San Diego’s
HUGE
PART 1
Written by: Dion Markgraaff
Imperial Linen Products Corporation executives examine hemp harvest from late 1920, in San Diego. (Photo Courtesy of San Diego Historical Society) San Diego has a huge hemp history. Just as today, San Diego has always been a big player on the course for cannabis. A conspiracy of market forces played a major part in the twists and turns down that historical hemp road. Some of the most famous San Diego historical figures like E.W. Scripps, Henry Timken, and the Spreckels family played various roles in the cannabis plant’s path in the market place. San Diego’s hemp history can be seen today in some of the city’s most famous buildings at Balboa Park. The original buildings in Balboa Park are made with cannabis. The parks website says: Built for “First World’s Fair: The 34 NUGMAG.COM | SEP/OCT 09
1915-16 Panama-California Exposition commemorated the opening of the Panama Canal and provided a major impetus for the creation of the Park as it appears today—the first of two Expositions that created many of the cultural institutions as well as the stunning architecture in the Park. The California Tower and dome, which houses the San Diego Museum of Man, the Cabrillo Bridge (historic 1,500-foot-long bridge) and the Spreckels Organ Pavilion (one of the world’s largest outdoor pipe organs) were built for the 1915 Exposition-some of the few permanent structures designed for the fair.” Although there is no mention of the buildings’ hemp history in the park’s latest promotions, one just has to dig into the old records to see references to hemp and the
cannabis plant’s role in “reinforcing” the mortar used to build these structures. San Diego’s Solar Power If there were no restrictions on growing cannabis, San Diego would be a world leader in cultivation for one simple reason, the sun. Some of the best hemp results in history have happened right here in our region. In 1917, the national media thoroughly documented the hemp farming taking place locally at the famous Timkin Ranch. A detailed report said local farmers “produced about 125 tons of hemp fiber and 312.5 tons of hemp hurds from his 100 acre hemp field.” “Mr. Schlichten raised five tons of hemp stalks to the acre on a one hundred