John D. Spreckels facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Diedrich Spreckels
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Spreckels in 1901
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| Born | August 16, 1853 |
| Died | June 7, 1926 (aged 72) |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent(s) | Claus Spreckels Anna Christina Mangels |
John Diedrich Spreckels (born August 16, 1853 – died June 7, 1926) was a very successful businessman. He was the son of Claus Spreckels, a rich sugar industrialist. John Spreckels built a huge business empire in San Diego, California. This happened in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
He owned many businesses, including the famous Hotel del Coronado. He also owned the San Diego and Arizona Railway. These projects helped San Diego grow into a big, important city. People remembered him as a "great Empire Builder." They said he turned a small town into the "beautiful and cosmopolitan city San Diego is today."
Contents
Early Life and Business Adventures
John Spreckels was the oldest of five children. He was born in Charleston, South Carolina. His family soon moved to New York City. John went to Oakland College. Then he studied chemistry and mechanical engineering in Hannover, Germany. He finished his studies in 1872.
After college, he returned to California. He started working for his father, Claus Spreckels. His father had become very rich in the sugar business. In 1876, John went to the Hawaiian Islands. There, he worked for his father's company, Spreckels Sugar Company.
Starting His Own Businesses
In 1880, John Spreckels started his own company. It was called J. D. Spreckels and Brothers. He had $2 million to begin. The company aimed to trade between the United States mainland and the Hawaiian Islands. They started with one ship, the Rosario. Later, they owned many sailing and steam ships.
The company also refined sugar. They worked as agents for big sugarcane plantations in Hawaii. This company helped a lot with trade between the U.S. and Hawaii.
John D. Spreckels founded the Oceanic Steamship Company in 1881. This company was part of his trading business. It first offered service between California and Hawaii. Later, it also sailed to Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, and Tahiti. The company's ships carried passengers, sugar, other foods, and mail. For many years, it was the only mail service between the U.S. and Australia and New Zealand.
In 1926, Oceanic became part of the Matson Navigation Company. John's father, Claus Spreckels, had helped fund Matson early on.
Family Life and Moving to San Diego
In October 1877, John Diedrich Spreckels married Lillie Siebein. They got married in Hoboken, New Jersey. They had four children together. Their names were Grace, Lillie, John, and Claus. They first lived in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Then they moved to San Francisco.
In 1887, Spreckels visited San Diego on his yacht, the Lurline. He was there to get supplies. He was very impressed by the land boom happening in San Diego. He decided to invest in building a wharf and coal storage areas. This was at the start of Broadway. The boom ended soon after. But Spreckels remained interested in San Diego for the rest of his life.
He took control of the Coronado Beach Company. This company owned the Hotel del Coronado and Coronado Tent City. In 1892, he bought the San Diego street railway system. He changed it from horse-powered to electric. The Hotel del Coronado was owned by the Coronado Beach Company. This company had a lot of money, about $3 million. Spreckels waited for his good friend, Captain Charles T. Hinde, to join him. They invested and managed new businesses together.
For a while, Spreckels owned The San Francisco Call, a morning newspaper. Even while living in San Francisco, he kept investing in San Diego newspapers. He bought The San Diego Union in 1890. Then he bought the San Diego Evening Tribune in 1901. He moved his family to San Diego for good after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
Building San Diego
In the years that followed, Spreckels became very rich. He was the wealthiest man in San Diego. At different times, he owned all of Coronado Island. He also owned the San Diego-Coronado Ferry System. He bought the Union-Tribune Publishing Co.. He owned the San Diego Electric Railway and the San Diego & Arizona Railway. He even owned Belmont Park in Mission Beach.
He built many buildings downtown. These included the Union Building in 1908. He also built the Spreckels Theater Building in 1912. Other buildings were the Hotel San Diego and the Golden West Hotel. He gave jobs to thousands of people. At one point, he paid 10% of all property taxes in San Diego County.
Spreckels was the president of many companies. These included the Oceanic Steamship Company. He also led the Western Sugar Refining Company. He was in charge of the Coronado Water Company. Other companies were the San Diego and Coronado Ferry Company and the San Diego and Coronado Transfer Company. He also led the Pajaro Valley Consolidated Railroad Company. And, of course, the San Diego Electric Railway and the San Diego & Arizona Railway Company.
The Spreckels Mansion
Spreckels' first home in San Diego was the Spreckels Mansion. It was located at 1630 Glorietta Boulevard. The Mansion sat on five acres of land. It looked out over Glorietta Bay, across from the Hotel del Coronado. In 1906, Spreckels, who was 53, hired architect Harrison Albright. He wanted Albright to design and build the Mansion.
The building was finished in 1908. It had simple, classic Italian Renaissance style. It had six bedrooms, three bathrooms, a parlor, dining room, and library. It cost $35,000 to build. The Mansion had a brass cage elevator. It also had a marble staircase with soft leather handrails. There were skylights and marble floors. The gardens were some of the best on the Island. The home was built with strong steel and concrete. Spreckels wanted this because he had lived through the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. He lived in this mansion until he died in 1926. Today, it is a popular hotel called the Glorietta Bay Inn.
John D. Spreckels also built a beach house. It was at 1043 Ocean Boulevard in Coronado. Architect Harrison Albright designed it. Spreckels built this house for his son Claus as a wedding gift in 1910.
Transportation and City Growth
San Diego Electric Railway
The San Diego Electric Railway (SDERy) was a light rail system. John Spreckels started it in San Diego in 1892. His plan was to buy several failed horse-drawn and cable trolley routes. He then connected them, made the tracks standard, and added electricity. This created a single, electric street railway system.
Over the years, the SDERy built new lines. These lines connected downtown San Diego to growing communities. These included Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, and Normal Heights. Spreckels owned most of the land in these areas. He believed that:
"Before you can hope to get people to live anywhere ... you must first of all show them that they can get there quickly, comfortably, and above all, cheaply. Transportation determines the flow of population."
At its busiest, the SDERy had about 165 miles (266 kilometers) of track. The system ran for over 50 years. However, fewer people used it because cars became very popular. So, the company stopped all streetcar service in 1949. They switched to bus routes instead.
San Diego Class 1 Streetcars
One of Spreckels' big contributions was to Balboa Park. This was for the Panama-California Exposition. As the owner of the San Diego Electric Railway Company, he created special streetcars. These cars could handle the large crowds at the event. After the Exposition, these Class 1 streetcars served San Diego for 27 more years.
The Class 1s were an improved design. They were built with art, new technology, and San Diego's weather in mind. Spreckels' engineers designed them. They combined ideas from "California Car" and "Closed Car" designs. They created a new, modern fleet. These beautiful, Arts & Crafts-style streetcars were built by the St. Louis Car Company. They were then shipped to San Diego. Class 1 streetcars ran all over San Diego. They went from Coronado through Downtown, Mission Hills, Ocean Beach, North Park, Golden Hill, and Kensington. They even briefly connected to the U.S.-Mexico Border.
These streetcars were taken out of service in 1939. They were replaced by cheaper PCC streetcars. Today, only three of the original twenty-four Class 1 streetcars still exist.
San Diego and Arizona Railway
In 1919, Spreckels finished the San Diego and Arizona Railway. This was a short line American railroad. Many engineers called it "The Impossible Railroad." This was because it was so hard to build. It started in 1906. Its goal was to give San Diego a direct train link to the east. It would connect with the Southern Pacific Railroad in El Centro. The 148-mile (238-kilometer) route started in San Diego. It ended in Calexico.
The total cost to build it was about $18 million. This was about $123,000 per mile. The first guess was only $6 million. There were many delays in building. Mexican revolutionaries attacked the project. The government also got involved during World War I. All these things pushed the completion date to November 15, 1919. On that day, Spreckels himself drove the "golden spike." Finishing this railway was a huge task. It even affected Spreckels' health.
In later years, heavy rainstorms, landslides, and fires damaged the tracks. This cost the railroad a lot of money. Border closings with Mexico also hurt the business. In 1932, Spreckels' family had money problems. They sold their part of the company for $2.8 million to the Southern Pacific. The railroad was then renamed the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway (SD&AE).
Southern California Mountain Water Company
"Get your water first, for without your water you get your population under false pretenses and they quit you when the water runs dry."
Spreckels also started the Southern California Mountain Water Company. This company built the Morena and the Upper and Lower Otay Reservoir dams. They also built the Dulzura conduit and the pipes needed to bring water to the city. The City of San Diego later bought this company.
Early Car Enthusiast
Spreckels was known as one of the West Coast's "most important and excited car owners." When California started requiring license plates in 1905, Spreckels got the first five plates for himself and his family.
Legacy and Impact
Spreckels also helped San Diego's culture. He built the Spreckels Theatre. This was the first modern theater west of the Mississippi River. He gave a lot of money to help build the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. With his brother Adolph B. Spreckels, he gave the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park to the people of San Diego. This was just before the Exposition opened. Spreckels paid the salaries of the organ tuner and the organist for many years. This meant free daily organ concerts for everyone.
Both Spreckels Elementary School in San Diego and Spreckels Park in Coronado, CA, are named after him.
John Spreckels died in San Diego on June 7, 1926. His biographer, Austin Adams, called him "one of America's few great Empire Builders." He said Spreckels "invested millions to turn a struggling, bankrupt village into the beautiful and cosmopolitan city San Diego is today."
See also
In Spanish: John D. Spreckels para niños
