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Renting an Apartment in Poway
What You Should Know
Poway is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. As of the
latest 2000 census the city had a population of 48,044 (see Demographics section
below). The zipcode is 92064.
History
General Overview
Like many early San Diego settlements, Poway used to serve as home to a local
Native American tribe, the Diegue�os. Artifacts such as arrow heads, spear
points, metates, grinding stones, and pottery found along the bed of Poway Creek
all indicate an early Diegue�o presence. Various pictographs adorn many of
Poway's boulders, and modern techniques suggest that these paintings date back
to the 1500s or earlier. Poway's contemporary history began in 1758, when padres
from the Mission San Diego de Alcala kept cattle in the valley. The name "Paguay,"
one of many original spellings, appears on mission documents in 1774. The name,
also written as Paguai, Paui, Pauai, Pauy, Powaii, and finally Poway, has
incurred dispute as to its meaning. While one Native American linguist insists
that it means “here, where the waters meet,” the consensus has traditionally
translated the word as “the two little valleys.” For approximately a century
Poway served as a stock range for the mission, until settlers began to come to
the valley for farming purposes in the late antebellum period. Few records of
this time have survived, and not until 1894 and the inception of the Poway
Progress did the town's history become a thing of record. In 1887, about 800
people lived and farmed in Poway. Around the turn of the century Poway farmers
had moderate success in the production and vending of fruit, grain, and dairy
products. Expansion, however, failed to follow agricultural success. Though the
farmers prospered, the town existed in a static state for decades, varying only
slightly in population, demographic, crop selection, and the like. Poway has a
creek and fertile soil, but the lack of easily available water prevented the
settlement from attracting large-scale farmers and the accompanying population
growth. Not until 1954 did the town establish the Poway Municipal Water
District, which utilizes water from the Colorado River Aqueduct to irrigate all
of Poway's 10,000 acres. When water came to the town, people did as well. In
1957, following the sewer system's completion, developers built housing tracts,
and modern Poway grew from there. In 1980 Poway incorporated and officially
became the City of Poway (nicknamed the City in the Country) rather than a part
of San Diego. Poway no longer depends on agriculture for its primary source of
income, and has instead transitioned into a residential community for those who
work for employers in and around the San Diego area. According to a recent state
government estimate the population of Poway has grown since that last census to
50,542.
Agriculture
Though many residents today mistake Poway for an old Western-style cowboy town,
its original roots lie in agriculture. The Homestead Act of 1862 encouraged
Westward migration, and accordingly many of Poway’s first white settlers came to
farm. The fecund soil proved well-suited to a variety of crops, including
peaches, Muscat grapes, apricots, pears, hay, and alfalfa. Some farmers captured
swarms of wild bees and cultivated honey. Dairying also proved lucrative. Most
families kept a cow for milk and butter, chickens for eggs and meat, and perhaps
a hog as to sustain them personally whilst they farmed. Crops sold well around
the San Diego area. Between the seasons of 1894 and 1896, the Poway Progress
reported bits of agricultural information such as:
Muscat grapes are beginning to ripen, and the San Diego market is getting a
supply of the fine article Poway always produces.
The season has been a prolific one for bees, thirty of forty stands the present
season from a single captured swarm a year or two ago.
The peach is a good article, and Poway produces it to perfection. Poway pears
will compare with any grown in the state.
The success of these crops depended on the annual winter rainfall, however, and
so remained subject to precipitation until the establishment of the Poway
Municipal Water District in 1954. With water readily available, the town’s
farming interest shifted to two principal crops, avocados and citrus fruits.
Ironically, despite the relative success of these ventures, Poway ceased to
exist as a farming town once the water needed to make it a true agricultural
haven appeared. With water came new residents, and the former farm town
transformed into a locale full of small commercial businesses and modest
shopping centers.
Religion
Then as now, many Poway residents were active with a religion. The Community
Church of Poway, the town’s first church, has remained in operation since 1883.
During the time of the town's inception, most Powegians practiced Methodism, and
the International Order of Good Templars (IOGT) controlled most of the town. In
the 1890s, church meetings on Sunday nights drew the entire community together
to worship. Socials, speeches, fundraisers, bees, and graduations all took place
at Good Templars hall. The congregation suffered the continual loss of members,
however, due to the uncertainty of crops from year to year. Few Poway residents
stayed for a long time; after perhaps five years of crops dependent on uncertain
weather, many residents moved to Escondido, San Diego, or even Los Angeles,
where irrigation proved more stable. The church, left with a vague base,
floundered accordingly. Not until the 1960s, with the water problem truly
resolved, did the church steadily grow in size. Today, Catholics, Methodists,
Presbyterians, and Mormons constitute the majority of Poway’s religious
demographic.
Education
Poway established its school district in 1871, but did not have a schoolhouse
until 1885. Turn of the century teachers conducted school in the traditional
one-room style, with first through eighth graders included in one classroom.
Children learned to read and write using slates, and eventually progressed to
study subjects such as arithmetic, spelling, English, language (German or
Latin), grammar, history, and geography. Students did not usually attend high
school, and had to travel to Escondido if they wished to do so. In 1909, only
three students from Poway graduated from high school. Women who went on to more
school from there usually had teaching ambitions. Education, while compulsory
and considered a worthwhile pastime, had few far-reaching applications for
Poway’s farmers’ children. Enrollment in the Poway School first through eighth
grades did not reach 100 until 1932.
Transportation
Poway’s transportation history parallels that of early California. In 1888 the
first stagecoach began to service the towns from San Diego to Escondido,
including Poway. The stage made one stop in town, at the Poway Post Office, and
also delivered mail to the farmers who would wait along the road for its
arrival. The men would trot alongside the coach and inquire as to the state of
the mail, and thus receive letters without requiring it to stop. Eight to ten
passengers could accompany the stagecoach on its three-day journey for a modest
$1.00 fee, or purchase a round trip for the bargain price of $1.50. The route
itself, though not treacherous when passing through Poway, did pose a
significant challenge to the team and driver at various points. Windy mountain
trails often caused the stage to turn over, spilling both mail and passengers
onto the rocky turf. The city of San Diego discontinued the stage line in 1912,
when the advent of the automobile facilitated an easier and less time-consuming
method of mail delivery. Poway established a County Road Station in 1920, to oil
and maintain the roads so that automobiles could use them with ease. The road
station remained in operation until 1961, when Poway achieved an 80% paved road
rate. To this day, though, the town still boasts a number of dirt roads, for use
by both cars and horses.
The Railroad Incident
Perhaps the most famed incident in Poway’s transportation history comes from an
event that never actually took place. The story goes as follows: in October of
1895, representative from the Pacific Beach Railroad Company approached the
citizens of Poway with the prospect of directing their railroad route through
the center of town. A.K. Cravath and C.B. Boyd, company superintendents, met
with town leaders and discussed the prospect, piquing the community’s interest,
as the Poway Progress reportage of November 23rd, 1895 demonstrates:
Superintendent Boyd of the PBRC returned recently from an extended trip
throughout the east… he says the prospects of a largely increased tourist
traffic during the coming season are especially good. As the years go by,
Southern California is becoming more and more advertised, and Mr. Boyd says that
everywhere he heard people talking of this region and not forgetting to place
San Diego on the itinerary of their proposed travels. The prospects for the
extension of the road to Santa Maria, he says are brighter than ever and the
road will undoubtedly be built and in running order within a year.
The newspaper’s editor, L. E. Kent, met with Boyd and Cravath on many occasions,
and obviously caught the flavor of their sales patter. His enthusiasm for the
subject of the railroad, based on repeated assurances from the PBRC that the
cars could not fail to run, spread like wildfire to the townspeople. On the
first of December the town held a “Railroad Social” wherein, according to plan,
the PBRC representatives would meet with the entire town and, after a
considerable amount of entertainment and hubbub, present the railroad contract
to the townspeople for their approval and signatures. The night began without a
hitch. According to the December 7th Poway Progress, “a program of good and
appropriate things was provided by local talent, which furnished fun and
amusement to all. Following the entertainment, a sumptuous supper was served
free to the hungry crowd, after which games and youthful antics continued into
the late hours.” (31) The “entertainment,” according to the evening’s program,
published by the newspaper the following morning, surpassed all expectations.
Local residents performed vocal duets, played the violin and the organ, and even
sang a “Railroad Song” en masse. Perhaps the most telling entertainment came in
the form of a “recitation” by Flora Kent, L.E. Kent’s wife, who composed an
original poem on the subject and performed it for the crowd. Her proud husband
esteemed his wife’s literary talents so highly that he published the full text
of her poem in the Progress the next day. The following excerpts (two out of a
total six stanzas) give an adequate representation of the work’s flavor:
Have you heard the news, Josiar? I declare, it makes me young, It sets my heart
on fire, And loosens my old tongue, And I feel jest like a talkin’ and shoutin’
jest for fun, For I shan’t do no more walkin’ When the cars begin to run.
…Then Hip Hurrah! for old Poway, Her slumber has been long, But every dog must
have its day, And every bird its song. Then let us give a mighty cheer, And
shout, “The battle’s won.” For she’s a comin’, don’t you fear, The cars is bound
to run!
Poetical talents notwithstanding, the poem gives an excellent indication of
Poway’s general excitement concerning the new railroad. The comment that Poway’s
“slumber has been long,” especially, suggests that Poway residents recognize the
sleepiness and overall torpor of their town, and long for an agent such as the
railroad to awaken them from their doze into a new world of economic prosperity.
This new reality, however, seemed dubious when, on the very night of the
Railroad Social, with all the town’s residents in attendance, the PBRC
representatives failed to materialize. “There was one disappointment that
shadowed the whole affair—” the Progress reports: “the nonappearance of the
gentlemen who were expected to be present to give the railroad talk, setting for
the plans, purpose, and contracts of the enterprise.” The fact that the
superintendents never attended the contract signing should have, perhaps,
indicated to the Powegians that the PBRC did not act entirely in good faith
concerning the venture. The same newspaper article, though, states “In justice
to the gentlemen named, we are authorized to state that they fully intended to
be present at the social, but other engagements prevented them—explanations
promised.” At this time in the venture, Poway had collectively given upwards of
$100,000 worth of bonds and land to the PBRC. Gullible as the superintendents
doubtless expected to find them, Poway residents continued to pursue the
railroad project for another year in its entirety, with the paper constantly
reporting news such as this, in July of 1896. (39)
Although there is at present a death-like sentence as to our railroad project,
we are glad to note indications that the enterprise is not abandoned, nor at a
standstill entirely. Mr. Boyd… [said] that they would “get there” without fail.
He gave the impression, in short, that the construction of the road can be
depended on.
Not until October 1896 did Poway finally abandon hope for the project and demand
its money back. Remarkably, the sum of $85,000 worth of land and notes came back
into the town’s coffers. The financial losses incurred by the townspeople, then,
did not prove devastating, but the town’s spirit never fully recovered from the
blow. L.E. Kent himself took the news so poorly, having had the personal
assurances of Cravath and Boyd many times, and having staked his journalistic
reputation, such as it was, on these assurances, that he only continued to
publish the Poway Progress until 1897, one year after the railroad fiasco
concluded. After all, progress did not seem imminent in Poway’s future any
longer. When news of the coming railroad spread, an English firm, Baird and
Chapin, came to the valley and laid out a subdivision plan called Piermont. A
plan filed in 1887 shows such elegant names as Devon, Norwalk, Aubrey, Edgemoor,
York, Rydal, Windsor and Midland Avenues. Residential areas were planned around
small parks: Ashton Court, Chatham Court, Hampton Court, St. Alban's Court and
many others. Poway’s new railroad would bring the grandeur, elegance, and
cultivation that the town currently lacked, and the developers named the areas
accordingly. When the railroad did not materialize, though, the valley began to
lose some of its settlers, and the developers left as well. Poway existed in a
stagnant inertia for close to three quarters of a century before water
revitalized the town.
Water
Poway's greatest change started in the 1950s when water came to the valley. On
January 29, 1954 an election was held on the formation of the Poway Municipal
Water District, which passed with an overwhelming majority of 210 ayes to 32
nayes. At a second election on March 25, 1954, the citizens voted to annex to
the San Diego County Water Authority. At a third election held April 22, 1954,
the citizens voted to incur bonded debt of $600,000 to build a water system. The
first water delivery was made in July, 1954 to Gordon's Grocery on Garden Road.
In 1972 Poway Dam was built to provide a dependable supply of water.
In 1957, the Pomerado County Water District was organized to provide sewer
service to 1,610 acres along Pomerado Road. In 1959 the first subdivision homes
were built and sold as Poway Valley Homes and Poway's population began to climb.
On December 1, 1980, the City of Poway incorporated and the two districts, Poway
Municipal Water and Pomerado County Water, became part of the City structure.
Modern Times
In 1980, Poway incorporated and became the City of Poway, an entity separate
from the City of San Diego. It justifies its nickname of the "City in the
Country" despite its burgeoning population because it is a Tree City U.S.A. and
also houses the Blue Sky nature preserve, beautiful Lake Poway, and many hiking
and horse riding trails, thus maintaining much of its original flavor even in
modern times. Poway High School, home of the Titans, is famous for its academic
excellence. The Emerald Brigade, the school's marching band, competes actively
throughout the year and frequently wins sweepstakes and top honors. The Poway
High School Choir department sends its top two choirs to compete nationally,
acquiring top awards in Chicago, Illinois and Orlando, Florida. The jazz bands
frequently perform in and around the community, to great acclaim. Also an
athletic powerhouse, the Titan wrestling team has amassed a nationwide
reputation through its dominance of the San Diego County wrestling circuit. The
team has won 25 consecutive CIF San Diego Section Championships, placed in the
top five statewide 16 times, and won three CIF State Wrestling Team
Championships, in 1986, 1999, and most recently 2005. Poway as a community
continues to grow and yet maintain its traditional charm as it modernizes for
the 21st century.
In 2004, the City of Poway adopted the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance
Battalion, 1st Marine Division, based out of nearby Camp Pendleton. The Fred L.
Kent Post 7907 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars has been the official go-between
with the battalion, which has been redeployed at least once to Iraq since its
adoption.
Geography
Poway is located at 32�58′12″N, 117�2′19″W (32.969895, -117.038479)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 101.9
km� (39.3 mi�). 101.6 km� (39.2 mi�) of it is land and 0.3 km� (0.1 mi�) of it
(0.25%) is water.
Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 48,044 people, 15,467 households, and
12,868 families residing in the city. The population density was 473.0/km�
(1,224.8/mi�). There were 15,714 housing units at an average density of
154.7/km� (400.6/mi�). The racial makeup of the city was 82.86% White, 7.46%
Asian, 1.67% African American, 0.48% Native American, 0.28% Pacific Islander,
3.27% from other races, and 3.99% from two or more races. Across all races
10.35% are Hispanic or Latino,
There were 15,467 households out of which 47.0% had children under the age of 18
living with them, 68.8% were married couples living together, 10.5% have a
unmarried female householder, and 16.8% were non-families. 12.6% of all
households were made up of individuals and 4.7% had someone living alone who was
65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.08 people and the
average family size was 3.35 people.
In the city the population was spread out with 30.7% under the age of 18, 7.1%
from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 8.6% who were 65
years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there
were 97.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.9 males.
The median income for a household in Poway is $71,708, and the median income for
a family was $77,875. Males had a median income of $53,322 versus $52,742 for
females. The per capita income for the city was $29,788. About 3.1% of families
and 4.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.9% of those
under age 18 and 3.7% of those age 65 or over.
Current estimates
According to estimates by the San Diego Association of Governments, the median
household income of Poway in 2005 was $96,474 (not adjusted for inflation). When
adjusted for inflation (1999 dollars; comparable to Census data above), the
median household income was $78,340.