The late 19th century was a transformative time in San Diego. The arrival of the transcontinental railroad and a wave of real estate speculation sparked great changes to the character of downtown. Those who walk through the Gaslamp Quarter can see many historic old buildings that were built in the 1880s.
One of those historic buildings is the Hubbell Building, located at 813-823 Fifth Avenue. Its construction began in 1886 and was completed in 1887.
Yesterday, while walking through the Gaslamp Quarter, I realized that, after almost 13 years of blogging about San Diego, I’ve never taken photos of the Hubbell Building.
So here we go…
A plaque near the front door reads:
The Hubbell Building, 1886
The Hubbell Building is a three-story brick building constructed in the Victorian style. The lower floor has been used mainly for retail, particularly clothing stores. Some of the more notable shops were The Arcade, specializing in ladies’ fancy goods, City of Paris Clothing, and George Marston’s Gentleman’s Furnishings. Marston’s was very successful in San Diego, and operated here until it moved into its own building next door. The upper floors were leased to the Grand Army of the Republic from 1904 to 1926.
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The Bonita Museum has had some huge changes in the past year. A bunch of cool public art has appeared outside the museum, including the striking blue building exterior! I enjoyed seeing it all a few days ago.
I’ve already posted photographs of two works of public art by the museum’s parking lot: the WR This Cats Smarthorse sculpture that debuted in 2021, and the Inner Strength sculpture, which debuted earlier this year.
The Inner Strength sculpture was created by Chula Vista artist Michael Leaf. He is also responsible for the new blue museum exterior composed of differently cut aluminum panels, whose appearance is transformed as the day’s light changes. This unique building “skin” was created with special paint that changes hues. It’s appropriately titled Chameleon IT.
Some photographs on a fairly sunny day…
Michael Leaf has also contributed these two unusual seats, which he designed and built. They seem to be erupting vertically with energy. They’re titled Communication Chairs…
And he created this happy sculpture: Lead with Your heART!
At the southeast edge of Old Town San Diego State Historic Park stands a building with a very interesting history. Beginning in 1908 as St. Joseph’s Rectory in downtown San Diego, it was moved to Old Town in 1940 where it became Old Town Convent.
Today, Historic Tours of America (Old Town Trolley Tours) operates a gift shop inside. The building contains one part of their Old Town Market, along with the adjacent Casa De Aguirre and Carriage House. The second floor is home to a Visitor Center operated by the Old Town Chamber of Commerce.
This website explains: Originally built as the Saint Joseph’s rectory at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Beech Street in downtown, the building was moved through the streets to Old Town San Diego in 1940. Once in Old Town San Diego, the building was a seminary, convent, community center, and, during World War II, it was a USO. The building was restored in 2003 by Historic Tours of America and is registered as San Diego Historical Site Number 323.
The photos I’ve included were taken at various times over recent years.
Visitors who walk through the front entrance will discover a display that tells The Story of The Old Town Convent, in the words of Sister Catherine Louise LaCoste in the early 1980s…
…a three-story edifice known today as the Convent of the Community of the Holy Spirit… The Convent soon became the permanent quarters for the first diocesan junior seminary, called St. Francis, when eight young men moved in on November 3, 1941… Plaster soon covered the wooden structure…
…During World War II, in 1942, a group of soldiers was quartered in the basement. They prepared meals for the anti-aircraft and searchlight batteries located in the area…
…the Religious of the Sacred Heart came to San Diego to open a College for Women, now known as the University of San Diego. The sisters were given the building to use as a rent-free convent that they called St. Madeleine Sophie Barat…
In front of the building is a sign that shows a timeline of Old Town’s history. It includes this:
Curious visitors might spy this interesting plaque on one wall, too…
This exhibit exposes the original redwood clapboard siding of the Convent when it was St. Joseph’s Rectory, built in 1908. The Craftsman-style structure also featured wood shingle siding on the upper stories. When the three-story building was moved to this site in 1940 it was surfaced with stucco and painted to match the exterior of the Immaculate Conception Church across the street.
One other plaque I’ve found…
Old Town Convent Preservation
The restoration and preservation of the Old Town Convent was made possible largely due to the efforts of Carmen and Joe Toigo, Old Town residents, who by their tireless actions and advocacy saved this building from destruction.
May 2003 Historic Tours of America, Inc.
The adjacent Casa de Aguirre, with its own unique history, contains a small, little-known museum that might interest you. You can find a blog post I published about it by clicking here.
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Most visitors to Balboa Park never see this historical building. It’s situated in the southwest corner of the park, in an area called Marston Point. People who drive to the south end of Balboa Drive will see the building sitting alone behind a fence.
There’s a reason the Fire Alarm Building sits safely in isolation on a bluff overlooking downtown. When it operated between 1928 and 1970, it was the hub where signals telegraphed from the city’s many fire boxes were received, and communications made to appropriate fire stations.
The Fire Alarm Building was built in 1927. It was designed in the Spanish Colonial style by architect Robert Snyder. Snyder often collaborated with his partner William Templeton Johnson, who a year earlier designed the San Diego Fine Arts Museum, near the center of Balboa Park.
In 1928, to equip the Fire Alarm Building, the City of San Diego purchased over $20,000 worth of fire alarm communications equipment from the Gamewell Company of Newton Upper Falls, Massachusetts… There were three rows of tape-punching telegraph registers arranged on marble-topped tables. They were linked to the city’s fire alarm and police alarm boxes… A coded signal locating the particular alarm box was punched onto the register’s tape readout. The operator then read the coded message and set up the location of the alarm box on a master transmitter and sent a signal to all of the fire department’s fire engine stations throughout the city, ringing bells and turning on station lights. When selective transmissions were later installed, only those stations within the area of the fire would receive the alarm. This was affectionately known as the “silent night” program by grateful firefighters.
Today, the Fire Alarm Building is home to San Diego’s Park & Recreation Department Administrative Services section. Peer through the fence and you’ll see the handsome Spanish Colonial inspired entrance and a beautiful little garden area.
I took these photographs during many walks through Marston Point. They’ve been sitting in a computer folder. Time to share them!
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This picturesque building stands in downtown San Diego’s historic Chinatown, the Asian Pacific Thematic Historic District. It’s the 1911 Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association building.
According to this webpage : The building site at 428 Third Avenue has an association with the Chinese community going back to the early days of Chinatown. In 1883 the land and structures were removed and a Taoist temple was built. On 1880’s Sanborn maps, this building was constructed and occupied by the Gee Goon Tong (Chee Kung Tong), known for helping to plot Dr. Sun Yet-Sens’s revolution and founding of the Republic of China.
Curious? Follow the above link for much more history.
A historical plaque near the entrance is now barely readable…
The original tenants of the two-story, Oriental theme structure were the Gee Goon Tong, famous for their help in plotting the 1912 revolution, which formed the Republic of China. The Benevolent Society was founded in 1920 as an outgrowth of the Tong, to serve the Chinese community.
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I absolutely love this exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Art!
Local artists have reimagined the Spanish Colonial Revival façade of the museum, an iconic landmark in the heart of Balboa Park.
The exhibition in Gallery 6 is titled Local Visions: Reimagining the Façade. What a perfect way to help celebrate the SDMA Centennial! The art is on view through July 26, 2026.
Perhaps you recognize some of these names. I personally recall photographing street art created by two of the artists. To see art that Hilary Dufour painted in Pacific Beach, click here. To see the distinctive art of Mary Jhun all around San Diego, click here.
Here are a few examples of the San Diego Museum of Art’s reimagined façade…
Sunday in Balboa Park, by artist Annie Holley.SDMA 100, by artist Brandon Palma.Golden Hour at The San Diego Museum of Art, by artist Stefanie Bales.The Spaces Between, by artist Hilary Dufour.Genius Loci: The Spirit of a Place, by artist Mary Jhun.Colors: Reimagining the Façade with Color, by artist Susan Stone.
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The potential of human creativity is celebrated in a fantastic exhibition in La Jolla.
Art that was created by practical designers is now being showcased inside the Wisteria Cottage, which operates as the museum of the La Jolla Historical Society. The exhibition is titled Space Maker.
Very technical designers–such as architects–often enhance their work with artistic practices. Space Maker explores this fusion. It includes the work of many local visionaries, including the likes of Robert Irwin, Eugene Ray and Sim Bruce Richards.
You’ll be surprised by the range of work in the exhibition: from visual art that is puzzle-like or oddly geometric, to futuristic blueprints, to stained glass that appears 3-dimensional, to textile artwork featuring complex patterns . . .
It’s hard to describe everything you’ll encounter–it’s so very diverse. But that’s the genius of creativity, right?
Two sculptures standing outside of the Wisteria Cottage are also part of the exhibition. I posted photos of them earlier today.
I recommend a visit. But you have one more week. Space Maker inside the Wisteria Cottage continues through June 7, 2026.
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There’s a Taco Bell in San Diego so tiny you might drive past it without noticing. The building is so small you have stand beside it and bend over just to have a good look!
The miniature building is located next to a regular-size Taco Bell at the corner of University Avenue and College Avenue. Look for this oddity between the drive-thru and parking lot. You’ll see a model of the original Taco Bell that stood at this location from 1965 to 2008.
Longtime San Diego residents might remember the first incarnation of the fast food restaurant, which attracted customers with its distinctive sign and Mission style architecture.
A plaque at the base of the mini Taco Bell reads:
In Commemoration of Taco Bell #15 1965-2008
The 1st Taco Bell in San Diego
Thank you! Glen and Marty Bell
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A remodel of the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center building has altered the visitor experience. The main entrance and lobby are now near the old IMAX theater lobby. The museum’s original entrance has been repurposed, turning it into new gallery space.
In addition, the Fleet Science Center’s café will soon be enlarged. Once the café reopens, there will still be outdoor dining, plus a dedicated spot where visitors can purchase always super popular soft serve ice cream.
I ventured inside the remodeled museum yesterday…
The spacious new lobby and front desk…
Looking to my left, there are displays and images on a temporary partition. Somewhere beyond it will be the enlarged café. (Not sure about a gift shop. Forgot to ask.)
After moving through much of the museum, I peeked into the original lobby, which is currently roped off. It will become new gallery space.
The new main entrance to the Fleet Science Center is where that blue canopy is. What do you think?
UPDATE!
I got a photo of the new café shortly before it opened…
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Perhaps you’ve seen this old plaque in downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp Square, steps from the Gaslamp trolley station. It memorializes Christopher J. Mortenson, who was a pioneer in the 1980s revitalization of the Gaslamp Quarter, today a National Historic District.
Who was Christopher John Mortenson?
This link to his Find a Grave page describes a man who was an architect and developer in San Diego, where he was also known as a generous philanthropist. He was associated with many Gaslamp District landmarks including the Ingle Building (Golden Lion Tavern), the Krasne Building and the Pioneer Building at Fifth and K Street in San Diego. He also restored the Marston Building at Fifth and C, and the Abbey Restaurant.
He is also known for ferrying the 1887 Victorian house “Baby Del” by barge from Sherman Heights to Coronado. To see photos of the Baby Del, which resembles a small version of the Hotel del Coronado, click here.
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