For 75 cents in La Jolla’s early history you could jump on a train from downtown San Diego and come out to enjoy a leading tourist attraction of the time “” rocks! Two rock formations, in particular, were considered prime landmark sights and were widely photographed. One was Alligator Head at the Cove ” a giant, broad-snouted crocodilian piece of sandstone that jutted into the sea and remained for many years before waves crashed it to bits in midcentury. The other “” and, perhaps, most fascinating because it only existed as a tourist attraction for a few years before toppling into extinction in 1906 ” was Cathedral Rock.
Cathedral Rock stood on the shoreline at the foot of the present-day Casa de Maãana. It was monumental, a gigantic chunk of sandstone isolated unto itself with the eternal sea an endless blue beyond. Those who stood at its base to be photographed were entirely dwarfed. No one knows who named it “Cathedral,” but its resemblance to the medieval mass of Old World churches was beyond doubt. Most intriguing was the central arch, carved out over millennia by crashing waves and, mysteriously, suggestive of the profile of Queen Victoria in silhouette.
Around the world even today there are probably old trunks hidden away with photographs of wayward travelers pictured in the silhouette with their figures over-awed by the natural wonder they are taking in.
The photographic collection at the La Jolla Historical Society includes an extraordinary group on Cathedral Rock. Among the outstanding is a large colored photograph taken by Elite Studio, a San Diego-based operation from the turn-of””the-century that specialized in tourist attractions around the city. It shows the landmark surrounded by a pale lavender blue sea and sky. Many of the photographs have been long-removed from old family Kodak albums, including one that belonged to W.A. Scripps. A favorite shows a diminutive Ethel Johnson in a long black skirt and white blouse standing in the Queen Victoria silhouette in 1900.
Early La Jolla residents George and Clara String took photographs with Cathedral Rock on several occasions. Mr. String was a gifted photographer in addition to being the assistant La Jolla postmaster. He photographed Clara in a unique black and white study as she gazes out to sea. His own picture, probably taken by Clara, depicts him in profile with the Queen Victoria arch.
Today, we are left with little doubt but that early La Jollans and tourists alike took great delight in photographing Cathedral Rock and recorded it for posterity forever. The rock, itself, fell into the sea during a severe January storm of 1906. Shortly thereafter, Leopold Hugo, La Jolla’s first professional photographer who had a small studio first on Girard and later on Prospect Street, took a dramatic picture of frothy waves beating against the remains of the base. Worth the proverbial thousand words, the picture makes a powerful and simple statement: Cathedral Rock is no more; the ocean again has claimed it.
” “Reflections” is a monthly column written for the La Jolla Village News by the La Jolla Historical Society’s historian Carol Olten. The Society, dedicated to the preservation of La Jolla heritage, is located at 7846 Eads Ave. and is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
