Program to feature early photos of Hemet, San Jacinto Valley

Dave Sisk will present “A Glimpse Into Yesteryear: Photos from the Hemet/san Jacinto Valley, 1879 to 1959,” showing photos from the Clarence Swift photo collection, when the SAGE Society of Hemet meets Tuesday.

The program will begin at 2 p.m. in the Ramona Room behind Miller-jones Mortuary, 1501 W. Florida Ave., Hemet.

Clarence Swift was a Hemet resident who collected photos from old-timers from the early days of San Jacinto and Hemet. Most of the photographs Sisk will show are from are from the 1880s to the 1930s, according to a news release.

Many of the photos show the wealth of the early days of the area, featuring stately homes, hotels and commercial and public buildings, almost all of which no longer exist, according to the news release.

In his presentation, Sisk will draw attention to overlooked details in the photos and will compare some old photos with what the same areas look like in the present.

The collection also includes photos of people doing farm work, small shops and the earliest railroad in the valley, according to the news release.

Sisk, who taught middle school for more than 30 years, was born in Hemet in 1958. His mother was born Virginia Searl in 1934 in the two-story birthing house near the corner of Kimball Avenue and

Harvard Street, before there was a city hospital. His grandfather Floyd Searl grew up on the Searl farm in Diamond Valley, and his great-grandparents Oliver and Idella Searl were married in the Methodist church in Winchester in 1892.

The public is welcome to attend the free program.

The SAGE (Search for Adventure in Greater Education) Society of Hemet offers a variety of programs at its monthly meetings.