One of the benefits of membership at Nipomo’s Dana Cultural Center is learning more about South San Luis Obispo County’s history.

Docents will do the research and then share their discoveries at a weekend discussion group or post online. Recently, Docent Board Member, Susan Gray, shared her extensive research about the USS Edith and its ties to Capt. Juan Francisco Dana, the patriarch of the oldest residence in SLO County, built in 1839.

“Many stories have circulated about the Edith,” Gray said, “and the more stories told the better they grow.”

She explained that the ship was built in 1845 by Captain Robert Bennet Forbes, a ship owner, China trade merchant and writer. Forbes contracted famed maritime inventor and engine builder, John Ericsson, to install his latest innovation, the screw steamer, so his ship would out-pace Clipper ships competing with Forbes moving opium from Bombay to China.

When the wind died, steam power would sail the ship. The Edith, named after his daughter, was the first merchant ship to sail from New York to Bombay and China flying the American flag, but Capt. George W. Lewis didn’t understand the new technology and under-utilized her assets, Gray said.

The United States was in the midst of the Mexican-American War, and so the ship was commissioned by the War Department. In 1849, she transferred to the U.S. Navy only to languish in San Francisco’s harbor without a crew.

U.S Navy Lt. James McCormick was assigned to hire a crew, to pick up and transport delegates from Santa Barbara and San Diego to Monterey for the State’s First Constitutional Convention in 1849, in preparation for California to attain statehood. It left San Francisco Aug. 23, 1849, encountered heavy fog during the night, and ran aground.

Some say the crew scattered to the gold fields. A few must have realized they were closer to San Luis Obispo than Santa Barbara and reached the Dana Adobe Rancho, which was reputed to offer hospitality and assistance. “It might have had a crew of 17,” Gray said. But, “Its only passenger was Major R.S. Garnett, the designer of California’s Official Seal. It is said he included the USS Edith on the seal.”

Capt. Dana was a former administrator of the Port of Santa Barbara and was awarded the salvage rights for the Edith’s manifest, but much of it walked away or was given away.

[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”#6B8E23″ class=”” size=””]Family-lore tells of a lavish picnic with Champagne the day after the ship was beached. The only artifact left from the disabled ship is a dining table, prominently displayed and included in the docent-led tours of the Dana Adobe residence. Capt. Dana and his wife, Josefa Carrillo Dana, had 21 children — 13 that survived to adulthood — on the 130-acre rancho after the couple acquired a Mexican land grant.[/pullquote]

The San Luis Obispo Historical Society saved Dana Adobe from demolition, and after that, small group of volunteers — the Dana Adobe Nipomo Amigos — stepped up in 1999 to create a non-profit corporation, secure California Landmark status, and restore and develop a community cultural center. They have achieved these goals and are now working on improvements to what they have re-built.

Annually, 3,000 visitors are guided through the rancho and grounds, and some 1,400 school children are taken on an historical journey back to early California life in the 1800s. They learn about Mexican folkloric dancing the Dana children would have enjoyed, Gray said, tortilla and brick making, how the Dana Family branded the stock and washed their clothing, how a vaquero spent leisure time and tips, to sketching Capt. Dana’s favorite sycamore shade tree near the rancho.

President of the Board of Directors, Rudy Stowell, discussed the grant that will fund a modern structure, scheduled to be completed around end of 2016. The Visitor Center will utilize bilingual graphics, audio, and interactive media with docents to demonstrate the area’s history and today’s regional ecosystems. Also in development is a Nipomo watershed display and interpretive Chumash village.

Showing the proposed rendering of the Visitor Center, Stowell said the grant pays for the structure but the volunteers will need to continue an active membership drive, facility rentals for events like weddings and reunions, gift store sales and fund-raising events to raise the money to finish interior displays, signage and future projects.

From 6-9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18 is the Annual Dana Fiesta, which features Grammy Award winner, Louie Ortega and the All Stars, Rob Espinosa, Greg Smith and Dean Giles. Donations are $25 for the concert and Nipomo Rotary will be cooking and selling beverages.

Contact Executive Director, Marina Washburn, to rent the facility and for group tours. For tickets or more information, see: www.danaadobe.org. The Dana Cultural Center is located at 671 S. Oakglen Ave., Nipomo. Call (805) 929-5679. Docents tours are mid-day Saturdays or Sunday afternoons.

Judy Salamacha’s Then & Now column is special to Tolosa Press. Reach her at: [email protected] or 801-1422.