upcoming events in the ongoing centennial celebration can be found at www.psrm.org.
