A.M. Bert Pettenger was a stage driver in 1905. This photo from 1968 finds him going strong at age 92. After the stage business folded he later owned a hamburger stand at the corner of Osos and Marsh streets. ©The Tribune
Elliot Curry told the story in the Telegram-Tribune March 22, 1968:
Auto killed San Simeon run
Pettenger’s short-lived stage line
Two young fellows from Iowa stopped at the Commercial Hotel in San Luis Obispo one day in 1905 on their way from Sacramento to San Diego.
They learned at the hotel that the stage line from San Luis Obispo to San Simeon was for sale, and the upshot of it was they took over the business.
One of those men was A.M. (Bert) Pettenger, 474 Pacific St., San Luis Obispo, who next month will celebrate his 92nd birthday. His partner was John Sigler.
The Sigler-Pettenger stage line had two surreys, one leaving San Luis Obispo at 8 a.m. each day and the other starting from San Simeon. They met and passed at Cayucos.
The stage out of San Luis Obispo had stops at the Cienega store and Morro Bay before reaching Cayucos about 11:30 a.m. for a half-hour lunch stop. The stage carried the mail and at that time the Morro Bay post office was in a private home. Pettenger recalled one time when he had just one letter in the Morro Bay pouch.
The stage reached Cambria at 2:30 p.m. and got to San Simeon by 5 p.m. for the overnight stop.
On several occasions Mrs. Phoebe Apperson Hearst rode the stage to San Simeon, where the Hearst ranch was already a well established institution.
The stage started from San Luis Obispo with a heavy team as loads were apt to be the heaviest from here to Cayucos. At Cayucos, horses were changed and a lighter team made the upper part of the drive.
About the time that Pettenger and Sigler were just getting established in their new business, however, a new hazard appeared on the road—the automobile.
By 1906, auto owners had become so bold that they under-bid the horse-drawn stages for the mail contract and a new era of transportation was born.
Pettenger is retired now, but still agile and fit. To a more recent generation the is known as the founder of Dad’s hamburger stand, which flourished under his direction in the days of World War II. His son, Lloyd, has long operated his own hamburger business. [Scrubby and Lloyds]
The Sigler family never got as far as San Diego, either.
Sigler’s son, John, now in his 70s lives in Paso Robles, while his grandson, Jack Sigler, operates a service station at the corner of Santa Rosa and Monterey streets, about a half block form where his grandfather used to climb into the driver’s seat and head for Cambria with the mail and a surrey full of passengers.
Pettenger’s hamburger stand at the corner of Osos and Marsh Streets owned by A.M. (Bert) Pettenger. Later called Dad’s.
Related posts:
This was posted on an another page but I thought it would be useful copied here. Thanks for the correction—DM
***
Dear David Middlecamp,
A friend of mine sent me the article you wrote about my grandfather, Albert Pettenger. I wanted to thank you for printing the article. It was very interesting. I am honored that you printed the story of the stage line from San Luis Obispo up to Cambria being purchased by my grandfather, Albert Pettenger, and John Sigler.
However as I read on in the article, I noticed you gave the credit to my granddad, Albert Pettenger with the first hamburger place on Osos and Marsh Street.
When I worked for my dad, Lloyd Irving Pettenger at his and Scrubby’s little hamburger place, called Scrubby and Lloyds’s, my dad had the same picture on the wall and it was his first hamburger place.
I found another article in the Telegram Tribune which confirmed what I thought.
The picture is in the other article about Scrubby and Lloyd’s and that article says that hamburger place on Osos and Marsh Street was Lloyd Pettenger’s first hamburger place.
This other article in the Telegram Tribune is from 1977, by Kay Reddy. It has a picture of my brother, Lloyd Lee Pettenger, and Scrubby, Zeta Lewis and the picture of Lloyd Irving Pettenger’s first place.
This article sort of explains things. Lloyd Irving Pettenger first built the little hamburger place on Osos and Marsh, in 1933. Then Lloyd Irving Pettenger, went into a partnership with his dad, Albert (Bert) Pettenger on Monterey Street. Then my dad, Lloyd Irving Pettenger built another hambuger cafe on Santa Rosa and called it Hamburger Haven. My grandfather, Albert Pettenger, (Bert) set up another business down on Higuera Street, near Nipomo Street, and he called it Dad’s.
So, again I thank you for printing the article about my granddad, Albert Pettenger. Maybe you would want to clarify the information. There were three generations of hamburger makers, starting with my dad, Lloyd Irving Pettenger , joined later by his dad Albert Pettenger, and then his son Lloyd Lee Pettenger, followed in his foot steps.
Very sincerely, June Elaine( Pettenger) Sylvester
It was so fun seeing and reading about my Uncle Bert Pettenger (“The end of horse and buggy days, the stage from San Luis to San Simeon”). I have heard about the stage coach days since I was a teen.
In fact when I was about 17 yrs old I took a trip with my grandfather and grandmother to San Simeon. My grandfather is the brother of Bert Pettenger and he drove stage for them. We made a stop there and Grandpa told me that when he was driving stage that he took a young bride to San Simeon; he pointed to an old house and said she was to live in that house and “I want to see if she is still there”(as I remember she was, but I don’t remember her name). He also pointed out a small stable that they used.
He most of the time they would undo the team and let them run and that them never lost anyone of the horses.
Grandma said that, “Pappy, used to drive Phoebe Hearst and she would sometimes invite him to stay for a while and tell his stories to whoever was present. She liked your Grandpa.”
I don’t know what his stories were, but both he and my Uncle were interesting men.
One thing I didn”t know was that Uncle Bert was in Iowa. I know that they(Pettenger’s) were both from Illinois.
The picture of Uncle Bert is exactly how I remember him, smile and all.