Several colorful Victorian houses were relocated to Heritage Park.
Lovers of architecture, Victorian houses and San Diego history should swing by Heritage Park, a small county park located next to Old Town.
Several historic homes representing Italianate, Stick-Eastlake, Queen Anne and Classic Revival styles were relocated to this eight acre park by the Save Our Heritage Organisation. Only the exteriors of the structures have been restored, with the exception of the Burton House and Senlis Cottage, which are open to the public.
Group of ladies walking past the Sherman-Gilbert House.
John Sherman, cousin of General William Tecumseh Sherman, built the Stick-Eastlake style Sherman-Gilbert House in 1887. Over the years, many world-famous entertainers appeared at receptions in this house, including ballet dancer Anna Pavlova and pianist Artur Rubinstein. This was the first structure moved to Heritage Park, in 1971.
Bushyhead House was an Italianate residence built in 1887.
Edward Wilkerson Bushyhead, a Cherokee Indian with a Scottish ancestor, was an important historical figure in San Diego. He served as Chief of Police years after being publisher of the San Diego Union newspaper. He built the Bushyhead House as a rental in 1887.
Christian House, built in 1889, seen beyond large tree.
The Christian House is a colorful Queen Anne style house built in 1889.
Girl on porch of the Classic Revival Burton House.Side view of the 1893 Burton House in San Diego’s Heritage Park.McConaughy House, a Stick-Eastlake built in 1887.People emerge from San Diego’s first synagogue, Temple Beth Israel.
This 1889 Classic Revival building constructed by the Congregation Beth Israel was also used by several religious sects before it was finally relocated to Heritage Park.
Heritage Park is located adjacent to historic Old Town San Diego.
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Front of the Seeley Stable Museum in Old Town San Diego.
Perhaps my favorite part of Old Town San Diego State Historic Park is the Seeley Stable Museum.
The huge old barn and surrounding area were once owned by Albert Seeley, who ran the San Diego-Los Angeles Stage Line from 1868 to 1877. His Concord stagecoaches left San Diego at 5 am, stopped overnight at San Juan Capistrano, and arrived in Los Angeles at 4 pm the next day. Eventually competition with the railroad put him out of business.
Sign on the Blacksmith Shop behind Seeley Stable.
Behind the Seeley Stable is a cool blacksmith shop, where tourists can watch skilled hobbyists demonstrate the shaping of red hot iron. The hammers ring loudly and the sparks fly! Unfortunately it wasn’t open the day I took these photos.
Covered wagon, anvils and relics of the Old West behind Seeley Stable.
Across from the blacksmith you’ll find this. Very cool!
Several unrestored wagons.Peering through old wagon wheels.Donkey awaits young visitors to historic Seeley Stable.
On the south side of the stable you’ll find a couple of donkeys, which are used by park rangers to teach children about life in the Old West.
Concord stagecoach from the Los Angeles to San Diego route.
Finally, we’re inside the museum! You can see many different wagons and stagecoaches inside the dark old barn, plus other artifacts from life one and a half centuries ago.
Museum display with horse and saddles recreates the old stable.Huge freight wagon on display at Seeley Stable.Old Wells Fargo wagon once used to transport the mail.Old Town San Diego State Historic Park ranger chats with friendly lady at the ticket window.
The Seeley Stable Museum is free!
UPDATE!
Here are a few more interesting and informative photos that I took inside the museum in August 2017…
Roscoe E. “Pappy” Hazard was a developer and rancher who collected stagecoaches, carriages and wagons from the Old West. Many are displayed today in Old Town’s Seeley Stable Museum.In 1869, Albert L. Seeley transformed the nearby Bandini adobe into the two-story Cosmopolitan Hotel, which became Old Town’s stage depot and social center.Photo of Seeley Stable’s barn and yard taken from Presidio Hill in 1872. The Cosmopolitan Hotel can be seen on the right.Map shows important stagecoach routes, including the Butterfield Overland, and the Birch’s Line from San Antonio to San Diego.Signs and old photos concerning freight wagons in the Old West, which often employed large teams of mules.Spaniards introduced mules to America along with the horse. Hardy pack mules were used by trappers to haul furs, and by gold miners to move supplies and equipment.This delivery wagon was brought to San Diego by Frank Kimball in 1868. It was used to show passengers land that he had for sale in National City.This old Park Wagon was used by cattle rancher Walter Vail. He owned a land in Arizona, Santa Rosa island off the coast of California, and Warner’s Ranch northeast of San Diego.How a corner of the stable might have once appeared. Stable hands had many chores, including feeding, watering and grooming animals, and cleaning stalls.
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A carefree day near the center of San Diego’s Old Town!
Just some random pics taken around the central plaza of Old Town San Diego State Historic Park…
Shoppers emerge from pottery shop in Old Town central plaza.Silver jewelry, beef jerky and root beer!The Robinson-Rose house is the park Visitor Center.Tall flagpole at the center of historic Old Town.The Cosmopolitan Hotel and Restaurant.The Rust General Store with patriotic red, white and blue.Folks walk past historical buildings in Old Town’s plaza.Tourists pose for a picture in an old covered wagon in Old Town.
The Old Presidio Trail leads up a steep hill from San Diego’s historic Old Town.
Please join me as I walk from San Diego’s Old Town up a short but very steep trail to Presidio Park. We’ll see all sorts of interesting monuments, views, and of course, the location of the old Spanish presidio, whose ruins are no longer visible. The top of Presidio Hill is now home to the Junipero Serra Museum. Follow me!
We begin near the trailhead, beside the small Presidio Hills Golf Course, on the east edge of historic Old Town.
One of several signs along the Old Presidio Historic Trail. This one explains that soldiers and families used to walk down from the Spanish presidio to tend gardens and livestock near the Casa de Carrillo, which is now the pro shop at Presidio Hills Golf Course.The Indian sculpture by Arthur Putnam in Presidio Park.
The first interesting thing we see is this sculpture, titled The Indian. It was created by famous American artist Arthur Putnam in 1905 and placed at the site of an ancient Indian village. The small village was discovered and named San Miguel by the explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542.
The Padre Cross was erected near the spot where Junipero Serra established California’s first mission.
Up the hill from The Indian stands the Padre Cross. It was raised in 1913 by the Order of Panama and is made up of tiles from the Presidio ruins. The cross marks the strategic location overlooking San Diego Bay where Franciscan friar Junipero Serra chose to establish a Spanish Catholic mission in 1769. (The mission was moved several miles up the San Diego River 5 years later.)
Bronze statue titled The Padre by Arthur Putnam.
Nearby among some trees we find a memorial to the mission’s friars. It’s a bronze statue titled The Padre, completed in 1908 by renowned sculptor Arthur Putnam.
The Serra Museum rises beyond billowing Spanish flag.
Our legs are starting to feel the climb as we reach three flagpoles overlooking Mission Valley.
Looking down at a red trolley in Mission Valley.
Turning north for a moment, we see the trolley!
View of the Serra Museum on Presidio Hill in San Diego.
Now we’re getting close to the Serra Museum, which was built in 1928 on this historically very important hill. The museum was built, and the land containing Presidio Park was purchased and preserved for posterity, by philanthropist George Marston.
San Diego was born in 1769 at the old Presidio, a Spanish fort in a desert-like wilderness very far from European civilization. It was located just below the Serra Museum.
Serra Museum employee looks down the grassy hill.
Not many people are about at the moment. Most tourists never venture up this way.
The Serra Museum is packed with numerous historical exhibits. You can climb the tower for views of San Diego Bay, the San Diego River and Mission Valley.
Row of Mission Revival style arches.Large wine press outside San Diego’s fascinating Junipero Serra Museum.Looking downhill from atop grassy Presidio Park.
Now we’ll wander along the hilltop to nearby Fort Stockton, the short-lived camp of the famous Mormon Battalion.
Where a cannon once overlooked Old Town at Fort Stockton.
Decades ago, when I was a young man, I remember seeing a cannon set in this concrete overlooking Old Town. I believe that same cannon is now on display in the nearby Serra Museum. Given the name El Jupiter, it was one of ten cannons that originally protected the old Spanish Fort Guijarros on San Diego Bay at Ballast Point.
(A second surviving cannon from the fort is named El Capitan. Today it can be found near the center of Old Town San Diego’s Plaza de las Armas.)
Mural at Fort Stockton of the Mormon Battalion.
In 1846, President James K. Polk asked Brigham Young of the Mormons to send a few hundred men to San Diego to help in the Mexican-American war effort. On January 29, 1847 five hundred men and about eighty women and children arrived at Fort Stockton after a very difficult 2,000-mile march from Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Mormon Battalion Monument by Edward J. Fraughton.
I hope you enjoyed our walk!
UPDATE!
In 2021 the two sculptures The Indian and The Padre were moved from Presidio Hill to the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park. To see my blog post concerning this, click here.
Cowboys have a gun battle in San Diego’s Old Town.
Look at these larger-than-life cowboys! They’re shooting it out in Old Town!
This whimsical art can be found on San Diego Avenue, in a courtyard among shops and restaurants catering largely to tourists. I’m not sure whether it represents the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral or just an Old West scene from a typical Western movie.
Is one of the cowboys Wyatt Earp? After his famous gunfight, Wyatt moved to San Diego to participate in a land boom, running saloons, gambling halls and a brothel!
Like the plant beside him, this guy might soon get planted.
Whether or not you believe in the paranormal, the world famous Whaley House is undeniably an interesting place!
This rather plain-looking house, located near the center of Old Town at 2476 San Diego Avenue, fairly oozes with history. And it is said by some to be the most haunted house in America!
Now a museum, the Whaley House was built in 1857 by Thomas Whaley, a New York businessman who originally came to California for the gold rush of 1849. It was the very first two-story brick building in San Diego, built in the Greek Revival architectural style. In addition to being the Whaley family residence, at different times it served as the location of a general store, a county courthouse, a commercial theater, a ballroom, a school and polling place.
Various murders, hangings, suicides and untimely deaths have occurred in and around the Whaley residence. Up to half a dozen different dead Whaleys are said to linger as ghosts. The place has developed such a reputation as a haunted house that the museum offers late night ghost hunting tours. Over 100,000 people visit the museum annually.
Several months ago I happened to find myself near the Whaley House with a little free time. Seeing a docent dressed in a period costume standing on the front porch, I made my way over to speak with her.
She was very friendly. She seemed sincere when she claimed to have had several ghostly experiences in the Whaley House. She claimed that she’s heard footsteps pacing in the upstairs theater when nobody was present. She’s also seen a strange shadow moving back and forth on an upstairs wall, with no perceptible source.
The cashier at the gift shop next door claimed to have seen the mysterious shadow, as well. I asked her if she believed in ghosts, and she carefully remained neutral. I was interested to see that many books and souvenir in the gift shop concern the museum’s spooky reputation, including shirts that read “Got Ghosts?”
Life Magazine and Travel Channel’s America’s Most Haunted have both called the Whaley House the most haunted house in America. The Whaley House has appeared on numerous popular television shows and firmly established itself in the popular culture.
Old Town’s historic Whaley House.
Gazing toward Whaley House past gas lamp on San Diego Avenue.
The luxurious Whaley House served as granary, store, courthouse, school and theater.
Whaley House, built 1856-57, is the oldest brick structure in southern California.
Boy ventures into supposedly haunted Whaley House.
El Campo Santo (which means “The Holy Field” in Spanish) is a small Roman Catholic graveyard in Old Town, nestled between buildings several blocks south of the State Park. It contains a variety of weathered tombstones and crosses marking the final resting places of many early San Diego residents. It is designated California Historical Landmark #68.
Established in 1849, the cemetery reached full capacity in 1880. Today it is a popular attraction for passing tourists.
Walk about carefully and read the old inscriptions, and you’ll discover pioneer families, soldiers, politicians, small children, Mexicans, Native Americans, unknown people, rich and poor, educated and illiterate . . . buried side by side.
Nearly five hundred people were buried at El Campo Santo. One of the graves belongs to notorious Santiago “Yankee Jim” Robinson. He stole San Diego’s only row boat, and was hung at the site of the nearby Whaley House.
Supposedly all sorts of ghosts, vapors, hovering torsos, spectral figures and weird apparitions have been seen at this cemetery. And supposedly they set off car alarms along San Diego Avenue.
One ghost is said to be a prostitute who was denied burial. Another is said to be Antonio Garra, a notable Native American. As chief of the Cupenos tribe, Garra led an uprising in 1851 against the people of San Diego due to unfair taxation. When finally captured, he was made to stand beside an open grave and executed by firing squad.
If such ghosts do exist, it seems they have one definite reason to be upset! In 1889 a horse-drawn streetcar line was built right through the hallowed cemetery. In 1942 the tracks were paved over with asphalt, creating the busy roadway. Today, according to a sign by the sidewalk, there are numerous graves directly under the street!
People read plaques and headstones in Old Town cemetery.
Do not disturb the peace and tranquility of those who have reposed from earthly cares.
More than 20 men, women and children lie buried beneath San Diego Avenue.
Grave site marker embedded in San Diego Avenue asphalt.
The Holy Field contains many of San Diego’s original residents.
Just one of many colorful eateries along San Diego Avenue.
These pics offer a sample of the sort of Mexican-themed eateries one encounters in the commercial part of Old Town, which runs several blocks south of the State Park along San Diego Avenue. Lots of seating outdoors, an eyeful of festive colors and a cool, laid-back Southern California atmosphere.
Eating great Mexican food outdoors in San Diego’s Old Town.
Fountain and splash of color in courtyard of an Old Town restaurant.
Keep Calm and Drink Tequila.
Old Town pedestrians can buy hot buttery tortillas.
Ladies prepare fresh tortillas for people passing on the sidewalk.
Bienvenidos a Old Town! Where great food and a festive atmosphere mingle with San Diego’s rich, colorful history.
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This blog now features thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!
Here’s the Cool San Diego Sights main page, where you can read the most current blog posts. If you’re using a small mobile device, click those three parallel lines up at the top–that opens up my website’s sidebar, where you’ll see the most popular posts, a search box, and more!
To enjoy future posts, you can also “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
I was fortunate to get this great photograph while walking past the Immaculate Conception Church last Sunday morning. (Yes, I did a lot of walking last weekend!) It’s located directly across the street from the colorful shop in the previous blog post.
This historic church in Old Town was built in 1917, and its bell tower contains one of two original bells from the centuries old San Diego Mission. The other bell can be found at Mission San Diego de Alcala in Mission Valley.
I believe that’s a Catholic priest by the front steps with his hand on an elderly gentleman. It’s a warm gesture and a beautiful photo!
Here are more pics taken on later dates…
Man looks up at entrance to Old Town church.
One of the original San Diego Mission bells can be seen in tower above.
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The Old Town Market is one very popular destination.
Little shops selling all sorts of colorful souvenirs, curios and crafts can be found everywhere in Old Town, both in the State Park and in the touristy area just to the south. Many of the items for sale are Mexican in origin or style. You can find pottery, painted tiles, jewelry, maracas, pinatas, lucha libre masks, and all sorts of unique leather and wood-carved crafts. A few stores have a Western theme and sell cowboy hats, boots, Native American art and other stuff related to the American frontier experience. It’s fun just to browse and soak it all in!
Kid checks out a bunch of Mexican Lucha Libre masks.
Tourists take a stroll through the colorful Old Town Market.
Very colorful pottery can be found everywhere.
Painted tiles for sale hang on an orange wall.
Vendor at Old Town Market at work with a power drill.
Painted plates for sale in a corner of Old Town.
Many Western items on display in an Old Town shop.
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