Tag: historic places

Monument coming for downtown San Diego founder!

On May 10, 2025, a monument will be unveiled in the northeast corner of Pantoja Park. The bust of William Heath Davis Jr. will debut, commemorating the founder of downtown San Diego!

The public event will take place between 10:30 am and 2 pm. There will be speeches, informational booths, a blessing by Kumeyaay Bird Singers, and Pacific Islander traditions. William Heath Davis “Kanaka Bill” was born in Hawaii.

Many associate Alonzo Horton with the founding of downtown San Diego. Horton’s ultimately successful New Town, however, came after an attempt by William Heath Davis to build a new community closer to San Diego Bay than the original Old Town San Diego… His New Town was located west of today’s Gaslamp Quarter. The venture did not do well due to a lack of fresh water and hostility from the established settlements at Old Town and La Playa…

Pantoja Park, at 500 West G Street, was established in 1850. It was created at the center of William Heath Davis’ 160-acre subdivision and is San Diego’s oldest city park. Originally it was known as New Town Park. Appropriately, it will be home to the soon-to-be-unveiled bust.

The William Heath Davis Monument and the Monument Unveiling Ceremony are the work of the Gaslamp Quarter Historical Foundation and The Kanaka Davis Trust Group.

(I saw a preview of the monument a couple years ago. See that blog post here.)

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A rare look at Balboa Park’s historic Pratt Loggia.

The public seldom gets to step into Balboa Park’s historic Pratt Loggia. The columned, balcony-like loggia is easily seen when gazing up from El Prado at the Casa del Prado. You can see it in my next photograph:

During a recent tour of Balboa Park conducted by the Committee of 100, an organization working to preserve Balboa Park’s historic architecture, gardens and public spaces, I was fortunate to step foot into the Pratt Loggia and discover something wonderful.

Before our special tour entered the loggia, we were shown a plaque. It lists the people instrumental in funding the loggia’s creation back in 1971, during the Casa del Prado’s reconstruction.

According to this San Diego History Center webpage: During the course of reconstruction it was discovered that the bond issue did not allow for an expenditure of $70,000 to rebuild the second-level fluted, striated columns with capitals of cupids and the ornate balustrade on the outside loggia of the south building. The Committee of 100 raised the needed money with $50,000 coming from Mrs. Jeannette Pratt, in whose honor the reconstructed gallery was named the “Jeannette Pratt Loggia.”

Our group observed how the plaque contains a Who’s Who of leading San Diego citizens back in 1970s, including the Copleys, Cushmans, Fletchers, Rohr, Ryans, Scripps, and many others. Bea Evenson led the creation of the loggia.

And now here is the beautiful loggia!

We were surprised to see numerous bells in the Pratt Loggia: a few along the balustrade and many others contained in large display cases at either end.

These bells were sent to San Diego from cities around the nation during our city’s bicentennial back in 1969! To mark the 200 year anniversary celebration, San Diego wrote to these cities asking for a donated bell.

What was received? There are fire bells, school bells, bells of all sizes and kinds!

This big one rang loudly and deeply!

THIS BELL IS IN MEMORIAM OF SAN DIEGO’S 200 YEARS. FROM TOPEKA, KANSAS
SAN DIEGO 1769 BICENTENNIAL
PRESENTED TO THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO ON THE OCCASION OF ITS 200TH ANNIVERSARY BY THE CITIZENS OF WASHINGTON, D. C.

Another wonderful surprise in San Diego’s ever-amazing Balboa Park!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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Glider history made in San Diego’s Point Loma.

Did you know that glider history was made above the bluffs of Point Loma in San Diego?

Two landmark plaques that commemorate this history (which includes the breaking of a sailplane flight duration world record) are located just inside the entrance gate of Cabrillo National Monument. A small dirt footpath leads up to the boulder upon which they are mounted. Beyond, a slope descends steeply to the Pacific Ocean.

I recently walked from the Cabrillo National Monument’s visitor center down to the plaques to have a close look…

The plaque on the left states:

IN COMMEMORATION OF THE EARLY AVIATION PIONEERS THAT FLEW AMERICAN DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED SAILPLANES IN SAN DIEGO. THESE AVIATORS ARE REMEMBERED BY THOSE WHO FLEW AFTER THEM AND THE CITIZENS OF SAN DIEGO

John C. Barstow – William Hawley Bowlus – Alan R. Essery – Forrest H. Hieatt – Anne Lindbergh – Earle R. Mitchell – Adolph R. “Bud” Perl – William Beuby – Lowell E. Bullen – Albert E. Hastings – I. N. Lawson – Charles A. Lindbergh – Allison J. Moore – William Van Dusen

SAN DIEGO SAILPLANE ENTHUSIASTS – THE ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST

(Yes, the names include Anne and Charles A. Lindbergh!)

The plaque on the right states:

POINT LOMA

THIS LANDMARK IS DEDICATED TO THE PIONEERING SPIRITS OF THE PILOTS WILLIAM HAWLEY BOWLUS AND JOHN C. BARSTOW WHO MADE MILESTONE FLIGHTS IN GLIDER HISTORY AT THIS SITE

WILLIAM HAWLEY BOWLUS – FIRST AMERICAN SOARING FLIGHT TO EXCEED ONE HOUR DURATION – 1 HOUR 21 MINUTES OCTOBER 19, 1929

JOHN C. BARSTOW – DURATION FLIGHT OF 15 HOURS 13 MINUTES EXCEEDING THE WORLD RECORD – APRIL 29-30, 1930

DEDICATED APRIL 27, 1996

THE NATIONAL SOARING MUSEUM – HARRIS HILL, ELMIRA NY – AN AFFILIATE OF THE SOARING SOCIETY OF AMERICA

SPONSORED BY THE ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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Antonio Garra Day returns to Old Town.

Antonio Garra Day is returning to Old Town San Diego tomorrow, Saturday, March 22, 2025.

Presented by the Pala Band of Mission Indians, the event will be held from 12 pm to 4 pm in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, at the First San Diego Courthouse Museum.

I attended the event back in 2020 (see the next photo) and learned Antonio Garra was a leader of the Cupeño people in Southern California who sought to organize tribes of our region to resist unfair taxation. Even though Native Americans were not citizens of the United States, a tax was levied upon their animals, property and agriculture. This taxation without representation was considered by many fair-minded people to be illegal and unjust. Read more about it here.

You can see my photos from Antonio Garra Day five years ago by clicking here.

This year, as before, Antonio Garra Day will feature traditional Bird Songs, inspirational speeches and cultural exhibits. Everyone is welcome to drop by and learn an important aspect of our region’s history.

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

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La Jolla church used to be a train station!

If you drive up La Jolla Boulevard, just north of Bird Rock, you might see the impressive building in these photographs.

When I visited the La Jolla Historical Society a while back, I learned something very surprising. This ornate building–the main chapel for the La Jolla United Methodist Church–was once a railroad station and power substation for San Diego Electric Railway, the San Diego streetcar line established by John D. Spreckels!

I’ve found several great articles concerning this history. Here and here and here.

The 1924 Spanish Colonial architectural style San Carlos Train Station served streetcar Route 16, which ran from San Diego to La Jolla. Route 16 was the San Diego Electric Railway’s last major rail line expansion. In addition to downtown San Diego and La Jolla, the route included stops in Mission Beach and Pacific Beach. The streetcars ran through 1940.

The San Carlos terminal building would then be used for several years as an art school. In 1954, the La Jolla United Methodist Church bought the building.

Check out the first and third links above for a few old photographs. You’ll see how the train station and substation stood alone in undeveloped land a century ago.

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

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Hidden balcony offers views of Balboa Park!

People who enter Balboa Park through its grand west entrance pass a “hidden” balcony that few observe or know about!

The second floor balcony at the Museum of Us is accessible to museum visitors through the Living with Animals exhibit. The patio-like balcony, with its welcoming chairs and tables, offers views from the southwest corner of the California Quadrangle.

Visitors enjoy views over the Rube Powell Archery Range toward downtown San Diego, and of the Cabrillo Bridge to the west. There’s a fantastic view of the historic Balboa Park Administration Building across El Prado.

The next two photographs show the exterior of the Saint Francis Chapel at the southwest corner of the California Quadrangle.

Looking over the Rube Powell Archery Range toward State Route 163 and hazy downtown San Diego…

Now we’re looking west along El Prado toward the Cabrillo Bridge. Few people entering Balboa Park will notice the little known balcony as they approach the park’s grand west entrance…

The Administration Building, seen fully in the next photo, was the first building constructed (1911-1912) in Balboa Park for the Panama-California Exposition.

Final architectural plans for the Administration Building were developed by Carlton Winslow under the direction of lead exposition architect Bertram Goodhue.

(If it appears the building was designed by Irving Gill, here’s an article that casts doubt on this and discusses the issue.)

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

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Historic pergola returning to Balboa Park!

San Diego is going to be made even more beautiful!

A shady pergola that once stood near Balboa Park’s Botanical Building during the 1915 Panama-California Exposition is to be rebuilt!

The construction of the pergola is part of a larger Botanical Building and Gardens revitalization project. The Botanical Building’s amazing restoration has been completed, so it’s on to Phase 2, which includes bringing back into existence this historic pergola.

I noticed a sign on a patch of grass during my most recent visit to Balboa Park. It indicates the future site of the Botanical Building Historical Pergola.

You can learn more about the project by visiting Forever Balboa Park’s website here.

The pergola site is beside the west fountain in the front of the Botanical Building. The next photo provides an idea. (Behind it you can see the San Diego Museum of Art.)

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

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Red roses and Valentine’s hearts at El Campo Santo.

Many of the crosses and headstones at Old Town San Diego’s historic El Campo Santo cemetery are now decorated with red roses and hearts. I observed this today, more than a week after Valentine’s Day.

Expressions of enduring love have appeared for San Diego’s earliest residents.

I remember seeing the cemetery decorated with traditional marigolds years ago during Día de los Muertos. See those photographs here.

Curious about who is buried in San Diego’s oldest graveyard? Read a past blog post concerning the diverse folk who came to rest at El Campo Santo by clicking here.

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share this!

Presidents of the United States visit Balboa Park.

What do Woodrow Wilson, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, William Howard Taft, Herbert Hoover, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt have in common? These eight former, future and sitting presidents visited Balboa Park in San Diego!

A timely exhibit at the San Diego History Center celebrates the fact that our city’s crown jewel, Balboa Park, since its development for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, has acted as a magnet for United States Presidents.

The exhibit recalls how Woodrow Wilson’s speech at Balboa Stadium was the first time a president’s voice had been electronically amplified, and how FDR was the first person to ride in a car across Cabrillo Bridge.

While these different presidents might have disagreed on politics, it seems they agreed that Balboa Park was a special and very beautiful place.

Yesterday the 47th President of the United States was inaugurated. In the 21st century, how many more presidents will enjoy a visit to amazing Balboa Park?

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Thank you for sharing!

Fly your kite on this world-famous hilltop!

The first controlled winged flight in human history took place in San Diego in 1883. That’s when John J. Montgomery launched his glider from the top of a breezy hill in Otay Mesa West. So it stands to reason that the famous hill today would be an ideal spot to fly your kite!

The grassy hill, where a monument to Montgomery’s legendary flight now stands, experiences plenty of sunshine and a nearly constant breeze. The hilltop’s expansive Montgomery-Waller Community Park is a place where families gather for picnics, sports and recreation . . . and to enjoy their own special flight!

I sat on a park bench today for a few minutes and watched a kite dancing in the cloudless, blue San Diego sky…

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Thank you for sharing!