Tag: history

National City installs Historic U.S. Route 101 signs!

Earlier this month, National City installed seven new Historic California US 101 Route street signs. They were placed where old Highway 101, the source of many fond memories, once ran. These seven new signs join thirteen others that were installed in Chula Vista and San Ysidro near the beginning of the year.

This very cool project, which commemorates an important part of history in San Diego’s South Bay, was spearheaded by Jack Gechter of the South Bay Historical Society.

Jack indicated these new signs are located along National City Boulevard, from a spot just north of Chula Vista to a spot just south of Division Street. Here are the exact addresses:

North Bound – National City Blvd. north of C Street (just north of Chula Vista)
North Bound – 2501 National City Blvd.
North Bound – 701 National City Blvd.
North Bound – 141 National City Blvd.
South Bound – 128 National City Blvd.
South Bound – 700 National City Blvd.
South Bound – 2340 National City Blvd.

Learning this, I had to check these new signs out! I spotted six of them and took the upcoming photographs during a walk on Sunday.

Are you curious where US 101 ran south of San Diego?

This 1947 Chevron Map shows the Historic California US 101 Route starting near the US/Mexico Border in San Ysidro, and continuing north along Beyer Blvd toward Chula Vista, along National Avenue (Broadway in Chula Vista and National City Blvd in National City) to 8th Street, along 8th Street to Harbor Drive, then along Harbor Drive to Pacific Highway.

This 1933 AA Map shows a slightly different Historic California US 101 Route at the northerly end of National Avenue (National City Blvd) to 1st Street, then along Main Street.

Should you drive along National City Boulevard, keep an eye out for these new signs!

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The original Coronado Library building.

The Coronado Public Library occupies a 40,000 square feet building that serves as the community’s cultural center. The library contains a large public meeting room and smaller conference room, a separate Children’s Library and Teen area, an Exhibit Gallery, plus an employee work area and used bookstore.

Back in 1909, however, when the original Coronado Public Library first opened, it measured a modest 1,700 square feet. You can see the front of the historic building with its stately columns in the above photograph.

Last month I learned the history of this original “Spreckels Building” during the San Diego Architectural Foundation’s Open House event. John D. Spreckels was owner of the nearby Hotel del Coronado in the early part of the 20th century.

An informative handout included: On February 17, 1908, the Library Board boldly voted to “request Mr. Spreckels to make a gift of a new library building”…public park land set aside by the Coronado Beach Company known as West Plaza was chosen for the location…Spreckels donated the services of his favorite architect, Harrison Albright…(His) design, in the style of the classic revival…was built at a cost of $10,000. It was one of the first California buildings built of reinforced concrete. It was designed to hold 5,000 books…

The following graphic depicts major additions that were made to the library over the years:

The next two photos demonstrate how the original building was cleverly joined to the glassy 2005 addition. (The 1974 addition demolished and replaced a hodgepodge of add-ons and wings that had been attached to the original building during the preceding decades.)

Today the original little library–the Spreckels Building–serves as a cozy, very elegant Reading Room!

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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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Don Diego memories at San Diego History Center!

Do you remember Don Diego?

For four decades, Don Diego was a fixture at the Del Mar Fair. With a friendly “¡Bienvenidos Amigos!” the dashing goodwill ambassador greeted visitors to the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

Sombrero in hand, typically in dress representing a gentleman Mexican ranchero, Don Diego also introduced Grandstand shows and escorted the Fairest of the Fair beauty queen and her court.

An exhibition at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park opened several days ago which includes a unique tribute to the fair’s iconic Don Diego, who in reality was actor Domingo Tomás Hernández Bethencourt.

The exhibition is titled Fashion Redux 2024. In its 13th year, the annual event is a collaboration between the San Diego History Center and Mesa College’s Fashion Program.

What immediately caught my eye today were the two ensembles once worn by Don Diego, which belong to the San Diego History Center’s very extensive Historic Textile Collection.

Visitors to the exhibition can also watch old video footage that shows Don Diego at the Del Mar Fair.

A few personal memories were rekindled. As a child my family would visit the fair, and I remember seeing Don Diego on promotional material and on television. He was quite famous. I don’t recall whether I saw him in person. I think I might have. That was a long time ago.

Tommy “Don Diego” Hernandez passed away in 1984.

Actor Tommy Hernandez, as Don Diego, with 1958 Fairest of the Fair winner, Raquel Tejada. She became famous as Raquel Welch during her later acting career.

Don Diego ensemble, inspired by traditional Mexican charro costumes.

Brown felted cardboard sombrero worn by Don Diego.

Don Diego ensemble, inspired by traditional Spanish flamenco costumes.

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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!

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Plaques honor heroes in La Jolla park.

During my walk last weekend through Ellen Browning Scripps Park in La Jolla, I paused to take photographs of two plaques. One is over a century old. The other was created much more recently.

Both plaques honor people who, in their own way, made the world better. Both are heroes.

The Abraham Lincoln Centennial Memorial, set inside a boulder, is dated February 12, 1909. It was placed by the people of La Jolla beside a flagpole that no longer exists. I found an article that concerns the placement of this plaque. Read it here.

The second plaque reads:

In honor of our beloved mother Selma Malk, who enjoyed this view from her home at the La Valencia Hotel for 31 years.

The plaque was recently placed between a newly renovated picnic area and the scenic boardwalk south of La Jolla Cove.

According to this article: Selma Malk lived for 32 years at La Jolla’s La Valencia Hotel and volunteered at the Birch Aquarium and Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla and the Mingei International Museum in San Diego’s Balboa Park. She died in La Jolla in 2017 at age 103.

In the next photo, you can see the historic La Valencia Hotel.

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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!

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Art created from destructive Cedar Fire.

Some unusual art was recently moved onto the second floor of San Diego’s Central Library. Cedar Fire was created by local artist Timothy Murdoch in 2019.

The work is composed of collected burnt wood and house paint. Many communities throughout San Diego were affected by the historic, incredibly destructive Cedar Fire in 2003. The fire destroyed 2,820 buildings including 2,232 homes.

I still remember how all of San Diego County was disrupted as people coped with the fast moving, Santa Ana wind driven fire. I had to drive up Interstate 15 under a dark orange sky during the fire, and it seemed I was the only one on the freeway. It’s hard for me to believe that was over twenty years ago. Seems like yesterday.

Does this sculpture look familiar? Cedar Fire, part of the City of San Diego Art Collection, was previously displayed in the lobby of San Diego’s City Administration Building.

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Hotel del Coronado’s industrial complex.

What’s that tall brick smokestack near the world-famous Hotel del Coronado?

It’s the most noticeable part of a historic industrial complex!

I walked around the Hotel Del’s old laundry building, ice house and power plant last month during the San Diego Architectural Foundation Open House event. I discovered several plaques that provide information about these three buildings, which, clustered south of the hotel lobby entrance, are called the industrial complex.

The brick building shown below once provided the Hotel del Coronado’s laundry service. It’s now home to The Laundry Pub!

Laundry, established 1919.

The original hotel laundry opened on the second floor of the Power Plant in January 1888. The Laundry occupied the majority of the second floor and employed 20 women. In 1919 this brick structure was built to house the laundry operation, which had expanded to serve all of Coronado Island with a fleet of five laundry trucks and a branch location on Orange Avenue. Laundry services were provided here for the hotel until 2018.

The next photo is through the window of The Laundry Pub, which features an 1880s-era bar and the laundry’s early conveyor system above restored wood floors.

North of the brick laundry building is the hotel’s old ice house.

The ice house is now home to the fascinating Ice House Museum of the Hotel del Coronado, where you can view historical displays and artifacts, plus photographs of the many celebrities, movie stars and United States Presidents who’ve visited the Victorian resort over the years. I blogged about the museum two years ago here.

In the rear of the ice house is this plaque…

Ice House, established 1889.

Ice was originally produced with a small machine inside the Power Plant until this masonry structure was built to house a new 10-ton De Coppet ice machine. Renowned for excellent tasting ice, the De Coppet system was cutting edge technology at the time and allowed The Del to manufacture and supply ice throughout Southern California. In 1909, the building was converted into a storeroom with later uses including an upholstery shop and offices.

Lastly, north of the ice house is the old power plant with its tall, striped smokestack.

Power Plant, established 1887.

Built in 1887 to house the incandescent electric light plant, laundry, and engine house, the Power Plant supplied electricity to all of Coronado Island until service was established with SDG&E in 1922. The Power Plant housed five Mather dynamos, two Hazelton boilers, and heavy pumping and heating machinery. To this day, a utility tunnel connects the Power Plant to the historic hotel.

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Cool photo memories from April 2019.

San Diego never disappoints. So many cool events were held in April five years ago that I had a difficult time selecting which ones to revisit as this new month begins!

Back in April 2019, my camera recorded knights in shining armor battling in Balboa Park, the inside workings of a Peruvian Navy tall ship, a wheelchair OTL tournament, a couple of Earth Day events, a tour of a United States Coast Guard cutter, Witches’ Night at the Comic-Con Museum, a local skatepark’s 20th anniversary, the Encinitas Street Fair, a big Shakespeare festival, a super fun Pet Day on the Bay…and much more!

I have 15 links coming up to blog posts that contain oodles of photographs!

Click the following links for hundreds of cool photos!

Little Italy’s history, culture at Amici House.

Great ideas at South Bay Earth Day!

Faces of INSIDE OUT still smile in Chula Vista!

Washington Street Skatepark’s 20th Anniversary!

Fun times at the Wheelchair OTL Tournament!

Earth Day at Old Town’s Native Plant Garden.

English knights, cute Corgis, Harry Potter and more!

Photos of Shakespeare celebration in Balboa Park!

Photos aboard Peruvian Navy tall ship BAP Unión!

Cool sights along Adams Avenue west of 30th.

Local history remembered at Trolley Barn Park.

Dogs enjoy a harbor cruise on San Diego Bay!

Take a tour aboard a new Coast Guard cutter!

Cool discoveries at the Encinitas Street Fair!

Images from Witches’ Night in San Diego!

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Historic ferry in San Diego, like a cathedral.

It reminds one of stained glass in a cathedral. Exquisite art glass windows, fabricated over a century ago, fill a historic ship in San Diego with golden sunlight.

If you’ve ever stepped onto the Dan McKinney Deck of the steam ferry Berkeley (part of the Maritime Museum of San Diego) you’ve experienced the beauty. The long polished wooden benches, the soft light and tranquil quiet–the atmosphere is indeed similar to that of a cathedral.

I noticed during a recent visit that the Berkeley’s art glass was created by California Art Glass Works in San Francisco. The 1898 steam ferryboat Berkeley was built to carry Southern Pacific Railroad passengers between Oakland and San Francisco.

Out of curiosity, I’ve tried to find information concerning California Art Glass Works. The factory was located on Mission Street in San Francisco. It was famous for the manufacturing of lodge and church memorial windows.

Here’s a link to a page on the Oakland Museum of California website that contains information about California Art Glass Works and the man behind it. Among other things, you’ll learn the glass company was founded in 1879 by William Schroeder, who had learned the craft in Germany. California Art Glass won a silver medal at the Paris Exposition of 1900 for the windows it exhibited there.

If you happen to know more about California Art Glass Works, please leave a comment!

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Two unusual rooms in a San Diego hotel!

A luxurious hotel in downtown San Diego contains two huge rooms that are quite unusual. One used to be a basketball court, and another was an indoor swimming pool!

The Guild Hotel occupies the historic 1924 building that was originally home of the Army-Navy YMCA. For decades, tens of thousands of sailors and military men would head to this location on Broadway, not far from the waterfront, to recreate. They’d play basketball, run around an elevated indoor track, and swim in a basement pool.

The Guild Hotel, when it moved into the iconic building, creatively repurposed two large indoor spaces. The huge basketball court was converted into the grand Grace Ballroom! The swimming pool was turned into the Society Ballroom!

I was shown these spaces several weeks ago during the San Diego Architectural Foundation Open House event.

Just inside the front entrance of the luxurious The Guild Hotel in downtown San Diego.

The Guild Bar in the hotel lobby.

To the left of the bar, a door opens to the unusual Grace Ballroom.

The Grace Ballroom at The Guild Hotel was originally an indoor basketball court. Military men shot hoops here for decades when the building was an Armed Services YMCA.

An elevated platform intended for jogging or running continues to surround the hotel ballroom!

Beautiful tiles along a stairway that descends from The Guild Hotel lobby to a lower level.

An old photograph of the large swimming pool that once occupied the Army-Navy YMCA’s basement.

The swimming pool is gone, replaced by the Society Ballroom! The historic space was set up as a meeting room when I toured the hotel.

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Tintypes of Old Town folks in period attire!

Employees and volunteers at Old Town San Diego State Historic Park have posed for old-fashioned tintype photographs, while dressed in period attire!

I spotted this display recently in front of the Robinson-Rose House Visitors Center. The “nineteenth century reproduction clothing” in these photographs reflects Old Town’s interpretive period, which is between 1821 and 1872.

If you want to see more photos of California State Park folks in period attire, click here. Or head over to Old Town San Diego State Historic Park and simply walk around. You’ll likely meet staff and volunteers who appear to have emerged from our city’s early history!

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!