I'd like to wish all the members of the Lakeside Historical Society and their families a happy and prosperous 2002.
  From everyone in or Society, a heart-felt thanks goes out to Pat Ellwood and Betty McMillen for their hard work and dedication as co-presidents during the year 2001.  Also, many thanks to all the members who donated their time and resources to our preservation fundraisers and projects.  Without member support, our efforts would come to a "screeching halt" and our organization would soon cease to exist.
  With more new projects and the never-ending need for the dissemination of Lakeside's rich history,you help is needed more now than ever.  So, I hope that this year will be the year that you decide to take an active role in the preservation of Lakeside's heritage for our children, and our children's children.  Please call me at 443-3616, or e-mail me at rswhite@wans.net to donate your time and/or resources.

  Hi there, I feel like a whipped puppy lately. Lakeside has lost three historic sites within the last two months.  Today the bulldozers are at work on the oldest ranch in Lakeside. The house which was built in 1875 is still standing, but everything else has been leveled. The barns and out buildings have been bulldozed down, the palm trees toppled, the bushes dug out . . . all this to make way for a 52 unit housing development, with 1/4 to 1/3 acre lots.
  The Ferry Ranch is on Palm Row and Lakeside Avenue  (some folks call it the Strawberry Ranch).  For many years we could go there with our buckets and pick our own strawberries by the pound.  At one time this ranch consisted of several thousand acres of land -- now
known as the Lakeside Farms area -- for the last 40 years or so the ranch consisted of 22 acres. A dentist and his wife owned it and raised thoroughbred horses there.
  The property has changed hands many times
over the years.  Levi Chase bought 3,000 acres in Lakeside in 1874. In 1875 Henry Fellows built the ranch house on it.  In 1909, John Ferry sold 1,000 acres which became known as the Lakeside Farms area. In 1912 Mr. Arthur Johnson planted the first orchard of peaches there.  Eileen Carriender, who has lived in Lakeside her entire 87 years, remembers going there as a kid and begging for peaches "those were the biggest peaches I have ever seen" she said.  A few years ago she sold the ranch to a developer. He called me to ask what the Historical Society thought about tearing down the old place . . . of course we didn't like the idea.  We worked along with the Lakeside Planning Group by writing letters, having petitions signed, going  to meeting after meeting trying to save it all.

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