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Lake Henshaw and the Warner Ranch
By Kathryn Fletcher
September/October 2025
Editor’s note: This article includes excerpts from the book Warner Springs Ranch and Its Environs by Joseph J. Hill, and from the Temecula Valley Historical Society Newsletter, Vol. 11, Issue 6, June 2011.
 Henshaw Dam, photographed in 1932. Courtesy Temecula Valley Historical Society |
As long ago as 1869, Judge Benjamin Hayes wrote that no ranch in Southern California was better watered than the Valle de San José, also known as Warner's Ranch. Well before that, early Spanish and American travelers wrote in their diaries of the rich verdure of this huge bowl in a semi-arid plain. By its very topography the region was destined to become a reservoir of water to irrigate thousands of acres lying between it and the Pacific.
In 1911, William G. Henshaw purchased the Warner Ranch land grant from the heirs of former Governor John Downey. Henshaw and his partner Col. Ed Fletcher set plans in motion to construct a dam at the headwaters of the San Luis Rey River. Construction started, but World War I halted the work. After the war, in 1922, Bent Brothers, Inc. of Los Angeles got the contract to build a dam of dirt construction with a concrete shell. The company hired more than 300 men and brought in mules to haul wagons of dirt to fill the site. It also built a large camp for the workers, and hired more men as the dam was constructed.
The cement used to create concrete for the dam came from the Riverside Portland Cement Company, owned by William Henshaw, who also founded the San Diego Water Company. On Christmas morning of 1922, the dam was completed and Lake Henshaw began to rise with winter rains. The reservoir provided irrigation for 50,000 acres of land in San Diego's North County, making possible citrus and avocado groves, plant and flower nurseries, and other crops. Take a drive through Escondido, Valley Center, and Pauma Valley to see the lush results.
The Henshaws sold the San Diego Water Company to the Vista Irrigation District in the 1940s, but kept the Warner Hot Springs Resort in the family until 1975. The Vista Irrigation District also owns the Warner-Carrillo Ranch House Museum and has been instrumental in its restoration, renovation, and ongoing preservation.
Lake Henshaw is a beautiful destination for recreation or sightseeing, especially when combined with a visit to the SOHO-operated Warner-Carrillo Ranch House Museum, open Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4pm. (Find details online). Stop for lunch and enjoy refreshing lake views at the Lake Henshaw Cafe or linger at Josie's Hideout Saloon, both in Santa Ysabel. Or add the cooler heights of Palomar Observatory, a short distance away, to your plans.
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