Treasures in the Buena Vista Lagoon Vertical Files

The Buena Vista Lagoon is located in the northernmost part of Carlsbad, acting as a natural border between contemporary Carlsbad and Oceanside.

The history of the lagoon is full of stories, fights, water issues and birds. The Carlsbad History Room is most fortunate to be the keeper of hundreds of documents related to the lagoon and its history. At least two dozen legal-size folders preserve these documents.

As with every other historical item, these documents don’t just tell the story of the primary subject. A patron looking through the folders can learn about the lagoon and the local people who fought to protect it over the years, as well as the history of graphic design, banking, preservation, baseball, philately, postcards, mail service, penmanship, communication, language, local and national organizations, etc. Today’s column will share a bit the lagoon’s history and some of the interesting ephemera, via images, in the lagoon files that makes archives so fascinating!

The documents in the file begin in the 1930s. The Buena Vista Lagoon Association was activated in March 1939 as “A non-profit corporation, organized to protect and encourage the wild birds that make the Buena Vista Lagoon their home.” The first meeting of the Board of Directors was held July 12, 1939.

A letter in the collection, addressed to the secretary of the Carlsbad Community Improvement Club, noted that as of 1939, there was still in use “an old wooden pipe line going across the Lagoon which devides [sic] South Oceanside and Carlsbad.” The writer, complaining about the foul smell from the lagoon, went on to suggest that the wooden pipe be replaced with a new cast iron pipe (Letter from Joseph D. Rose, dated Feb. 1, 1939). By April 1940, five pipes had been installed, “30 inches in diameter each, with gates and locks, which are to serve in the control of flood waters and to regulate the water level. This pipe system is well anchored onto pilings driven deep into the sand, and is located near the beach. … We have also drilled 1-4 feet on the beach and struck a good salt water well which we intend to pump in the summer time to purify the Lagoon water, to kill vegetation, and to help keep mosquitos down” (Letter from Kenyon Keith, president of the association, dated April 12, 1940).

Among the early association materials, there is a 1939 form from the Franchise Tax Board that has been filled out by the Buena Vista Lagoon Association. The association claims tax-exemption because “This is a Non-Profit Corporation, we own certain submerged land, un-improved used and occupied only as a ‘BIRD SANCTUARY’ here in Carlsbad, Calif.” What makes this document interesting—well, funny—is the last statement: “We have NO BUSINESS. We do NO BUSINESS.”

Petitions abound in the Buena Vista Lagoon papers. One from the 1930s, signed by people whose property adjoined the lagoon, as well as others, protested a resolution that passed allowing hunting at the lagoon. There are eight pages of signatures. Their main argument was that the lagoon was considered a bird sanctuary, named after a Carlsbad resident who loved birds and lost his life in World War II, Maxton Brown. They were successful, as demonstrated by the collection’s copy of Ordinance No. 155, which passed in June of 1939. For anyone whose family has been in the area since the '30s, the petition might be of interest, to see if their family members’ names are included.

Even before the petition circulated, letters were written complaining of the hunting in the area. William Brown suggested that “Several people from North Carlsbad section are afraid to travel this road [now the 101] on account of danger … it should be made safe for our tourists as well as for our own people” (Letter dated April 15, 1939).

In the late '40s, a Vista resident submitted an application to divert Buena Vista Creek. The vertical file collection contains letters, petitions and legal documents during the uproar against this diversion. The protesters argued for their own water use, as it was believed that the lagoon would dry up, as well as for the bird sanctuary and their investment earlier of water pipes. The fight by Carlsbad and Oceanside residents, as well as many organizations to prevent Mr. Thibodo from building a dam continued into the 1950s. If you would like to know the final outcome, please visit the history room. We have the final documents on his application, forwarded by the attorney for lagoon association.

The file contains extensive documentation on the involvement of the Nature Conservancy in lagoon preservation. The first meeting of the Buena Vista Lagoon Project Committee was May 21, 1960. By October, 81 acres had been acquired by the Nature Conservancy. Property owners who hadn’t yet donated their lagoon land were approached to do so with the idea of the lagoon becoming a “living museum.” David Rorick stated that “’The Nature Conservancy’ is the corporate vehicle by which the lands would be joined and operated in perpetuity” (Letter to Mr. Geo. Cromwell from David Rorick Jr., dated Oct. 30, 1960). Since the state of California had purchased the portion of the lagoon west of the 5 freeway, there was concern that the rest would end up developed. As of June 1966, the association had over 2,000 cards and letters from 156 cities in California, over 200 cards and letters from 24 states, and correspondence from three countries, calling for the state to purchase the rest and designate it all as a state park.

However, by 1969-70, a state park had yet to be created and the state could not or would not purchase the additional land. Development did indeed loom as a strong possibility. A developer had discovered a loophole in in the law that had previously allowed the Oceanside City Council to deny a building permit on the lagoon. The developer planned to fill a portion of the lagoon and build a motel and restaurant. Again, local residents (and concerned citizens and organizations) rose up with hundreds of pages of signatures and an article published in The Blade-Tribune entitled, “Rape Of A Lagoon,” Feb. 15, 1970. In early 1972, a temporary restraining order was granted by the Superior Court for California. Although a permanent injunction was not granted, the owners of the property were told that the lawsuit by the people of California would only be dropped if they agreed to sell the 23 acres of land, which included the duck feeding area adjacent to Jefferson Street. By the end of the year, all of the lagoon land was publicly owned and under the auspices of the Fish & Game Commission. In the early '70s, one final fundraising campaign pushed for a weir to be built to control the water level. It was constructed, paid for by donors, the Nature Conservancy, and the cities of Oceanside and Carlsbad.

It is endlessly fascinating how often we aren’t aware of the time and effort (i.e., the history) that have gone into creating or maintaining spaces or places. The Buena Vista Lagoon vertical file documents are just one example that demonstrates the tremendous efforts to “create” the lagoon that we know today. Two other examples are Agua Hedionda as a harbor and Legoland. Our collections for both of those are also very large and very interesting in the work and often vehement protest against changes, in addition to the unusual ephemera found within the collections. These collections are open for your perusal. Enjoy!