Five powerful Marvel superheroes have arrived in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter! These members of the Avengers are assembling in time for upcoming Comic-Con 2026!
Check out these sidewalk advertisements for Magic the Gathering.
Marvel Super Heroes are featured in action poses. I see Black Widow, Hulk, Black Panther, Iron Man and Thor!
…
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
Walking in downtown and Coronado today, I found many signs that NASCAR is racing in San Diego all weekend!
It’s NASCAR’s first time in San Diego–at Naval Air Station North Island to be exact–and you could tell people were excited.
The Coronado ferry was packed to the gills. Race fans were wearing shirts and gear representing their favorite drivers. The Goodyear blimp was overhead. Shops and bars were welcoming those who’d come to see some of the world’s best drivers race a wild and woolly course on the Navy base!
As the Sunday race action came nearest downtown and Coronado, it almost sounded like an F-18 roaring its high powered takeoff from North Island!
I took these photos while walking around…
…
To follow my blog, find the “Follow” box in this website’s sidebar. Or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
(If you’re viewing this on a phone, open my website’s sidebar by tapping those three parallel lines at the top of the page.)
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.
…
To follow my blog, find the “Follow” box in this website’s sidebar. Or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
(If you’re viewing this on a phone, open my website’s sidebar by tapping those three parallel lines at the top of the page.)
Yesterday, when I shared photos of the original stained glass windows of the Gaslamp Quarter’s 1906 Ingle Building, it occurred to me I’ve never photographed the full mural on the south side of the building. I don’t know its exact history, but I do know the fading artwork existed when the Hard Rock Café was located here.
After reading the historical plaque, I believe this mural might retain elements of an original one decorating the outer wall that depicted the camaraderie found in the Golden Lion during the early years of the Gaslamp Quarter. “Rooms each $2.50” and the painted stained glass suggest a time prior to the Hard Rock Café.
If you know more about this mural, such as its history and who painted it, leave a comment!
…
To follow my blog, find the “Follow” box in this website’s sidebar. Or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
(If you’re viewing this on a phone, open my website’s sidebar by tapping those three parallel lines at the top of the page.)
I’ve always admired the elaborate stained glass windows of the building that now houses the Mad House Comedy Club & Restaurant. They appear to be antique.
Well, I paused during a walk to read the building’s historical plaque and learned these stained glass windows along Fourth Avenue are original and date from 1906. Back then the bottom floor of this, the Ingle Building, was home to the Golden Lion Tavern.
The historical plaque reads:
For many years, the bottom floor of this building was known as the Golden Lion Tavern, its legacy still evident in the original lion sculptures near the entrance and along the outer walls. The stained glass windows on Fourth Avenue and some of the flooring are original as well. In 1980, the second floor was destroyed by fire. During its reconstruction, a salvaged glass dome, originally created for the Elks Club in San Francisco in 1906, was installed. The replicated mural on the outer wall depicts the camaraderie found in the Golden Lion during the early years of the Gaslamp Quarter.
During that recent morning walk, when the comedy club was closed, I saw no evidence of lions or a mural concerning the early years of the Gaslamp. There is an outside mural that remains from those years when the building was home to the Hard Rock Cafe.
One day I’ll have to venture inside and look around.
…
To follow my blog, find the “Follow” box in this website’s sidebar. Or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
(If you’re viewing this on a phone, open my website’s sidebar by tapping those three parallel lines at the top of the page.)
The Golden Era was a literary newspaper that originated in San Francisco in 1852. It was notable for publishing pieces by renowned Western authors like Mark Twain and Bret Harte.
In 1887 the periodical, then a monthly magazine, was brought by James Harrison Wagner to downtown San Diego. It occupied the first floor of a building that stands at 919 Fourth Avenue in today’s Gaslamp Quarter. Much of its focus then would concern the development of San Diego and the West in the late 19th century.
A historical plaque describes the Lawyer’s Block Building, 1889.
Before its completion, 20 spaces of this building’s second floor were rented to some of early San Diego’s best known lawyers, making this an unofficial headquarters for litigators. The first floor had a more literary history. In 1889 it housed the West Coast’s pioneer illustrated literary periodical, Golden Era. The San Diego Union also had its offices here, with printing presses in the basement.
…
To follow my blog, find the “Follow” box in this website’s sidebar. Or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
(If you’re viewing this on a phone, open my website’s sidebar by tapping those three parallel lines at the top of the page.)
A great exhibition opened earlier this month at the Gaslamp Museum in the historic Davis-Horton House. San Diego’s First People is the name of the exhibition. It’s presented by the Sycuan Cultural Resource Center and Museum.
Artifacts and a series of displays detail the history, life and culture of the Kumeyaay people, who inhabited the San Diego and surrounding region thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans.
Visitors also learn how the resilient Kumeyaay people thrive today, while maintaining their cultural identity through oral traditions, songs and ceremonies.
This special exhibition continues through May 30, 2026. Click here for more information!
It looks like I’ll be missing Cinco de Mayo events this year. Too busy with work. So I figured: why not revisit past Cinco de Mayo festivals around San Diego?
Here we go!
Click the upcoming links to enjoy several past blog posts!
Click the following links for many more photographs…
Photographs of Cinco de Mayo in the Gaslamp!
Photos of Escondido’s Cinco de Mayo!
Colorful fun at Old Town’s Cinco de Mayo!
Photos of Cinco de Mayo fiesta in Old Town!
Photos of Cinco de Mayo in Balboa Park!
…
To follow my blog, find the “Follow” box in this website’s sidebar. Or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
(If you’re viewing this on a phone, open my website’s sidebar by tapping those three parallel lines at the top of the page.)
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.
…
To follow my blog, find the “Follow” box in this website’s sidebar. Or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
(If you’re viewing this on a phone, open my website’s sidebar by tapping those three parallel lines at the top of the page.)
It’s the morning of Opening Day for the San Diego Padres, and the excitement has begun!
Reporters are in the Gaslamp Quarter commentating and interviewing fans. The Ben and Woods sports radio show is broadcasting from Baja Rick’s to a crowd of Padres fans!
Let’s go Pads! Beat the Detroit Tigers!
