Tag: liberty station

Super-dreadnoughts and a rare ship’s wheel!

What you see above is very rare. It’s a bronze and wood, 57 inch diameter ship’s wheel. It dates from the Age of Steel Riveted Hull and Steam, 1912 to 1930s. There’s photographic evidence that it might very well have been used in a navy’s super-dreadnought warship!

Joe Frangiosa was super excited to find this rare wheel. His amazing Nautical History Gallery and Museum inside Liberty Station’s Command Center building now features ship’s wheels from five different eras in maritime history. The huge wheel made its first appearance in his museum just a week ago!

Joe confided that this addition has been enormously satisfying. He installed the huge wheel in such a way that people can turn it and pretend to command the high seas. Kids love it!

Joe suggested you all visit his Instagram page here.

Check out my photos of the other four wheels. You might note that rope is tied around one spoke–the king spoke. When that bit of rope is located at the top of a wheel, that means the rudder of the ship is centered. A sailor can steer by feel in dark, stormy or foggy conditions.

The next wheel is made entirely of wood, with wood peg construction. It dates from the Age of Wooden Hull and Sail, 1775 to 1840.

The next wheel is made of iron. It dates from the Age of Wooden and Iron Hull, Sail and Steam, 1840 to 1887.

This next ship’s wheel is polished bronze and shines brightly! It dates from the Age of Steel Riveted Hull, Sail and Steam, 1887 to 1912.

Finally, this ship’s wheel without spokes is also bronze, but unpolished. It dates from the Age of Steel Welded Plate Hull, 1930s to 1945.

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Creativity at San Diego Made Holiday Market!

Need gifts for the coming holiday season?

This weekend, San Diego Made is presenting their 10th Annual Holiday Market at Liberty Station. Local artists, crafters, makers and entrepreneurs are selling unique hand made products that you might not easily find elsewhere!

I happened to be walking around Liberty Station yesterday, so I paid the six dollar entry fee to check things out!

I discovered a sunny field blooming with creativity! Check out a few of my photographs to get an idea!

If you want to start your Christmas shopping, drop by NTC Park today, Sunday, November 10 from 10 am to 5 pm.

If you just want to relax and have a good time, there are other activities, too, like an art creation station, kids crafts, live music, mini-golf, and great food! (I had a very tasty barbeque chicken sandwich.)

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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 bright, musical mural at Liberty Station!

Look what I spied the other day! A bright, super fun mural was painted a couple months ago at Liberty Station in Point Loma!

The mural can be found along the arched walkway between THE LOT movie theater and Building 176, where a number of music and arts studios are located.

The very colorful artwork was painted by Paola Villaseñor, who goes by the artist name PANCA. Here’s her Instagram page.

The title of the mural is Yo No Soy Marinero, Soy Capitan. That means, in English: I’m not a sailor, I’m the captain.

As a nearby sign explains, this mural showcases the beauty of life and culture in San Diego, with a particular emphasis on the ocean... The artist states: “…the mural…reflects the history of Liberty Station and my role as captain and artist. My hope is that visitors will find joy…”

How could anyone walk through all this found joy without smiling?

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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.

The transformation of Building 178 at Liberty Station.

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!

Here’s a detailed article if you’d like to learn more.

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.

San Diego Bird Alliance celebrates 75 years!

A great event was held today at Liberty Station in San Diego. The San Diego Bird Alliance (formerly the San Diego Audubon Society) celebrated their 75th Anniversary! For 75 years they’ve been working to educate the public, protect birds and restore natural habitat!

The event brought in many community organizations that have worked with the San Diego Bird Alliance to make a brighter and birdier future!

The program began with Kumeyaay traditional Bird Songs performed by youth from the Barona Band of Mission Indians. Their songs were of birds and journeying, and respect for all Creation.

A presentation was then made by San Diego City Council President Pro Tem Joe LaCava.

Young kids in the audience would then became excited as they took center stage. Ms. Smarty Plants had them excitedly learning about the critically endangered California condor, protecting our environment, and singing!

A little later the Accipiter Dance Company performed. I posted photos of their beautiful dance here.

I left before the program was completed, so I missed more dancing and what promised to be a colorful Parade of the Species. But I did walk around, checking out the many participating organizations and learning more about this precious world we all live in.

Enjoy some random photos!

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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.

Accipiter Dance creates beauty at Liberty Station.

Accipiter Dance brought beauty to San Diego’s Liberty Station today. Their dance performance was a part of the San Diego Bird Alliance’s 75th anniversary celebration!

Accipiter Dance is a group led by Brianna Pilkinton. The performance I viewed today seemed a mixture of ballet and a more contemporary freestyle. The dancers moved almost as one, but each individual expressed unique freedom and energy. Their birdlike gracefulness defied often very strenuous movement.

As the group’s website explains, Accipiter Dance’s work communicates the complexity of nature and human connection. They’ve danced at previous San Diego Audubon Society (now called San Diego Bird Alliance) events. If you’d like to support the group’s mostly self-funded projects, check out their website here.

The dance this sunny afternoon was so wonderful I thought I’d share some photographs.

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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.

Nautical rope, sea bags, and a sailor’s life.

For much of the 20th century, Naval Training Center San Diego was the place where Navy recruits learned what their new life at sea would be like.

Today, NTC Liberty Station occupies those old Navy buildings and barracks. The popular San Diego destination contains museums, artist studios, shops, offices, restaurants . . . and thought-provoking installations of public art.

A Dime to Call Home is sculptural art that I photographed during my last visit. The unusual art, made of cement, soft clothing and nautical rope, is located near some archways along Liberty Station’s North Promenade. It was created by artist Michele Montjoy of Oceanside, California, and installed in 2019.

A nearby sign explains:

Using sculptural forms reminiscent of sea bags and nautical rope, A Dime to Call Home is a conversation about the shifts of identity, location and routine that recruits encounter when they enter the military, as well as the connection they have to their family, home and previous life.

I took several photographs.

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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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Why Roseville, Rose Creek and Rose Canyon?

Have you ever wondered why there’s a Roseville in Point Loma, and a Rose Creek and Rose Canyon?

Well, during a recent walk I discovered an old plaque that provides an explanation. It stands at Liberty Station beside the boat channel. That’s it in the above photograph. In the distance is Nimitz Bridge and the North Harbor Drive bridge.

Several San Diego places were named after Louis Rose.

LOUIS ROSE POINT

Louis Rose (1807-1888)

San Diego’s first Jewish settler, arrived in 1850.

He was a civic-minded businessman who developed Roseville, the oldest planned development on the Point Loma Peninsula.

Rose served as County Supervisor, City Trustee, Postmaster and School Board Member.

He was a member of San Diego’s first Grand Jury.

Rose Canyon is named in his honor.

Placed by the Louis Rose Society for the Preservation of Jewish History

Here’s a photo I once posted of an exhibit inside the Robinson-Rose Visitor Center at Old Town San Diego State Historic Park:

Louis Rose was a prominent citizen of Old Town San Diego. He was born near Hanover, Germany in 1807 and became a citizen of the United States in 1846. He moved to San Diego in 1850, becoming the first Jewish person to settle in the city. Rose was an active member of the Jewish community in San Diego. He helped to organize the first Jewish congregation, which became Congregation Beth Israel. He also hosted High Holy Day services in his house and gave 5 acres of land for a sacred burial ground in what is now Point Loma.

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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 Twitter!

Nautical History Gallery & Museum opens!

An amazing new museum had its Grand Opening at Liberty Station today! The Nautical History Gallery & Museum is jam-packed with carefully constructed displays, providing visitors with the U.S. Navy History Experience, 1775-1945.

Museum artist and curator Joe Frangiosa, Jr. has served in both the Navy and Marines. By carefully studying historical photographs, he has been able to craft very realistic miniature ship models. Many of his detailed models can be viewed in the museum’s exhibits, which cover different periods of U.S. Navy history.

The Nautical History Gallery & Museum is located in Room 108 of Liberty Station’s old Command Center. Joe has created and amassed so many artifacts concerning naval history that only a portion of his collection is on display. There’s so much to absorb, a curious visitor could spend a good long time looking at it all!

Visitors to the one-room museum can also view a historical video and Joe’s workshop area, where you might see him concentrating on another model!

If you are interested in military history, model making or the U.S. Navy, this remarkable museum is a must see. If, like me, you are fascinated by ships, the evolution of technology and human history, you’ll probably enjoy it, too!

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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 Twitter!

Chow: Feeding a Navy in San Diego.

The old Naval Training Center San Diego had a reputation for serving sailors and recruits some pretty good chow. But providing over 30,000 meals every day took a lot of work!

Inside the Dick Laub NTC Command Center at Liberty Station in Point Loma, visitors can view the fascinating exhibit Chow: Feeding a Navy.

NTC had one of the finest mess and galley programs in the nation. Many sailors with chef and mess service school command training were sought after by the White House kitchen…

Each recipe contained large amounts of ingredients not found in the family kitchen…

The galleys at NTC offered buffet-style metal partition trays for many years. Later ceramic plates and plastic trays were used… Having plates gave the sailors a feeling of home.

Chow included a main course, sides, and often a dessert…

Many recruits recall their favorite part of the chef and mess school was the bakery. Bread or cake, the bakery at NTC was renowned…

The daily operations…trained sailors to cook for thousands aboard ships, submarines and on land…

By 1990, a few years before decommissioning, the three NTC galleys averaged 6,445,000 meals per year.

Cakes were included in every celebration and prominent in many official photographs. Cake was a staple for Pass In Review with dignitaries and guests presiding.

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