I discovered these amazing remnants of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park yesterday during a visit to the Cannibals exhibition at the Museum of Us.
A friendly museum employee explained that the south side of the California Quadrangle served as an art gallery during the Panama-California Exposition. He believes that these ornamental touches inside the long, narrow gallery all date from 1915.
If you can provide more information about these discoveries, please leave a comment.
You can find a beautiful sculpted work at the west end of the gallery. It’s mounted above a door that leads into the California Quadrangle’s chapel, which remains separate from the museum gallery. The imagery appears to include explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo’s galleon San Salvador.
A balcony inside the gallery, which is closed to the public, features four cherubic figures which seem to represent artistic creation…
At the east end of the gallery you’ll find this amazing (now waterless) fountain. It’s near steps that ascend to the closed balcony. Beautiful tiles frame it.
APIΣTON MEN ‘ΥΔΩP in Greek translates “Water is best.”
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History is being made today in Balboa Park at the Municipal Gymnasium! A large cold cast bronze panel (in two halves) is being installed above the building’s entrance.
The ornamental panel reproduces a long lost temporary panel that was created for the building in 1935 when it served as the Palace of Electricity and Varied Industries for the California Pacific International Exposition.
You can learn more about this historic project undertaken by the Balboa Park Committee of 100 and see an old photo of the original panel by visiting this past blog post and this past blog post.
Here’s the first half of the panel going up by crane!
UPDATE!
Later in the day, the second half of the panel arrived! I learned together the two halves weigh about 2 and a half tons!
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I noticed today that the demolition of downtown San Diego’s historic California Theatre building is underway. A crew was cleaning out the interior of the long vacant building.
It’s hard to believe the once-elegant 1927 building has stood neglected (directly next to the Civic Center) since 1990.
The California Theatre in its heyday was called the “Cathedral of the Motion Picture.” Its beautiful old marquee and exterior decoration have mostly vanished. Graffiti and broken windows have been an eye sore for years.
The Prebys Foundation purchased the property in July and are having the condemned structure removed. Hopefully this leads to a revitalization of downtown’s C Street corridor.
In 2013 I took photos of the large Caliente advertising mural on the building’s west side. That was before it became defaced. See those past photographs here.
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Ernest Born was a notable California architect who did much of his work in San Francisco. He spent his later years living in San Diego.
In ink, chalk, pastel, and pencil, Ernest Born sketched impressive Romanesque and Gothic style Medieval buildings that he observed in Europe during several trips abroad in the 1920s. Over twenty pieces are on display. They’re on loan from the University of San Diego.
Visitors to the Timken can clearly see Born’s passion for this architecture and his artistry in producing these sketches. Some of this very detailed work was done in collaboration with architectural historian Walter Horn.
Gazing at these fine works, I felt ready to step into unusually grand structures built in places far from San Diego long ago.
The Timken Museum of Art is always free to the public. I encourage lovers of history, art or architecture to pay a visit before this exhibition ends on February 28, 2027.
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One cool thing about the San Diego Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park is how several train layouts loosely recreate parts of San Diego, from downtown’s Santa Fe Depot and surrounding buildings to the scenic backcountry.
The museum’s San Diego and Arizona Eastern HO scale layout depicts parts of downtown San Diego in 1949, including the harbor, airport, and the old police headquarters. The model of the Old Police Headquarters is quite detailed and realistic!
Today, the historical building with its large courtyard is The Headquarters at Seaport, a dining and shopping destination. The Headquarters retains a very cool exhibit concerning its days as San Diego’s main police station.
I walked through The Headquarters yesterday and noticed an additional police exhibit is being created! I’ll visit again later to see what’s happening!
Meanwhile, check out the cool model of the historical building at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum…
A beautiful Day of the Dead altar has been set up inside the Casa de Estudillo in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.
This Dia de los Muertos ofrenda can be found in the historic home’s sala, a large room where, in the early 1800s, traveling priests would perform weddings, baptisms and memorial services.
The altar includes many traditional elements, including marigolds and pan de muerto.
Old photographs on the altar remember family members who lived here in the 19th century. A nearby sign lists them. Included are Jose Antonio Ramon Joaquin Ygnacio Victorino Estudillo (who built the casa with his father José María Estudillo) and his wife Maria Victoria Dominguez Estudillo. Many members of the family had important roles in the life of early San Diego and California.
I was pleased to find the Casa de Estudillo open to the public last weekend. It had been closed for a long time due to a lack of volunteers at the State Park.
Next time you visit Old Town, swing by the historic home and step inside!
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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 Hall of Nations building at Balboa Park’s International Cottages is in the process of being restored. The City of San Diego has repaired much of the water-damaged exterior of the historical building, and some painting is underway.
Last year I noted how sections of stucco had fallen off. I later learned that–thank goodness–the damage wasn’t as severe as it might have been.
The Hall of Nations building was constructed for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. Back then it was the Kansas State building and housed exhibits and events representing the state of Kansas.
It’s good to see the city taking care of San Diego’s crown jewel Balboa Park. It appears to me more work in various places around the park needs to be done!
Thank you!
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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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