Five years ago, during November 2019, Cool San Diego Sights featured photographs from a variety of interesting places and events. My favorite event by far was the San Diego and Arizona Railway centennial that was held out in Campo.
If you have a curious mind, and if you’d like to take a time machine back five years and look at some of those old photographs, click the links that are coming up!
To see many fascinating photographs, click the following links:
San Diego firefighters fought a blaze all this morning in Mission Valley. The fire was at the long-vacant In Cahoots Dance Hall & Saloon.
I work nearby. I noticed the flashing lights of fire engines on the scene well before sunrise. Late in the morning I walked with my camera around the building at a safe distance. Flames were still visible through the burnt roof and walls.
In Cahoots was a popular Country Western night club for decades. Years and years ago, I had two coworkers who’d line dance in the evening at In Cahoots. I could guess where they’d be heading after work when I saw them wearing cowboy boots!
I’m sure thousands of San Diegans have fond memories of the place.
A thank you to San Diego’s hero firefighters, who prevented the fire from spreading to nearby buildings.
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Building 178 at Liberty Station in Point Loma was once a popular destination for Navy recruits. As recreation center for the old Naval Training Center San Diego, it provided a variety of activities for sailors. The sizable building contained a bowling alley and a disco!
Today Building 178 is a bit torn up. I noticed this while wandering around Liberty Station, waiting for a San Diego Bird Alliance event to begin on Sunday.
As I circled the former Navy recreation center, which was built in 1942, I took photos of informative banners attached to the construction fence. They indicate Building 178 is to become the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Performing Arts Center, new home of the Cygnet Theatre.
The Cygnet Theatre is presently located in Old Town. They’ll be moving to much larger digs as soon at this major renovation is completed!
Historic Preservation Fund…Save America’s Treasures Grants…Renovation of Naval Building 178 into a world-class performing arts venue…This project is being supported in part by a grant awarded by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
A bright new future for Building 178…The Joan & Irwin Jacobs Performing Arts Center…Future home of Cygnet Theatre…In partnership with NTC Foundation
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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.
Over the weekend, as I walked through the Bella Vita Fest in San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood, I noticed a large display of fascinating old photographs.
Convivio, a cultural organization that works to preserve the Italian community’s history in San Diego, was showing images from our city’s past!
There were photographs of tuna fishermen and boats and cannery workers, old restaurants and businesses on India Street, Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, Washington Elementary School, families, neighbors playing bocce…
It was pointed out to me that many of the houses and buildings that were photographed generations ago can still be recognized on the present-day streets of Little Italy!
Checking out the Convivio website, I see they are undertaking an important history preservation project. Their Italian Digital History Initiative hopes that residents of San Diego will contribute to a growing archives full of memories. The current cornerstone of Convivio’s preservation focus is the Italian Digital History Initiative, established in 2006, which preserves the local Italian community’s heritage through photographs, documents, oral histories, and other new-media resources.
If you have interesting material that helps tell the story of Italian immigrants in San Diego, you can bring it down to the AMICIBAR (the historical Amici House) next to the Little Italy Dog Park on Sundays, between 10 am and 2 pm. They’ll digitize photos, documents (marriage, birth certificates), awards/certificates of recognition, personal letters, permits and licenses (fishing or retail industries, for example), and whatever tells THE STORY OF YOUR FAMILY HERITAGE!
Learn more about this important project by clicking here.
Have you driven up Interstate 15 through Rancho Bernardo and glimpsed a small lake below the freeway to the east, tucked among several buildings? That’s Webb Lake.
The beautiful little lake is located in Webb Park. The private park, owned and managed by the Bernardo Town Center Property Owners Association, welcomes the public from sunrise to sunset.
The last time I was in Rancho Bernardo, I strolled around Webb Lake to see what I might discover. I found the Rancho Bernardo Veterans’ Memorial (which I’ll blog about soon) and green grass and benches and many birds in a place of tranquil beauty. I saw ducks, pigeons, egrets and more. I was surprised to see so many red-winged blackbirds.
Yes, going around the small lake is a very easy walk.
These photographs trace a clockwise walk. I started at the walkway that approaches Webb Park from the east side of the Courtyard Marriott hotel.
An old plaque under a tree refers to Schurr Lake, In Memory of William C. Schurr. Was that a past name for this lake? Please leave a comment if you know some of the history.
On a park bench… In Memory of Boyd H. GraeberOn a park bench… In Loving Memory Of Tyne Long, President, Rancho Bernardo Historical Society, 1989-1999Looking back…Webb Lake 2000. Thank you to the friends of Webb Lake for their generous contributions which have made it possible for all of us to share the joys of Webb Lake for years to come.Pathway of Pride – Rancho Bernardo Community FoundationOne last look back…Dedicated June 29, 2013 – Bob Wells – for establishing this Pathway of Pride which has helped and will continue to help fund hundreds of community projects that have been of enormous benefit to the community of Rancho Bernardo.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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.
A big celebration was held yesterday at the San Ysidro Branch Library. It was the San Ysidro Library’s 100th Year Anniversary!
Refreshments, entertainment and plenty of South Bay history greeted those who stepped into the library’s community room or outside onto the patio courtyard. I arrived too late to hear a noon presentation, but I did enjoy a great performance by San Ysidro High School’s mariachi band!
In the library’s Lloyd De Llamas Community Room, the South Bay Historical Society projected images of old San Ysidro onto a wall, and the fourteen historical photographs displayed in the room attracted curious eyes. History was visible wherever one looked.
The original library can be seen in the above photograph. Built in 1924, the small but quite beautiful building became a Teen Center in 2022.
Concerning the above photo, which was taken in 1930, Jack Gechter of the South Bay Historical Society wrote:
In 1924 Frank Beyer donated money for the construction of the San Ysidro Library located at 101 West San Ysidro Blvd. The library was formally opened on October 16, 1924. The building had the unique distinction of being the First Branch Library building owned by the County of San Diego and the only library in the country to have a smoking room for men; Beyers insisting: “that most men wish to smoke while they read.” In 1957 San Ysidro was annexed to the City of San Diego. A remodel of the Historic San Ysidro library in 1983 kept the Historic Facade intact and expanded the building to its current size of 4,089 square feet. On November 11, 2000 the San Ysidro Library was added to the list of Historical Landmarks in the City of San Diego. It is designated as HRB # 451. In October, 2014 we celebrated the 90th birthday of our Historic San Ysidro Library and a Historic Plaque was added near the Easterly entrance to the building. On August 10, 2019 we celebrated again as it was the last day of business for the San Ysidro Library after 95 years of service to the San Ysidro Community. We moved to our New San Ysidro Library at 4235 Beyer Blvd and the Grand Opening was on September 7, 2019.
Five years ago the San Ysidro Library moved to its much larger, modern building on Beyer Boulevard. I’ve posted photos in the past, here and here, that show art inside and outside the beautiful new library.
I enjoyed the 100 years anniversary celebration yesterday and took these photos…
I saw many Friends of the San Ysidro Branch Library helping with the festivities.Lots of treats were enjoyed by those in attendance.The Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park has many educational STEM programs that serve San Diego area communities, including San Ysidro.Kids watch a balloon inflate with carbon dioxide from dry ice.Community organization Casa Familiar was on hand, providing a smile and information about their many quality of life programs for those who might be underserved.Students from San Ysidro High School pose for a photo!A mariachi musical performance at San Ysidro Library by students from San Ysidro High School.Cool cars had gathered in the library parking lot!A fine day to come together and celebrate!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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.
A fascinating exhibit on the 9th Floor of San Diego’s Central Library concerns the history of the old El Hispano Americano newspaper, founded in San Diego by Hernando Limón Hernández, who had been a general in the Mexican Army.
Display cases in the library’s Marilyn & Gene Marx Special Collections Center contain photographs, printed art, old newspapers and documents, detailing the life of General Hernando Limón Hernández and his groundbreaking newspaper in San Diego.
While living in Mexico, the General had been tasked with designing and building lighthouses across Mexico’s main ports. He and his family would settle in San Diego by 1916, where the retired General became a Spanish teacher at the military compound in Coronado.
He soon purchased the new El Hispano Americano newspaper, and began to operate its print shop in downtown San Diego.
El Hispano Americano was the first modern Spanish language newspaper published in California. It would become the first binational newspaper that circulated simultaneously in Southern California and Northern Baja California. At its peak, in 1932, El Hispano American averaged 25,000 daily readers.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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.
Irving Gill was an American architect who did most of his work in Southern California, especially in San Diego and Los Angeles. He is considered a pioneer of the modern movement in architecture.
When I visited Oceanside a little over a month ago, I photographed Irving Gill’s final project: the 1936 Blade Tribune building. Let me share those photos now!
If you’d like to read a great article concerning the history of the now defunct Oceanside Blade-Tribune newspaper, click here.
The 1936 Irving Gill building you see in these photos, at 401 Seagaze Drive, was built to accommodate a newly created Oceanside Daily Blade Tribune and News. The unique building with an Art Deco façade was restored in 2019 and today is home to the Blade 1936 Italian restaurant!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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.
We are now in the middle of San Diego City Clerk’s 6th Annual Archives Month!
Through October 18th, 2024, the public can experience a fascinating San Diego City Clerk Archives exhibit concerning the history of Barrio Logan. Extensive displays can be viewed just inside the front entrance of San Diego’s downtown City Administration Building, at 202 C Street.
The exhibit is titled Telling Our Stories–Preserving Our Histories: The Chicano Movement in San Diego. It features photographs, articles and City Clerk documents that pertain to the culturally rich Barrio Logan neighborhood and how it has changed over time. There is an emphasis on the creation of Chicano Park, the work of Chicano activists, the origin and influence of Neighborhood House, and the tuna canning industry that once thrived in Barrio Logan down by the water.
In addition, there’s a video that visitors to the exhibit are invited to watch. It shows how residents were adversely affected by the construction of Interstate 5 and the Coronado Bay Bridge, and how they worked together to help preserve the community’s identity and establish Chicano Park.
The exhibit is curated by the San Diego City Clerk Archives in partnership with the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center.
I enjoyed looking at the displays and learning important facets of San Diego history. I encourage anyone who travels downtown to check it out. The City Administration Building is open on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Here are a few photographs that I took…
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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.
A lawn program at Balboa Park’s International Cottages today celebrated Norse history and culture. The House of Norway provided food and entertainment, and a visit from Viking explorer Leif Erikson (an actor)!
What I found most interesting, however, was a living history “encampment” on the International Cottages lawn. Costumed members of Wolves ov Odin were showing what Norse life was like in the 8th century!
Perhaps you’ve seen Wolves ov Odin at the annual Viking Festival in Vista, California. They are a group that portrays Danish Vikings that lived in the Jorvik region of present day York, UK.
As you can see, curious people converged on several tables to see and touch history.
Read the photo captions for a bit of what I learned…
Viking chain mail armor on display. I lifted one end and it was heavy! Those steel helmets in the background were heavy, too! Better a sore neck than a hole in the head!Creating chain mail by interlocking iron rings was a long process undertaken by Viking smiths. Iron was rare and chain mail shirts were relatively rare.A beautifully engraved but deadly Viking axe. I wish I had learned more about it.A simple sundial made of wood, which could double as a compass to aid in Viking ocean navigation. An X marks noon–I took this photo a few minutes before the shadow lined up with it!Making a replica Viking coin, using a length of modern steel tubing for hammering safety.I got my own, freshly minted pewter Viking Raven Penny of Anlaf Guthfrithson!Demonstrating a replica Oseberg Sprang Weaving Loom, a loom from the Oseberg ship, a well-preserved Viking ship discovered in 1904 in Norway.Combing and spinning wool with a hand spindle preceded tablet weaving and making Viking clothing and ship sails!The spindles were very simple.It never occurred to me that Viking sails were made by weaving!Beads were a sign of wealth among Vikings.A smile and sample of Viking life.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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.
Cool San Diego Sights! 