Druding Park, Named after Frank A. Druding
By: John F. Druding Jr.
Did you know there is a park in California named after the Drudings? It is called “Druding Park” in the City of San Jacinto, CA, near LA. It was named after Frank A. Druding, who was born in 1854 in Philadelphia, his parents being German born.
He was a jeweler by trade, coming to California alone in 1895, at 41 years old. He ranched on the mesa for some time, finally selling out and going to Vosburg, CA. He was a Shriner, a member of the local Eastern Star, the Masons and also of the Knights Templar or Riverside. In 1906, at the age of 52, he survived a train wreck in which train cars flipped over and landed in a pond, flooding with water. He escaped with only bruises and cuts on his legs.
According to his Obituary, he was “one of those lovable and honest souls that made the earth richer for their being in it”. His obituary goes on to say: “Separated far from all blood-kin he may to some have seemed at times very much alone, but he knew that the whole valley called him “friend” that he was loved by all and by none more SO than the little children, many of whom called him “‘Drudy.”
The city of San Jacinto named the park after him in 1926 at the request of the local Mason chapter.
Knowing the majority of the Drudings are in the Philly area, when I stumbled upon “Druding Park” I got wondering how the heck we wound up with a park named after us in California. I was able to figure all this out via old newspaper clippings and records, and was able to map him into our family tree. Frank is my 2nd cousin, 4x removed.
Druding 