The National City Public Library Local History Room is a central repository of National City’s historical collection, serving as an ongoing historical recourse for National City’s accomplishments, past present and future.
Local History Room Hours
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 2:00pm-6:00pm
Diaries
The Local History Room houses 164 diaries of the Kimball family dating from 1854 to 1934. Frank Kimball founded National City in 1868 and it was incorporated in 1887. Because of its original name, Rancho de la Nacion, national City is the only community in the United States that has the rightful heritage to use the word “National” in its name.
Newspapers
The Library houses a complete microfilm file dating from 1882 of the National City Star News and its predecessor, the National City Record, as well as the original bound volumes of these newspapers.
Photographs
Hundreds of photographs of National City and its inhabitants are included in the collection.
Biography File
The collection includes information concerning residents and happenings of National City, including some indexes of biographies and obituaries from local newspapers.
Oral Histories
Audio taped interviews of longtime residents of the City began in 1972. These provide a historical reference not found in books.
Scrapbooks
News clippings from the San Diego Union and the National City Star News were collected in scrapbooks by the City and include the years 1950-1974. They contain all news items pertaining to National City and its citizens for those years.
Maps
Maps in the collection are mostly of National City and South bay. The earliest (1887) is a bird’s eye view of National City.
Manuscripts and Miscellany
The Local History Room houses other historical papers including a large pamphlet file, government documents, old city directories, Sweetwater High School annuals, 27 volumes of letter books written by Frank Kimball concerning his business dealings, and three bound volumes of original watercolor studies of California wildflowers painted by Carrie Floyd Harbison, who came to National City in 1880.
The treasured cornerstone of this collection consists of the letter books and diaries of National City's founding family, the Kimballs. Although the Kimball Family Collection has been archivally stored, it is slowly deteriorating as a natural result of age and the elements. The 163 leather-bound pocket diaries were handwritten by members of the Kimball family from 1854 - 1934; 59 of these valuable documents, which provide personal glimpses into California's history, were written by Frank Kimball. Kimball, along with his two brothers, purchased the land that would become National City in 1869. Prior to moving to National City, the Kimball family lived in San Francisco, and the early diaries were written from the Northern California perspective. Entries prior to 1869 cover such historical topics as:
- the freeing of slaves following the Civil War
- sending mail via the Pony Express
- traveling by steamer from San Diego to San Francisco
- voting for a preferred candidate in Presidential elections, and much more.
Frank Kimball's letter books after 1869 meticulously detail the growth of National City. This city, located 10 miles north of the Mexican border, is an example in microcosm of the land boom of post-Civil War Southern California, that seemingly overnight turned grassland into thriving cities. It is the story of the remarkable Kimball family that gave of its time and resources to build a respected community. After settling in National City, Frank Kimball's letter books include:
- the coming of the railroad
- agriculture and local olive culture
- real estate and business transactions
- notes written from the St. Louis Exposition of 1904.
Not simply a chronicle of local daily life, these documents spell out the Kimball family's local, Statewide and national contributions. For example, Frank Kimball served as State Agricultural Commissioner, and was personally responsible for extending the Santa Fe Railroad to National City in 1882. His sister-in-law Flora wrote the first novel published in San Diego County.
Daily entries are fascinating and engrossing in their attention to detail, and transport the reader into a by-gone era as well as any historical fiction novel ever could. The Kimballs write about:
- price of goods (food, clothing, furniture and household goods)
- price of land, and the price of lots sold by the Kimballs in the building of National City
- trips into San Diego to meet the steamers from San Francisco and greet potential lot purchasers
- prevailing wages
- family life, such as Frank Kimball's deep love for his wife
- exchanging gold for "greenbacks
- visits from friends and family. and much more.
The 163 leather-bound pocket diaries measure approximately 3"x5" or 4"x6", and 3/4" to 1.5" thick; each is imprinted with the approximate year. The Kimball's entered and dated a daily account on the pages. The 35 letter books themselves are products of yesteryear, before the typewriter or computer were household items. They measure approximately 8"x10" and 9"x12", and are also leather-bound. Letters were written with the writer bearing down on the book's tissue pages, thus preserving a copy of the letter on tissue.
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