The Rising Tide, 1920-1941
CHRONOLOGY: 1920-1941
1920 Edward, Prince of Wales, addresses crowd of 25,000 in the city stadium.
1920 William Kettner retires from Congress and is succeeded by Phil D. Swing of Imperial County.
1920 Federal Census sets San Diego’s population at 74,683.
1921 Claim for right to water filed on Colorado River.
1922 Navy expansion includes completion of hospital in Balboa Park, units of the Supply Depot and Destroyer Base.
1922 Lieutenants Oakley Kelly and John Macready set a sustained flight record of 35 hours and 18 minutes.
1922 Lieutenant James H. Doolittle sets flight record from Jacksonville, Florida, to San Diego of 21 hours and 19 minutes.
1923 U.S. Naval Training Station commissioned.
1923 Navy takes first aerial photographs of eclipse of sun above San Diego.
1923 Lieutenants Kelly and Macready make first transcontinental non-stop flight from Mitchell Field, New York, to San Diego, in 26 hours and 50 minutes.
1923 First airplane refueling in air completed over San Diego.
1923 Boulder Dam Association formed by representatives of Southern California counties.
1923 Dedication of first southern all-weather transcontinental highway terminating at San Diego.
1924 New electric railway line opened to Mission Beach and La Jolla.
1924 U.S.S. Shenandoah moors at San Diego at end of first dirigible transcontinental flight.
1925 City agrees to buy San Dieguito water system.
1925 John D. Spreckels opens new $4,000,000 amusement center at Mission Beach.
1925 Ryan Airlines, Inc. establishes air passenger service between Los Angeles and San Diego, first in the United States.
1926 E. W. Scripps dies on his yacht off the coast of Liberia, Africa.
1926 City Council adopts Second Nolen Plan as a guide.
1926 John D. Spreckels, financial patriarch of San Diego, dies.
1926 Route from Savannah, Georgia, to San Diego designated Highway 80.
1927 City voters approve a Civic Center on the tidelands.
1927 Metropolitan Water District organized.
1927 Charles Lindbergh leaves for St. Louis in his San Diego-built plane, Spirit of St. Louis.
1927 Lindbergh makes the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris.
1927 Lindbergh returns to San Diego to receive ovation of 60,000 persons in City Stadium.
1928 Ira C. Copley purchases The San Diego Union and Evening Tribune.
1928 President Coolidge signs Boulder Dam Project Act.
1928 Agua Caliente Hotel and Casino open in Baja California.
1928 Lindbergh Field dedicated.
1929 Tuna clipper Atlantic leads four vessels to Galapagos Islands tuna fishing areas.
1929 Prudden Aircraft Co. becomes Solar Aircraft Co.
1929 State Supreme Court rules City of San Diego entitled to all water of the San Diego River.
1929 Presidio Park and museum dedicated on 160th anniversary of first California mission.
1929 Stock market collapse and beginning of the Great Depression.
1929 New $1,800,000 Fox Theatre building dedicated.
1930 Tuna catch for first time exceeds 100 million pounds.
1931 New City Charter adopted for city manager form of government.
1931 New San Diego State College dedicated.
1931 U.S.S. Saratoga, Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, enters San Diego harbor.
1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt elected President.
1932 San Diego County has 16,000 persons unemployed and 4000 families on direct relief.
1932 Dirigible Akron arrives from New Jersey; two men killed in mooring.
1932 Planes in Army-Navy review total 420.
1933 Gov. James Rolph Jr. orders bank holiday.
1933 Southern California earthquake kills 121 persons.
1933 Transfer of 200,000 acres of federal land establishes Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
1933 The Navy flies six Consolidated P2Ys to Cocc Solo, Canal Zone, in 25 hours and 20 minutes.
1933 Hard liquor restored with repeal of 18th Amendment.
1933 All-American Canal approved as an emergency project and $6,000,000 allocated to start work
1934 Socialist Upton Sinclair makes unsuccessful bid for governor with his EPIC Plan.
1935 California Pacific International Exposition opens.
1935 Gambling banned in Mexico; Agua Caliente closes.
1935 Boulder Dam completed.
1935 Consolidated Aircraft Corporation dedicates new plant at Lindbergh Field after moving from Buffalo, New York.
1935 Groundbreaking ceremonies held for the Civic Center.
1935 Rockwell Field and all of North Island comes under Navy jurisdiction.
1936 San Diego’s exposition reopens for a second season.
1936 WPA advances a half million dollars for construction of County Fair and race track at Del Mar.
1937 Squadron of Consolidated Catalinas flies nonstop from San Diego to Pearl Harbor, and another squadron from San Diego to the Panama Canal.
1938 Civic Center dedicated by President Roosevelt.
1938 Ham and Eggs pension measure fails in California; San Diego County supports it by a majority of more than 3000.
1939 Hitler invades Poland; two days later Britain and France declare war.
1939 Ham and Eggs again defeated; San Diego County conforms with other sections of the state.
1939 Metropolitan Aqueduct completed to Lake Mathews, the terminal reservoir.
1940 Formal dedication of All-American Canal.
1940 Consolidated Aircraft Corporation employment rises to 9000.
1940 Federal census gives San Diego City a population of 203,321 and the county 289,348.
1941 Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor.
Return to Books.
THE RISING TIDE
Introduction
Ch. 1 Envy of Cities
Ch. 2 Charting a Way
Ch. 3 Water is King
Ch. 4 The Flush Years
Ch. 5 The Long Chase
Ch. 6 The Boom Fades
Ch. 7 The Quiet Years
Ch. 8 Creating a Fair
Ch. 9 Making a River
Ch. 10 Changes of War
Epilogue
Chronology
Historical Statistics
