'Rare Trees, Sacred Canyons': La Jolla Historical Society exhibit looks at the people behind the pines

The Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve is a 1,500-acre protected area in north La Jolla.

Jan. 28, 2023 12:29 PM PT

The Torrey pine is a rarity in the tree world, and an upcoming La Jolla Historical Society exhibit looks at the people who stood by it and rallied to preserve the trees and the land they stand on.

“Rare Trees, Sacred Canyons: Torrey Pines — San Diego’s Symbol of Preservation” chronicles important events in the history of what is known today as the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, a 1,500-acre protected area in north La Jolla. It also brings to light lesser-known efforts to save North America’s rarest tree from extinction on the San Diego coast — one of only two places in the world where it grows in its natural habitat (the other is Santa Rosa Island off Santa Barbara).

The exhibit opens Saturday, Feb. 11, at Wisteria Cottage on Prospect Street in La Jolla.

The opening falls on the centennial of the completion of Torrey Pines Lodge, a gift from La Jolla philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps in February 1923. Scripps is considered one of the many stewards of the area over the years.

“Ellen Browning Scripps played a pivotal role in saving the Torrey Pines reserve and she provided the funding for the Torrey Pines Lodge, so having the exhibition near her former house [what is now the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego on Prospect Street] made sense,” said Peter Jensen, exhibit co-curator with photographer John Durant.

La Jolla philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps (center) played a key role in establishing a Torrey pines park.

Celebrating Scripps and the other advocates who fought for the reserve, the exhibition — designed by Laurie Dietter — features paintings, postcards, photographs and documents, coupled with historical timelines, stories and “oddities” of the Torrey pines and the local park in which they grow, Jensen said.

“We thought it was a good opportunity to tell how the park came to be and the citizen action involved to make that happen,” Jensen said. “This was not some government agency that stepped in; the park has a long legacy of citizen action. We hope the takeaway is a deeper appreciation for the park in terms of how it has been stewarded, from the Kumeyaay of thousands of years ago to the modern caregivers.”

A reserve is a protected area targeted for conservation of threatened plants, animals, habitats or unique geological formations and carries with it restrictions not found in other parks, according to the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve website, torreypine.org.

Other advocates included scientist Charles Parry — namesake of the Parry Grove — who explored the reserve area in the 1850s in search of coal and “an unusual pine” that was rumored to be there.

“He was disappointed by not finding the usable coal but was thrilled to find a species of pine that had not been scientifically identified before,” Jensen said.

Notes and other documentation from Parry’s journals will be included in the exhibition.

By the 1900s, with people using the area to camp, cut firewood and collect holiday decorations, the need to protect the trees became more prevalent than ever. Local residents created an organization with the intent of preserving the area that housed “America’s rarest conifer,” and the group paid for signs and fought for the city of San Diego to designate the area as a park.

“San Diegans came alive and realized this place is special … not just because of its rarity and beauty, but it became a gateway to the city,” Jensen said. “The history of Torrey Pines is people stepping up like that.”

The exhibit will feature the tales of people who protected the park from planned development that would have put roads and other infrastructure in the reserve. It also pays homage to the docents who patrol the area daily to keep it in picturesque form.

“The docents are there every day weeding invasive species to protect native species like the wildflowers, so if you go and can appreciate some of the flowers there, that’s because of the docents,” Jensen said. “This exhibit celebrates this citizen action.”

The Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve is one of only two places where the Torrey pine grows in its natural habitat.

The pieces on view will include paintings and drawings by artists who found inspiration at the reserve and used it to raise awareness and enthusiasm for the space.

“Nature inspires art and art helps us appreciate nature,” Jensen said. “Art is at the forefront of introducing the beauty of a place. [In the exhibition] you’ll see a collection of historic and modern art from artists that have depicted Torrey Pines over the years.”

Among them are early California Impressionist painter Alfred Mitchell, whose work has not been seen publicly in years; Tsuyoshi Matsumoto, who lived in La Jolla in the last decade of his life and made it his mission to create art based on the Torrey pine; sculptor and watercolorist James Hubbell, who did hundreds of paintings at the reserve; postcards from across the decades; and more.

The park now known as the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve was a popular destination for outdoor oil-painting classes.

“The hope is that two kinds of people will appreciate the show: the ones that know everything about the reserve, or think they do, that can still discover more; and those that don’t know the reserve very well,” Jensen said.

La Jolla Historical Society Executive Director Lauren Lockhart said she has learned “a tremendous amount about the reserve” from the show.

“I’ve hiked the reserve and appreciate the beauty but didn’t recognize the history of threats it has experienced and the community of people who have cared for it and made sure it is preserved as this beautiful wild space,” she said.

“We hope people will always walk away with a better understanding of our history and what that might contribute to a broader context. We hope they might pay attention to other wild spaces and wonder how your advocacy might preserve those spaces.”

The collection helps “tell the story of how the site has been a source of inspiration for hundreds of years,” Lockhart added. “It’s an interesting range from painting and watercolor to pen and ink drawings and notebooks that are really special.”