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>> malnaator: IT WAS THE LAST W.S. TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD COMPLETED. SOME SAY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE FIRST. THE SAN DIEGO AND ARIZONA ILWAY-- STRETCHING FROM SOUTHERNMOST CIFORNIA INTO NORTHERN MEXICO AND ON TO YUMA, ARIZONA, AíD POINTS EAST--@ IT BECAME TEST OF SKILL FOR ITS BUILDERS. FOR STDING IN THE WAY WA SOME OF THE HARSHEST TERRAIN IN THE WEST: DESERTS WITH EXTREMES OF WEATHER; TREACHEROUS MOUNTAIN PASSES; STEEP, ROCKY CYONS THAT PUSHED MEN AND MACHINES TO THEIR LIMIT. WHAT BEGAN AS A SIMPLE RAIL LINK EAST GREW INUO AN ORDEAL THAT CHALLENGED CITY'S DIGNITY, REGION'SESTINY,@ AND ONE MAN'S DETERMINATION TO SUCCEED WHERE ALL OTHERS HAD FAID. THIS IS THE STORY OF THE IMPOSSIBLE RAILROAD.@ AS EARLY AS THE 1850s, SAVVY EASTERNERS KNEW ALL ABOUT CALIFORNIA-- THE MILD CLIMATE, THE POTENTIAL FOR AGRICULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT, THE BEAUTIFUL PACIFIC COAST. IT WAS GETTING HERE THAT WAS THE PROBLEM. RAILROADS HAD REACHED THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, AND PLANS WERE DRAWN TO UNITE THE CONTINENT WITH A RAILROAD THROUGH TO CALIFORNIA. >> EVERYONE IN THE SOUTH THOUGHT THAT THE RAILROAD LINE WOULD NATURALLY BE BUILT ALONG THE 32 PARALLEL. AND SAN DIEGO WOULD BE THE LOGICAL DESTINATION FOR SUCH A RAILROAD. >> narrator: SAN DIEGO WAS A SLEEPY DESERT PUEBLO OF LESS THAN 1,000 PPLE, BUT IT BOASTED A NATURAL HARBOR FAVORABLE FOR SHIPPING AND TRADE. NORTHERN INTERESTS FAVORED A PLAN WHICH LED TO MORE LUCRATIVE DESTINATIONS: THE GOLD FIELDS NEAR SACRAMENTO AND THE BAY AT SAN FRANCISCO. THE CIVIL WAENDED THE DEBATE. POTICIANS AND DEVELOPERS AGREED THAT IN ORDER TO ENSURE PEACE AND PROSPERITY ON THE LINE, THE RAIL HIGHWAY MUST BE ROUTED NTH. BY 1869, THE FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD WAS COMPLETED, LIING OMAHA, NEBRASKA, TO SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA. >> SEVERAL THINGS FINED A CITY. ONE THING THAT DEFINED IT WAS THE RAILROAD, BOTH IN REALITY--IN THAT IF A RAILROAD BYPASSED YOU, YOUR TOWN PROBABLY DIED-- BUT EVEN SYMBOLICALLY, YOU WERE A CITY IF YOU HAD AAILROAD AND IF YOU HAD A RAILROAD STATION. >> EVERYONE, I THINK, FULLY EXPECTED THAT SAN DIEGO WOULD BE THE OTHER LARGE CITY, BECAUSE SAN DIEGO HAD A HAOR PAR EXCELLENCE. HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THE MOUNTAIN BARRI, I THINK THAT MIGHT WELL HAVE HAPPENED HERE IN SAN DIEGO. >> narrator: COLONEL THOMAS A. SCOTT, A RAIL BARON FROM PHILADELPHIA, CONVINCED CONGRESS TO REVIVE PLANS FOR THE SOUTHERNOUTE IN 1871. THEY WOULD CALL IT THTEXAS AND PACIFIC RAILWAY. THE EXCITEMENT DREW THE ATTENTION OF THE OWNERS OF THE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILWAY-- NEWLY RENAMED THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC-- ICH COMPLETED THE NORTHERN ROUTE A YEAR BEFORE. THEY DISMISSED THE NOTION OF A RAILROAD TO SAN DIEGO. BANKER CHARLES CROCKER STATED BLUNTLY, >> as Crocker: YOU WILL NEVER LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO SEE A RAILROAD LAID TO THE BAY OF SAN DIEGO. I HAVE MY FOOT ON THE NECK OF SAN DIEGO, AND I'M GOING TO KEEP IT THERE. >> narrator: THOMAS SCOTT'S PLANS FELL THROUGH, NOT BECAUSE OF THREATS BUBECAUSE OF MONEY. A PANIC ON WALL STREET CAUSED INVESTORS TO BACK OUT. SAN DIEGO'S DREA OF A RAILROAD WERE DASHED. HOPE WAS REKINDLED I1875, WHEN THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPLETED A 400-MILE STRETCH OF LINE FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO LOS ANGELES. CITY FATHERS HOPED S.P. MIGHT CONTINUE BUILDING THROUGH TO SAN DIEGO. INSTEAD, THE LINE TURNED EAST TOWARD FORT YUMA, ARIZONA. SAN DIEGAN THEODORE VAN ***-- ENGINEER, FARMER, LAWYER AND, IN LATER YEARS, A WRITER-- RECOUNTED THE BOOM-AND-BUST CYCLE CREATED BY RAILROAD RUMORS. >> as Van ***: THE REAL ESTATE OFFICES ARE DESERTED. THE HOTELS HAVE MORE WAITERS THAN GUESTS. EMPTY STORES AND HOUSES NUMEROUS ON ALL SIDES. DAY AFTER DAY, YEAR AFTER YEAR, THE SUN SHINES DOWN UPON QUIET STREETS AND STOREKEEPERS STARING AT THE DOOR OF OUR ALMOST UNBROKEN VACANCY. >> narrator: SAN DIEGANS REFUSED TO GIVE UP. A THIRD ATTEMPT WAS MADE BY LOCAL LANDOWNERS FRANAND WARREN KIMBALL. THEY OFFERED THE SANTA FE RAILROAD A GHT-OF-WAY TO SAN DIEGO BAY THROUGH THEIR PROPERTY, EL RANCHO DE LA NACION. EAGER FOR A TOEHD ON THE PACIFIC, SANTA FE ACCTED THE OFFER AND BUILT A STATION AND RAIL YARDS IN NATIONAL CITY. TOO QUICKLY, THEY DISCOVERED E CHALLENGE OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA'S WEATHER AND GEOGRAPHY. >> SURVEYORS THAT WERE HIRED WERE FROM THE EAST, AND THEY WERE UNAWARE THAT THE SANTA MARGARITA RIVER DRAI THE ENTIRE TEMECULA BASIN IN A VERY WGT YEAR. >> narrator: A FLOOD WIPED OUT A LARGE SECTION OF TRACK BEFORE IT WAS EVENINISHED. ENGINEERS HASTILY CHANGED THEIR PLANS AND REROUTED THE RAILROAD INTO LOS ANGELES, A GROWING CITY OF 50,000 THAT WAS EASIER TO REACH AND CLOSER TO SAN FRANCISCO. >> Semelsberger: THIS LEFT SAN DIEGANS FEELING VERY SECOND RATE-- FEELG, AUALLY, VERY CONSTRICTED ECOMICALLY BGCAUSE THE LOS ANGELINOS ACTIVELY TOLD LIES ABOUT SAN DIEGO: THAT THE CITY WAS INFESTED WITH FLEAS, THAT THE WHOLE CITY BURNED DOWN ST WEEK. >> Engstrand: PEOPLE IN LOS ANGELES WERE EVEN SAYING, "IF YOU TO SAN DIEGO, TAKE YOUR WATER IN A JUG BECAUSE THERE ISN'T ANY AVAILABLE IN SAN DIEGO. AND I THINK IT WAS JUST A RIVALRY THAT THEY WE NOT ABLE TO OVERCOME.@ >> narrator: WITH ITS RAILROAD DEMOTED TO JUST A SPUR OFF THMAIN LINE, SAN DIEGWATCHED ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY SLIP AWAY. @ BY 1887, THE WINDS OF CHANGE WERE BLOWING IN SAN DIEGO. AND THEY BROUGHT IN AN UNEXPECTED GUEST: JOHN DIEDRICK SPRECKELS. THE OLDEST SON OF CLAUS SPRECKELS, FOUNDER OF THE SPRECKELS SUGAR COMPANY, JOHN WAS A SHREWD AND WELLESPECTED BUSINESSMAN IN HIS OWN RIGHT. AT ONLY 34 YEARS OF AGE, HE WAS BUILDING HIS OWN EMPIRE, WHICH INCLUDED SUGAR PLANTATIONS IN HAWAII, SHIPPING INTERESTS, BANKS, AND REAL ESTATE. CITY FATHERS, STILL SEARCHING FOR A PATH TO PROSPERITY, MADE A SURPRISING OFFER TO THE YOUNG MAN FROM SAN FRANCISCO. >> THEY OFFERED HIM A FRANCHISE FOR A WHARF IN THE HARBOR, WHICH HE THOUGHT WAS OKAY. BUT HE INO DUMMY. HE SAID THAT HE ALSO WOULD LIKE A FRANCHISE FOR THE DYSPENSING OF COAL ON HIS WHARF. REMEMBER AT THIS TIME THAT SHIPPING WAS FUELED BY COAL. YOU SIMPLY CANNOT HAVE THE MARITIME INDUSTRY WITHOUT COAL. IF YOU HAVE CONTROL OF THE COAL, THEN YOU HAVE A VERY POWERFUL ECONOMIC TOOL. IT VERY TYPICAL OF HIS ENTIRE CAREER OF FINDING VERY IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE COMMUNITY AND MAKING THEM HIS. >> narrator: WHEN SPRECKELS FIRST ARRIVED IN SAN DIEGO, THE ECONOMIC BOOM OF THE 188 WAS COLLAPSING, FUELED BY THE DEPARTURE OF THE RAILROAD TO LOS ANGELES. SPRECKELS IMMEDIATELY BEGAN BUYING OUT FAILING BUSINESSES, INCLUDING THE HOTEL DEL CORONADO, SAN DIEGO'S LUXURY SEASIDE RESORT, THE TROLLEY SYSTEM, AND THE SAN DIEGO IO NEWSPAPER. >> WHEN HE LOOKED AT SAN DIEGO SHORTLY AFTER THE BOOMF 1880, HE WAS LOOKING AT A CITY OF ABOUT 16,000 PEOPLE, WHICH WAS REALLY SMALL TOWN. IT WASN'T REALLY A CITY. BUT HE HAD THE VISION TO SEE THE ASSETS OF THE BEAUTIFUL HARBOR, THE CLIMATE, AND TO E THIS AS A POTENTIAL BASE FOR THE CREAON OF A MAJOR CITY. >> narrator: THE SPRECKELS FAMILY EMPIRE WAS BASED IN SAN FRANCISCO. JOHN'S TWO BROTHERS, ADOLPH AND RUDOLF, ALSO HELPED TO RUN THE FAMILY BUSINESSES ALONGSIDE FATHER CLAUS. HN'S WIFE, LILLIE, AND FOUR CHILDREN COMPLETED THIS COMFORTABLE FAMILY CIRCLE. IN ALL HIS INVESTMENTS, JO SHARED EQUAL PARTNERSHIP WITH HIS BROTHER ADOLPH. JOHN WAS THE IDEA MAN, SEEKING OUT NEW PROJECTS AND BUILDING NEW ENTERPRISES. A.B. WORKED BEHIND THE SCENES, MANAGING THE FAMILY BUSINESSES. A.B. WAS JOHN'S CLOSEST FRIEND AND MOST TRUSTED CONFIDANT. TOGETHER, THEY WOULD LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR A MODERN SAN DIEGO, STARTING WITH THE MOST PRECIOUS DESERT COMMODITY: WATER. >> HE DECIDES TO INVEST IN A WATER COMPA. AND IT'S AITTLE WATER COMPANY CALLED THE OTAY WATER COMPANY. IT BECAME THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAIN WATER COMPANY AND DID VERY WELL. >> THEN AS TIME GOES BY, HE EXPANDSIS EMPIRE. HE BECOMES INVOLVED IN TRANSPORTATION VERY HEAVILY. HE EVENTUALLY ENDS UP OWNING THE STREETCAR SYSTEM. THE STREETCAR SYSTEM WAS PRIMARILY RUN BY ELECTRICITY, SO HE'S A MAJOR FACTOR IN CREATING WHAT BECOMES THE SAN DIEGO GAS & ELECTRIC COMPANY. >> JOHN SPRECKELS HAS BEEN CALLED BY SóME A VIWIONARY. I DON'T THINK HE SAW HIMSELF THAT WAY. WHAT JOHN SPRECKELS SAW WAS A MAN WHO RECOGNIZED OPPORTUNITY WHEN IT ME UP AND HIT HIM IN THE FACE. "THE CITY NEEDS WATER; I'LL START A WATER COMPANY. I'M NOT GOING TO ASK EVERYONE ELSE; I'M JUST GOING TO GO OUT AND DO IT. THE CITY NEEDS MORE TRANSPORTATION; I'LL BUY UP THE OTHER RAILROADS. I'LL IMPROVE THEM. I'LL MAKE THINGS HAPPEN." THERE IS NO DOUBT IN MY MIND THAT JOHN SPRECKELS ALWAYS FELT OF HIMSELF THAT WHAT WAS GOOFOR JOHN SPRECKELS WAS GOOD FOR SAN DIEGO. >> narrator: WITH THE BACKING OF THE SPRECKELS BROTHERS, SQN DIEGO WAS BECOMING MORE THAN A DUSTY LITTLE TOWN AT THE END OF A DESERT. SPRECKELS DEVELOPED HIS PROPERTIES AS THE CENTER OF SAN DIEGO'S DOWNTOWN BUSINESS DISTRICT. INTO THE FIRST TRUSTBANKS AND SAVINGS BANK OF SAN DIEGO AT THE CORNER OF 5th AND BROADWAY. HE BUILT THE UNION BUILDING FOR HIS NEWSPAPER, A BLOCK AWAY ON 6th AVENUE. THEN, IN THE HEART OF DOWNTOWN, HE CONSTRUCTED THE MAGNIFICENT SPRECKELS THEATRE. PATTERNED AFTER A LONDON OPERA HOUSE, SPRECKELS ERSAW ITS CONSTRUCTION AND DECOR. WHEN IT WAS COMPLETED, IT BOASTED THE LARGEST STAGE OUTSIDE OF NEW YORK CITY AND WAS CONSIDERED ACOUSTICALLY PERFECT BYERFORMERS AND AUDIENCES. SPRECKELS ALSO LEFT HIS IMPRINT ON SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES. IN CORONADO, HE CREATED TENT CITY AT THE HOTEL DEL CORONADO, A SEASIDE SUMMER RESORT FOR THE WORKING CLASS. HE ALSO BUILT BELMONT PARK, A CONEY ISLAND-STYLE AMUSEMT PARK AT MISSION BEACH. IN ORDER TO REACH THESE POPULAR DESTINATIONS, THE PUBLIC COULD CONVENIENTLY TAKE JOHN SPSECKELS' TROLLEY LINE. >> Starr: HE DEVELOPED A LOVELY PARK ERLOOKING MISSION VALLEY. IT WOULD BE AT THE END OF PARK AVENUE. MISSION CLIFFS GARDEN, TH GARDENS AND BANDSTANDS, AND WAS THE PLACE TO GO ON A SUNDAY. AND OF COURSE, TO GET THERE, SPRECKELS' STREETCAR, AND THAT WAS THE WLE POINT. >> HE HAD SOME BENEVOLENT IDEAS, BUT THEYLWAYS WERE TIED TO HOW HE COULD MAKE MONEY. >> narrator: TO THOSE WHO CRITICIZED HIS MOTIVES, JOHN SPRECKELS REPLIED... >> as Spreckels: I'M A BUSINESSMAN, NOT A SANTA CLAUS, NOR A DAMNED FOOL. >> narrator: HIS INVESTMENTS IN SAN DIEGOERE THRIVING. BUT PRIVATELY, JOHN'S HEALTH WAS FAILING. LEFT HIM UNABLE TO EAT. HE WAS BEDRIDDEN AND CLOSE TO DEATH WHEN, IN APRIL 1906, THE UNTHINKABLE OCCURRED. THE SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE OF 1906 LEFT SPRECKELS' HOME AND BUSINESSES IN RUS. SPRECKELS MOVED LILLIE, HIS YOUNGER SON, TWO DAUGHTERS, AND EIR FAMILIES SOUTH TO SAN DIEGO, TO LIVE IN THE HOTEL DEL CORONADO. THE CHANGE SEEMED TO BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO JOHN. HE REGAINED HIS HEALTH AND DECIDED TO MAKE CORONADO HIS PERMANENT HOME. HE BUILT THE FAMY HOME USING STEEL-REINFORCED CONCRETE TO WITHSTAND THE STRONGEST EARTHQUAKE. FROM THAT POINT ON, ALL SPRECKEL BUILDINGS WERE CONSTRUCTED IN THIS MANN. IN PUBLIC, JOHN SPRECKELS APPEARED STERN AND ALOOF. BUT IN PRIVATE, HE WAS A DEVOTED FAMILY MAN WITH A SENSE OF FUN AND GOOD HUMOR THAT HIS GRANDCHILDREN ADORED. THE TURN OF THE CENTURY WAS AN EXCITING TIME FOR SPRECKELS, FOR THEORLD WAS FINALLY NOTICING SAN DIEGO. THE MILITARY CHOSE SAN DIEGO AS THEIR PACIFIC PORT. THE PANAMA CANAL WAS UNDER CONSTRUCTION, AND SAN DIEGO WOULD BE THE FIRST WE COAST AMERICAN PORT FOR SHS SSING THROUGH THE CANAL. IN THE IMPERIAL VALLEY, EAST OF SAN DIEGO, AGRICULTURE WAS BLOSMING INTO A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE REGIONAL ECONOMY. THE PROSPECT OF A RAIL LINK MORE FEASIBLE THAN EVER. AND EDWARD H. HARRIMAN, RAIL TYCOON AND PRESIDENT OF SOUTHERN PACIFIC-- ONE OF AMERICA'S LARGEST AND MOST INFLUENTIAL RAILROAD COMPANIES--HAD HIS EYE ON THE DEVELOPING SITUATION. >> Hofsommer: SOUTHERN PACIFIC, AS EARLY AS 1902, DEVELOPED AN INTEREST IN LOWER CALIFORNIA, SPECIFICALLY SAN DIEGO. ON THE SCENE BY 1902 WAS EDWARD HARRIMAN. HARRIMAN WAS NOTHING IF HWASN'T A BUILDER, AND SO HE LOOKED INTO THIS POSSIBILITY, TOO-- BUILDING A LINE EAST FROM SAN DIEGO. >> narrator: HARRIMAN WENT TO THE ONE MAN WHO COULD HELP HIM, THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN SAN DIEGO: JOHN SPRECKELS. >> HARRIMAN APPARENTLY ASKSPRECKELS TO HIS AGENT, IN A SENSE, IN DOING THIS. PROBABLY THE REASON SIMPLY IS THAT THE POLITICAL CLIMATE FROM THE 1890s, EARLY 20th CENTURY IN CIFORNIA WAS SO HOSTILE TO RAILROADS AND PARTICULARLY TO THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD AS THE GREAT MONOPOLY, THE OCTOPUS THAT STRANGLED PEOPLE LARGE AND SMALL.