The historic 1884 Santa Ysabel, Calif., General Store, an iconic landmark in rural San Diego County, is reopening October 6 with an innovative dual purpose. Now being restored, the store will combine a unique emporium brimming with heirloom and artisanal foodstuffs, back-to-nature gifts, wares for home and garden, and books and guides for the naturalist or cultural tourist, with a new Backcountry Visitor Center focused on public trails, birds and wildlife, recreational opportunities and cultural heritage sites.
Free and open to the public, Santa Ysabel General Store and Visitor Center will be open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday through Sunday. The General Store’s October 6-7 opening weekend coincides with the annual Apple Days Festival in nearby Julian and an Open Studios tour organized by the Julian Arts Guild. For more information, contact SOHO at 619 297-9327 or visit sohosandiego.org or julianca.com.
The General Store, located at the site of a well-traveled crossroads in a 19th-century ranching town where California State Highways 78 and 79 meet, had been in business as a mercantile for more than 80 years before seeing a variety of uses in the past three decades. It is an updated version of the traditional central source of food and essential items for farmers, families, and travelers. Instead of huge burlap sacks of flour, corn and grain heaped on the floor, today’s visitors will find attractive, pantry-sized packages from heritage and organic food producers. Instead of agricultural tools and supplies, there will be heirloom seeds and bulbs, do-it-yourself kits for making cheeses and craft beers, and specialty honeys, pickled vegetables and preserves put up in micro batches by food artisans.
Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO), San Diego County’s historic preservation group, is the building’s new owner and steward, responsible for the faithful restoration and reuse of a formerly closed and deteriorating store and social hub. Dozens of SOHO volunteers helped clean, repair and paint the General Store earlier this year.
“Rural 19th-century ideals and practices have come back to the future in the 21st century,” says Alana Coons, SOHO’s education and communications director. “We see this in the widespread popularity of and pride in DIY projects, organic gardening, handmade wares and artisanal provisions. The new Santa Ysabel General Store reflects this trend, with an emphasis on quality goods produced with the farm-to-table ethic. As a community partner, we are carving out a niche that will not compete with the area’s existing businesses and galleries, but is designed instead to complement them.”
Other Attractions
The nonprofit SOHO is also the operator of the nearby, newly restored Warner-Carrillo Ranch House, Stage Station and Trading Post. The gateway to California for hundreds of thousands of settlers and Gold Rush prospectors, the long-endangered adobe ranch house, barn and trading post make up one of San Diego County’s nationally significant historic sites.
“Day trippers can easily visit the General Store and Warner-Carrillo Ranch in a leisurely outing that they may want to cap off with apple pie, wine tasting at one of the many local wineries or a seasonal, organic dinner at Jeremy’s on the Hill or any of the many other fine restaurants cropping up in the back country,” Coons says.
The new Visitor Center within the store offers maps, guidebooks, practical gear, binoculars and scopes, and information for hikers, mountain bikers, bird watchers, and other nature enthusiasts. It is staffed by knowledgeable members of San Diego County land and nature conservancies. The headwaters for the San Diego and San Dieguito Rivers originate near Santa Ysabel, so the focus on these regional watersheds is a natural fit for the Visitor Center.
Pin It
