The photo above was taken by Walter Knott or a member of his immediate family on a visit to Mission San Juan Capistrano sometime around the 1940s. It comes out of the Knott's Berry Farm Collection at the Orange County Archives. (Some other images in this particular series show the Knotts posed in the Mission's gardens.) Note the great hat worn by the docent and the box brownie camera held by the tourist in the foreground.
Here's what I get for not paying attention: I just now learned that Teri Delcamp, the longtime historical officer for the city of San Juan Capistrano, has left and taken a similar post for the City of Riverside. The Register article about Teri leaving appeared in November. Frank Mickadeit's more recent article hits the nail on the head about the gap left by Teri and the need to replace her with another full-time historical professional. And if there were any doubts, Ilse Byrnes agrees with Frank -- And you can't ask for a better advocate for the community's well-being and history than Ilse.
I was always very impressed with the quality of Teri's historical research and her knowledge of San Juan's history. I wish every city in Orange County had a Teri Delcamp watching over them. She will certainly be missed. I wish her well in Riverside.
Also in San Juan Capistrano news, the folks who were running the Frank Forster Mansion (1910) as a special events venue have gone bankrupt and closed the place.
After two posts (here and here) featuring old "Roads to Romance" maps of Southern California, I've heard from more than a few of you who either own or fondly remember these maps. In fact, Claudia Horn, Coordinator of Special Collections & Archives at Chapman University had a couple extra copies of the 1960s version of the map, and sent one to me and one to the Orange County Archives. I'll post a version of it here sometime in the not-too-distant future. Many thanks, Claudia!
Frequent reader Ken Stack sent along a photo of his copy of the map, which I've posted below.
