Sister relationship may be in offing for schools in Point Loma and Neuhaus

 

By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO—An effort is underway to create a sister school partnership in the cities of Louis Rose’s birth and of his death.

Rose, the first Jewish settler in San Diego, was a pioneer civic official, businessman and developer who helped to steer San Diego’s course between 1850, when he arrived here, and 1888, when he died at age 81.

Among his accomplishments was the development in 1869 of the town of Roseville, along the shore of San Diego Bay. Today Roseville constitutes a major portion of the San Diego community of Point Loma.  Roseville  was 30 blocks long and stretched approximately 8 blocks inland from the irregular shore of San Diego Bay.

A school built in 1894 in this vicinity was named Roseville Elementary School; its first teacher was Henrietta Rose, daughter of Louis.  That school later was replaced by Cabrillo Elementary School, which although located in Point Loma is a few blocks south of Roseville’s original boundary.  Cabrillo is a name to which all sections of San Diego can relate.  In 1542, it was the Portuguese explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo who claimed this area for Spain.

Rose’s birth city of Neuhaus-an-der-Oste, Germany, was an important element in Rose’s determination to create a city by San Diego Bay.  Neuhaus is near the confluence of the Rivers Oste and Elbe, the latter being the major thoroughfare for commerce between the industrial city of Hamburg and the North Sea.   While Rose was growing up in Neuhaus, river-borne trade was the mainstay of the Hanoverian town’s economy.

Rose immigrated to the United States in 1840, landing in New Orleans, another city which depended on the water – in this case the Mississippi River – for its livelihood.   City development and water-borne commerce — the two ideas were interlocked in Rose’s conception.

Imagine Rose’s surprise when he came to San Diego and found that the city was actually located several miles from its deepwater Bay.  Imagine his consternation that there wasn’t even a pier or a wharf on the Bay to facilitate movement of goods between the ship and shore.  When ships called in San Diego – and unsurprisingly few actually did – women passengers had to be carried ashore, piggyback style , on the backs of sailors.   This was not very graceful, and not very conducive to putting San Diego on anyone’s map as a commercial town.

So Rose—and a friend he met on the wagon train that carried him to San Diego—began laying aside money and purchasing land along the bay.  It took quite a few years before they could amass sufficient land for a town, and before the process was completed, Rose’s friend – Judge James W. Robinson—died.  Rose purchased Robinson’s holdings along the Bay and elsewhere from the widow Sarah Robinson.   But before long, the United States was engaged in a Civil War—and although San Diego and the rest of California stood on the sidelines – business here  became stagnant.

Only after the war – amid speculation (unfortunately wrong) that San Diego would become the terminus of a transcontinental railroad through the southern portion of the United States – did Rose feel enough financial confidence to lay the town out.

By that time, another developer had come to town—with more money, and greater energy—and laid out what first was known as (Alonzo) Horton’s Addition, but today is simply called downtown San Diego.  The real commerce of the city went to Horton’s development, not to Rose’s.  Roseville and environs were transformed into one of the more desirable residential areas on the Bay.

On Thursday, March 24, a spot in what formerly was known as the San Diego Naval Training Center will be formally dedicated as Louis Rose Point.  A plaque on a plinth will mark for passersby the location at the foot of Womble Road at the boat channel.  However, what may someday become a more important, living, legacy for Rose also is planned – the creation of a sister-school relationship between Cabrillo Elementary School and the Grundschule of Neuhaus-an-der-Oste.

Officials at both schools have indicated they like the sister-school idea, but formal action remains to be taken to make the relationship official.   On Monday, March 7, I had the chance to talk to 4^th graders in the class of teacher Leslie Snow about the idea – at the invitation of Nestor Suarez, the school’s principal and enthusiastic supporter of the sister-school relationship.

The students expressed excitement over making friends in Germany, and perhaps having individual pen pals to whom each of them could write. They were relieved that German students typically learn English in school, although some said they would like to learn German, if ever it were taught at the school.

Class members said that through e-mails, and perhaps even videos, they could learn about Neuhaus, and the German students could learn about San Diego.  Perhaps there could be exchanges of teachers, and even students.   They might find ways to study some subjects together.

I asked what they would like their German pen pals to know about San Diego.  Some of the answers were upbeat – such as the city’s weather is almost always nice, Balboa Park is filled with museums, the beaches are good, and San Diego is graced with such attractions as Sea World and the Zoo.   But, to my surprise and that of Ms. Snow, the students suggested that their German counterparts should also know that San Diego has problems with litter, and that there are homeless people living here.

The students wanted to share both the good and the bad, to spell out the advantages and disadvantages in living in a big city.  And they wanted to know what it might be like to live in a small German village, which is too small to have its own middle or high school   Neuhaus students go to a nearby town to complete their education.

Of course, as Louis Rose knew, both areas have ocean-going vessels nearby, and that may prove to be one of the strongest common interests the students might find.

I think Louis Rose would have been proud of the bronze plaque that will be installed on March 24^th in his honor on the 204^th anniversary of his birth.   But as sociable, and forward-looking as he was, my guess is that he’ll be even prouder of being a catalyst for students becoming friends, even though they live half a world away from each other.

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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World.  He may be reached at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com