Description
The Anthony F. Sonka Papers (1906-1972) document Sonka's business activities in Lemon Grove, including his role with the Lemon Grove Chamber of Commerce.
Of particular interest is an anecdote of the famous Hatfield Flood (1916) in the Tony Sonka Day file, and Sonka's involvement
with the installment of Lemon Grove's giant lemon. Arranged alphabetically, the collection includes correspondence, photographs,
golf score cards, membership cards, a Padres ticket from 1947, and personal writings. The majority of material dates from
the 1930s.
Background
Anthony Sonka and his family moved to Lemon Grove in 1907. His father purchased Lemon Grove's original general store shortly
thereafter. In 1909, upon Sonka's father's death, Sonka and his brothers took over the general store, renaming it Sonka Brothers
General Mechandise. The store served residents in Lemon Grove, La Mesa, Spring Valley, and Jamul. During this time, Sonka
also served as postmaster. He later became an active member of the Lemon Grove Chamber of Commerce, and was partially responsible
to installing the giant lemon on Main Street. In 1945, the brothers sold the general store. Sonka passed away in 1974.
Restrictions
The copyright interests in these materials have not been transferred to San Diego State University. Copyright resides with
the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of historical archival and manuscript collections
is such that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine. Requests for permission to publish must be
submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted, permission
is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission
of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are made available
for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including
but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.
Availability
This collection is open for research.