Tag: old town

Pedrorena-Altamirano House in Old Town San Diego.

Whenever I walk through Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, I take photographs of the Pedrorena-Altamirano House. For some reason, however, I never get around to posting those photos!

Here we go, finally. These images were captured at various times under different light conditions.

As a sign on the front porch explains, the adobe and wood frame house was built by Miguel de Pedrorena Jr. in 1869 and deeded to his sister Isabel, wife of José Antonio Altamirano, in 1871. Hence its name. In Spanish the house is called Casa de Pedrorena de Altamirano.

In the 1890s it was remodeled as a Victorian bungalow, and in 1932 the house was listed as a California Historical Landmark. California State Parks rehabilitated the structure in 1982.

Today, as you can see, it’s home of Miner’s Gems and Minerals. That explains the mining equipment visitors discover in back.

The next photos were taken behind the house…

As you can see, there’s a plaque…

The plaque provides more interesting history. It reads:

Casa de Pedrorena de Altamirano

Miguel Pedrorena Jr. built this adobe structure in 1869. It was the final adobe built in Old Town. In January 1871 Pedrorena gave the building to his sister Isabel de Altamirano, joining together two pioneer California families. Isabel and her husband Jose Antonio Altamirano raised their large family in this home. Isabel’s father, Miguel Pedrorena, was a prominent merchant in Mexican California, and represented the San Diego area at the California State Constitutional Convention held in 1849. Jose Antonio Altamirano was born in La Paz, Lower California in 1835, but came to San Diego in 1849 to explore the mining possibilities of the area. He also engaged in stock raising ventures on both sides of the border.

HISTORICAL LANDMARK #70

Now let’s circle around the house and return to the front…

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Making a women of Old Town quilt.

Threads of the Past was open yesterday in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. I was walking by their door, so I had to peek inside. Look what I found!

These friendly ladies in old-fashioned attire were working on a quilt!

They showed me how they’re creating a new quilt that honors the women of Old Town.

The square in my next photograph depicts the three daughters of Juan Bandini, one of early San Diego’s most prominent residents.

As this article explains: During the Mexican-American war and during the United States’ “Conquest” of California, Juan Bandini supported the Americans. His three daughters are even credited with making the first American flag that was raised in the Old Town Plaza on July 29, 1846–the day John Charles Fremont arrived in town.

That explains the inclusion of a United States flag.

The ladies of Threads of the Past are also working on their annual quilt to be raffled during the next Fourth of July celebration in Old Town. Kids have contributed art to many small squares. The project raises funds for the Boosters of Old Town San Diego.

If you’re ever walking in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, look for Threads of the Past. If their door is open, step inside!

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Become part of history in Old Town!

You have the opportunity to become part of history in Old Town San Diego!

An initiative is underway to support Old Town. Anybody can purchase a customized, engraved brick for the new Old Town San Diego Heritage Walk, which lines the east side of San Diego Avenue. As you can see in my next photo, some bricks are already installed.

Your special brick can honor loved ones, promote a business, or perhaps share an inspiring message.

To learn more about this opportunity, visit this website.

Hidden models of historic Old Town San Diego!

It’s unlikely you’ve seen these amazing models of buildings and life in Old Town San Diego. That’s because they’re well off the beaten track, inside slowly disintegrating displays on Conde Street, behind Cafe Coyote.

Eight years ago I blogged about the neglected display cases along the sidewalk. They contain faded, crumbling photos and other historical material. You can read my past blog post by clicking here.

I walked by again today, and when I peered through the scratched, dirty glass I discovered several models of early structures in Old Town. They appear to contain more detail than similar models inside Old Town San Diego State Historic Park’s visitor center!

I pressed my camera right up against the glass and sharpened my blurry photos.

Do you know who created these beautiful models? Leave a comment.

The above photograph shows a model of an early Old Town adobe. I’m not sure which adobe. There are no labels.

Next, here’s a model of a Kumeyaay village–presumably Kosa’aay which was located nearby on the San Diego River. The native Kumeyaay long predated the arrival of Spanish missionaries and the establishment of Old Town…

Peering into the display case, I found another great model. This one appears to depict an adobe in decay. I had to crop the photo because a mirror behind it was showing the shirt of yours truly.

Whoever made these detailed models spent much time and care!

If you happen to walk down San Diego Avenue and come to Conde Street, turn the corner. Look for the outdoor display cases across the street from the Old Adobe Chapel.

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The Giving Machine returns to San Diego!

The Giving Machine has returned to Old Town San Diego in time for the holiday season. Operate this unique donation vending machine and you’ll generously help those less fortunate than you.

The many different charities that can benefit from your donation are mostly local, but you can help those who live in poverty around the world, too. You choose which charity to help, and they receive one hundred percent of your donation!

This is the second year of San Diego’s Giving Machine. It’s a project of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The people I met in the above photo were super nice, even though my personal beliefs are very different. They want to do good in this world.

I learned that last year, this same machine outperformed every other machine out there, in over a hundred international cities! That’s impressive.

The Giving Machine is located on Twiggs Street again, a bit up the street from last year. It stands on the patio in front of the old Cygnet Theatre building. If you visit Old Town during the holidays, you might see it.

Why not spread a little human kindness?

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If you’d like to see San Diego through my lens, find the “Follow” box in the sidebar to receive new posts in your email, or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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Día de los Muertos student art in Old Town!

In time for Día de los Muertos, visitors to Old Town San Diego State Historic Park can now enjoy an extensive student art exhibit titled Remembrance & Resilience.

Students from schools throughout the San Diego Unified School District have created artworks based on Día de los Muertos imagery. The divided exhibit is located in two different Old Town buildings: the recently vacant Captain Fitch Store and the historic U.S. House.

If you find yourself walking through the State Park, look for the signs. The exhibit will continue through November 2, 2026.

My first few photos come from inside the spacious old Captain Fitch Store. Dozens of displays were created by kids of all ages, from elementary school to high school. They honor memory, identity and tradition.

The next few photos are from the U.S. House. Students from Crawford High School, Logan Memorial, Zamorano Elementary, and Lincoln High School partnered with Sew Loka to create wearable art using reclaimed fabric.

In one room, art glows in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet light!

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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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The room where San Diego’s first waltz was danced.

Have you read Two Years Before the Mast? You might remember how author Richard Henry Dana describes the tiny Mexican town of San Diego which he visited in 1835. He would ride into town for pleasure when not unloading, loading or drying cattle hides at La Playa in Point Loma. His famous work of literature vividly describes a fandango in Old Town at the home of Don Juan Bandini.

Bandini’s casa would eventually become Old Town’s Cosmopolitan Hotel, and the very room where the first waltz was likely danced in California can be visited in the hotel today. That’s the room in the above photograph!

Today I ventured into the Cosmopolitan Hotel and discovered two interesting signs in the historic room. The first explains how an extravagant wood floor was installed by Bandini for dancing. It was probably the first wooden floor in California.

Dana wrote in Two Years Before the Mast:

“A great deal has been said about our friend Don Juan Bandini, and when he did appear, which was toward the close of the evening, he certainly gave us the most graceful dancing that I had ever seen.

His slight and graceful figure was well calculated for dancing, and he moved about with the grace and daintiness of a young fawn. He was loudly and repeatedly applauded, the old men and women jumping out of their seats in admiration, and the young people waving their hats and handkerchiefs.”

More photos of the restored room today…

A second sign explains how in the later 1800’s, after the abandoned Bandini house had been acquired by Albert and Emily Seeley and converted into the Cosmopolitan Hotel, big social parties took place in this room once again. They were the talk of the town!

Would you like to visit the historic room yourself? Look for a friendly tintype photographer outside this door. Then step through!

While you’re at it, you can have an old-fashioned tintype photograph taken as a keepsake. Perhaps pretend you’ve traveled back in time to the mid-1800’s, when this photographic technology was developed!

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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!

Day of the Dead and early San Diego residents.

Another year is passing by. In a couple of weeks, Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) will be observed. Loved ones who’ve passed on from this life will be remembered.

The gravesites at El Campo Santo in Old Town are decorated already. Every early resident of San Diego buried here is remembered with flowers, papel picado, Day of the Dead skulls… Every person here was loved by someone.

This small cemetery is the final resting place of so many different people: the Kumeyaay, Spanish, Mexican, American. Newborn babies, the elderly. The rich, the poor. Public figures, unknown people. The lucky, the unlucky. Victims of old age, disease, accident, violence, injustice.

Mortals all.

Every one was loved by someone.

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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!

A San Diego Milestone in Horton Square.

A plaque in downtown San Diego relates a bit of our city’s early history. It’s titled A San Diego Milestone.

You can find the bronze plaque in Horton Square, an outdoor area north of the old Horton Plaza shopping mall. (Not to be confused with larger Horton Plaza Park.)

The plaque states:

San Diego bay is a natural harbor. First sighted in 1542 by Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the bay was originally named San Miguel. Next visited in 1602, Sebastian Vizcaino renamed the bay after a canonized priest, San Diego, from Alcala, Spain. Seldom visited for the next 150 years, Father Junipero Sera came overland from Mexico and founded the first of the California missions in San Diego (Old Town) in 1769. The mission grew and officially became an American town in 1846.

The bay was too shallow for ships to come close in, so passengers were taken to shore by rowboat to the water’s edge and then carried to dry land on the backs of sailors or Indians. Then they were taken by wagon to town…a few miles north to Old Town. In 1867, Alonzo E. Horton first came to San Diego and was immediately convinced that “the town should be down by the wharf.”

This plaque is one of several in Horton Square. Two bronze statues stand among them.

Apparently, according to one corner of the plaque, all together these make up the Horton Walk.

Twelve years ago, back when Cool San Diego Sight was brand new, I photographed the other statues and plaques. See those by clicking here.

The old statue of Ernest Hahn has since been moved–I don’t know where. If you know, please leave a comment!

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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!

Heritage County Park improvements completed!

Take a look at these improvements now completed at Heritage County Park!

I visited the historical park, at the edge of San Diego’s Old Town, earlier this year. My wanderings then were limited by a construction fence.

Back then I noticed how paths had been created, new plantings were underway, a new gazebo had been built, and an outdoor classroom was almost finished. See those past photographs, taken from behind the fence, here.

Today I discovered the construction fence is down! The grassy expanse at the south end of Heritage County Park is open once again and everything is fresh, new and beautiful!

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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!