People view photos and memorabilia in corridor of the old San Diego Police Headquarters located near Seaport Village.
In downtown San Diego, one can enter a highly secure jail cell, then turn around and easily walk right out! How? Simply visit the old police headquarters!
The Headquarters at Seaport is the official name of a relatively new shopping center on Harbor Drive, located right next to Seaport Village. The unique complex features several fine restaurants and specialty shops, housed in a restored building that was originally built in 1939. For almost half a century–until its closure in 1987–the fortress-like building with its large courtyard was home to San Diego’s police headquarters.
Anyone visiting The Headquarters can enjoy a free glimpse of San Diego history by checking out a modest exhibit in a corridor that leads to the old cell block and some restrooms. I took photographs during one walk that you might find interesting.
This beautifully restored building now contains shops and restaurants on San Diego’s waterfront. Built in 1939, it served for half a century as the city’s central police station.People amble past a doorway which leads into the past. A bit of San Diego history beckons the curious.Old jail cells and an interesting police department exhibit are inside!Fascinating photographs on one corridor wall show scenes from the old police headquarters.Many operations were under one roof, including administrative offices, jails, a law library, crime lab, pistol range, and even a police car maintenance facility.This photo shows officers posing in front of the iconic tower. The historic building is a mixture of architectural styles often seen in San Diego and Southern California.Display cases in this preserved hallway contain artifacts from local law enforcement decades ago.Vintage police shields and badges are among the interesting items in this museum-like display.Handcuffs, documents and law enforcement equipment educate visitors about police history in San Diego.Some patches that were worn proudly.Image shows original construction of the police headquarters in 1939.I believe someone who was arrested is being photographed. I see a clock, calendar, lights and identifying placard.The door of a holding cell in the old police headquarters corridor.Cells for prisoners and suspects were securely locked and unlocked using this mechanism.A look inside the eight cell, two level jail block. If you want to see what life was like behind bars, that last door is wide open!These jail cells are very simple and primitive. Comfort is not a priority.A few bare essentials and a pretty face.Visitors to The Headquarters old cell block look at mug shots on one wall.Prisoner Information. Personal property is surrendered, necessities are provided, hours for lights out and visitors, and two telephone calls are granted at the time of booking.Kids are photographed at the lineup wall. They look slightly suspicious!
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At the southwest end of Shelter Island, near the end of Shoreline Park, are some works of art. The female life-size bronze sculpture is Pacific Spirit, by James Hubbell, 2002.
I was off from work yesterday. In the late morning I headed down to Shelter Island. It’s another of my favorite places. After a bite to eat, I enjoyed an easy, peaceful walk while gathering photos for future blog posts. Expect some cool sights in the coming weeks!
The path that extends the length of narrow Shoreline Park is just about perfect. The park itself is located at the very edge of the bay, stretching from one end of Shelter Island to the other. In one place the path traverses what seems to be more of a large parking lot than a park, but no matter. I love the place. It’s relaxed, usually non-crowded, and just beautiful. There are amazing views of San Diego Bay, sailboats and a large variety of ships, scenic Point Loma, a slice of ocean horizon, the distant Coronado Islands (when it isn’t hazy), busy Naval Air Station North Island and the skyline of downtown San Diego. I often see people sitting on lawn chairs with binoculars, just watching boats pass by, jets take off from North Island, and birds that wheel and dive through the blue sky.
People walk along the pathway which stretches down narrow Shoreline Park. Grass, benches and picnic tables invite both locals and tourists.Bougainvillea and lath provide shade on a sunny warm summer morning. Several of these structures are found along the park.Bicyclist cruises past a raised Osprey nesting platform. A sign nearby provides an explanation.A large Navy warship entering San Diego harbor is seen beyond the Shelter Island pier. Downtown skyscrapers appear misty in the background.Fathom Bistro, Bait and Tackle sign at foot of Shelter Island fishing pier. They’ve been open a couple years now.Someone next to the pathway along Shoreline Park balanced a bunch of rocks up on top of each other. Perhaps it was someone who was fishing.Another cool photo of Shelter Island’s dinghy landing. I published a post with similar photos a year or two ago.Huge swaths of sand along the water are simply covered with gull tracks.Someone spreads a big bag of old bread along the small Shelter Island beach, sending the seagulls into a wild feeding frenzy!It’s a quiet weekday morning outside the Outboard Boating Club of San Diego’s building near the Shelter Island boat ramp. A nearby flagpole is empty.At the base of the flagpole: The Holiday Express. This plaque cast of brass from the aircraft carrier USS Bunkerhill CV-17 is dedicated to that gallant ship and her courageous crew.Perhaps you remember my fun blog post “Wally the sociable sea lion greets boaters.” I saw him again during another walk at the same boat launching area!Floating peacefully along the edge of San Diego Bay, enjoying the calm water and bright sunshine.Someone is ready to row off Shelter Island’s dinghy landing, perhaps heading to a boat moored nearby.
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Crew of live bait catching fishing boat Cougar works to transfer an immense net onto the G Street Pier at Tuna Harbor.
Late this morning I went down to HarborFest in Chula Vista. I’ve got to sort through a couple hundred photos–so I’ll blog about that cool event later. But first, here are some interesting pics which I took during a walk along San Diego’s Embarcadero this afternoon. As I strolled along Tuna Harbor, between Seaport Village and the USS Midway Museum, I noticed a lot of activity beside one of the live bait boats which docks at the G Street Pier. So I investigated.
Turns out, fishermen were removing a huge seine net from the Cougar, a commercial fishing boat which catches live bait. The bait is then distributed to local sportfishing vessels. I don’t claim to be an expert on these matters or to thoroughly understand what I saw, but I believe the captions I wrote are correct. I hope so! If a correction is required, leave a comment!
A crane is utilized to help transfer the heavy net from the boat’s big cylinder-like winch drum at its stern to the pier.Lots of seagulls were attracted to this picturesque scene on San Diego Bay. Perhaps they expected to spot some fish.Wrestling with the huge live bait encircling seine net, which is lined at the edges with yellow and white floats.Commercial fishing requires a lot of hard physical work on both land and water.Winch and crane operators work in tandem to keep the net moving from boat to pier smoothly and neatly.Working with a smile on a sunny summer Saturday on San Diego’s busy Embarcadero.Just a great photo of nets, gulls and human activity on a working public pier.
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Conceptual art displayed by County of San Diego Supervisor Ron Roberts at CityFest shows proposed aerial skyway from downtown to Balboa Park.
I just got back from walking through CityFest in Hillcrest. Lots of cool pics are coming! But first, I saw some conceptual artwork being displayed by San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts that has renewed my enthusiasm for a proposed transportation project.
The proposal, which I read about months ago, is for an aerial tramway, or skyway, which would connect downtown San Diego to Balboa Park. It’s an idea that’s both visionary and practical!
San Diego is an extremely popular tourist destination. There are many great things to see, including beautiful, amazing, enormous Balboa Park. Balboa Park, over a mile (to its center) from downtown, is often said to be one of the two best urban parks in America, along with New York City’s Central Park. But there’s one problem. If you don’t have a rental car, you must reach it on foot, by rented bicycle, taxi, or by city or tour bus. For some tourists this might be impractical, too time consuming, or unappealing. A skyway linking downtown’s many hotels, attractions and convenient trolley network to Balboa Park, I believe, would be wildly successful.
Can you imagine all the folks who work in offices downtown, easily heading up to Balboa Park during lunchtime? Can you imagine how visually unique and appealing such a project, tastefully designed, might be? Forget a Ferris wheel or tower on the waterfront, I say. That’s been done elsewhere. Let’s create something that’s both fun and extremely useful!
Living atop Cortez Hill, directly between downtown and Balboa Park, I can’t tell you how often I’ve given directions to lost San Diego visitors. They drive north only to reach a dead end at Tweet Street Park. They have to navigate confusing one way streets to find their way across Interstate 5, then figure out how to enter Balboa Park and locate a parking place. An aerial tram would help solve that problem, as well!
According to some literature I picked up from Ron Roberts, the San Diego Bay to Balboa Park Skyway, powered by a 500 horsepower electric engine, could carry up to 2400 people per hour.
The views of downtown, San Diego Bay and Balboa Park would be breathtaking. The ride itself would almost certainly become one of San Diego’s top tourist attractions.
From what I’ve heard so far, the idea is awesome!
The cool San Diego Bay to Balboa Park Skyway would travel from the Gaslamp up Sixth Avenue, covering two miles in 12 minutes.
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The Sheldon House is a very cool sight at the corner of 13th and Island in San Diego’s East Village.
Like most cities, San Diego has its share of cool old houses. Here’s an example of one that’s located in downtown’s East Village neighborhood.
Standing at the corner of 13th Street and Island, the 1886 Sheldon House was designed by the famous architects Comstock and Trotsche, and is an amazing example of the flamboyant Queen Anne style. The grand, extravagant Victorian mansion was built for Dr. F. C. Sheldon and his family, and included a multiple-gabled roof, a large, elegant front porch, and stained glass features in every window. Unfortunately, the doctor died soon after the mansion’s construction. To support the large surviving family, his wife converted the home into a successful boarding house.
Lots of decorative details include an elaborate porch and stained glass crowning every window.View of the sunlit Sheldon House from the east. A skeleton stands in one window!The 19th century Victorian mansion seen from the north, with modern residential buildings behind.
UPDATE!
Years later, I noticed this old photograph projected on a wall at the San Diego History Center. It is of the Sheldon Residence being moved by the Palmer Brother House Movers from 11th and D Streets to Island Street in 1913…
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A merchant ship’s purser greets a wheelwright in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park during Stagecoach Days: Trades That Shaped the West.
This afternoon I took a short easy stroll through Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. My trusty little camera captured some interesting photos of history come to life!
During summer Saturdays, Old Town hosts a cool event called Stagecoach Days. Each weekend there’s a different theme. Today it was Trades That Shaped the West.
As you might imagine, I witnessed historical reenactments of working life in San Diego when the town was a small outpost of civilization surrounded by mostly undeveloped wilderness. In those days life was often difficult, but the people were from hardy stock. Let’s see a small sample of what 19th century San Diego might have been like…
Stagecoach Days, Celebrating the West on the Move, is open free to the public. The weekly event is held on summer Saturdays in Old Town’s historic central plaza.Preparing an old Stanhope Park Phaeton, parked with other buggies and carriages in front of the Robinson-Rose House Visitor Information Center.A ladies basket trap carriage, circa 1900. This simple horse-drawn vehicle was often used for comfortable country travel, complete with wicker basket seat.The wheelwright had many tools on display and explained how wheels in the 19th century were skillfully created of wood and iron.A welded ring of bent iron would be expanded with heat, then placed around the wheel’s ash wood circumference.A cool woodworker demonstrates and provides the names of his many tools to the delight of watching kids.A sneak peek into the blacksmith shop behind Seeley Stable Museum before the event officially begins outside in the plaza.A blacksmith bangs away on some hot metal as he fashions a thin, pointed nail.This sliver of red hot iron with some hammering will be turned into a nail with a flat head, ready to be used for 19th century construction.These folks in historical costume are busily preparing some biscuits, a common food in the early days of San Diego.A smiling someone is tending the campfire. What’s cooking?Looks like a bubbling stew!Printing press demonstration underway at the San Diego Union Museum print shop in Old Town.Wells Fargo employee, from the agent’s office museum in the Colorado House, helps people into a stagecoach for a photograph.Of course, a good historical reenactment of the Old West requires lively music and enthusiastic dancing.Two ladies prepare to dance the polka.
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The elegant Jessop’s Street Clock stands like a vision from the past at the center of San Diego’s popular Horton Plaza.
San Diego’s top tourist attraction in 1907 wasn’t a zoo, a park, a popular building or location. It was an amazing clock. Word traveled far and wide about the elegant, beautiful, one-of-a-kind Jessop’s Street Clock, which debuted that year in downtown San Diego. San Diego at the time was a very small town. The large clock stood on the sidewalk in front of the J. Jessop and Sons jewelry store at 952 Fifth Avenue.
The idea for this street clock sprang from the imagination of Joseph Jessop, a jeweler who immigrated to America from England. He’d seen many beautiful public clocks in Europe. especially in Switzerland. Joseph hired mechanic Claude D. Ledger to build the complex clock, which took fifteen months of meticulous, precise work to complete. The fine clock has almost never stopped working. One memorable day the clock did mysteriously stop–the same day that Claude died.
The Jessop’s Street Clock was first displayed at the 1907 Sacramento State Fair, where it was awarded a gold medal. (The large medal of real gold was stolen, and so was the first bronze replacement!) Since then the clock has occupied several different spots in San Diego. The clock stands 22 feet tall and features 20 separate dials and 300 moving parts. It has an estimated worth of several million dollars. Much of the shining movement is gold-plated. The elegant clock contains tourmaline, agate, topaz and jade, local gems extracted from the Jessop Mine on Mount Palomar.
Today the historic clock occupies a prominent position near the center of Horton Plaza, where many shoppers breeze by with hardly a glance. I suppose very few people realize the importance of this clock, and how at one time, over a century ago, it was one of San Diego’s most well-known landmarks.
Shoppers walk past the beautiful Jessop’s Street Clock, a landmark in downtown San Diego for over a hundred years.Intricate, exquisite gold-plated movement of the historic Jessop’s Street Clock. The massive mechanism extends twelve feet down into the Horton Plaza parking garage!J. Jessop and Sons jewelers created this amazing clock, which over a century ago was San Diego’s top attraction!Thousands of hours have been spent over the decades maintaining, rehabilitating, moving and reconstructing the fine clock.The Jessops Street Clock was exhibited at the 1907 Sacramento State Fair. This is a bronze replica of the gold medal awarded to the master clock. The clock is property of the Jessop family.Base of the 1907 Jessop Clock in downtown’s Horton Plaza shopping mall. Plaque indicates Historical Landmark No. 372, The City of San Diego.Twelve dials on one face tell time in New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Milan, St. Petersburg, Calcutta, Capetown, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Mexico City.
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USS Midway visitor takes photograph with selfie stick next to aircraft-launching Shooter mannequin.
I hope you enjoy a few photos I took recently of planes and people (and helicopters) on the flight deck of San Diego’s USS Midway Museum. The historic aircraft carrier served longer than any other American carrier in the 20th century, spanning five decades from 1945 to 1992. Countless amazing stories have been lived by thousands serving aboard the USS Midway, and many of those stories continue today as docents and volunteers relate their personal shipboard experiences to visitors from around the world. San Diego’s unique aircraft carrier museum, now over ten years old, hosts over a million visitors a year.
Midway’s large flight deck, enlarged from 2.8 to 4 acres in 1966, today features a couple dozen restored aircraft that represent different eras of modern military history. The internet is jammed with pages showing and describing these aircraft in detail, so I thought I’d just provide a quick flavor of what it’s like to walk out on the flight deck on a typical San Diego day. If you’d like to take the cool self-guided tour of the ship, which I highly recommend, plan to spend at least an hour!
Lady walks past F-14 Tomcat fighter jet on USS Midway aircraft carrier’s flight deck.Tourists at USS Midway Museum walk out onto one of the two horns that project over San Diego Bay.Sign describes how to read Navy flag signals.Man lingers near F-8 Crusader, the US Navy’s first supersonic fighter.People sit on benches listening to a docent talk about launching airplanes from Midway’s two steam-powered catapults.Guy checks out A-7 Corsair positioned to be launched from powerful catapult, which accelerated aircraft to 170 mph in about 3 seconds!Young couple takes a look at E-2 Hawkeye, an Airborne Early Warning aircraft.Looking south from atop the flight deck. Seen are the Unconditional Surrender statue, Tuna Harbor, and the Coronado Bay Bridge.USS Midway visitors enjoy a sunny San Diego day near EKA-3 Skywarrior.Visitors find out what it’s like inside a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter.Peering through cockpit of HO3S utility helicopter at the nearby HUP Retriever.This HO3S Dragonfly, first helicopter aboard the USS Midway in 1948, is undergoing restoration.Docent veteran talks about how aircraft landed on the flight deck using a tailhook and multiple arresting cables.Exhibit on Midway’s LSO Platform shows how Navy pilots landed in difficult conditions, relying on optical guidance.Navy pilot mannequin in flight suit stands near FA-18 Hornet, painted as a TOPGUN enemy aircraft.A-6 Intruder bomber on display near USS Midway’s superstructure.Volunteers work to restore SH-2 Seasprite, beyond orange nose of H-34 Seabat.The huge flight deck of the USS Midway Museum hosts visitors from around the world, special military-related events, decades of history, and never-ending activity on San Diego Bay.
Sea lions sun on a large rock in the Pacific Ocean off Point La Jolla.
This blog post resumes my walk from the prior post. Here I head south down a truly amazing stretch of coastline, from Point La Jolla at the edge of La Jolla Cove to Cuvier Park. A good argument can be made that this is the absolutely most beautiful spot in all of San Diego. I’ll let you decide…
The 6,000 acre San Diego-La Jolla Underwater Park off the coast includes an Ecological Reserve and the Marine Life Refuge.Numerous seals and sea lions live on the rocks and beaches of La Jolla.People love to walk across this water-sculpted landscape right up to the sea cliffs to watch the surf.Over the years many have carved names and messages in the soft sandstone.Sea lions enjoy La Jolla just as much as human visitors!Some of those curious humans are grouped around a small tide pool in the rock looking for sea life.An unexpected wave crashes in. Run! Scatter!Looking south along the narrow beach from Point La Jolla. One of many lookout structures is visible up on the cliff.This lifeguard box features many barnacle-like beach-related words. The box is titled the David C. Freeman Memorial, by artist Paul Sibel. It marks the location of Boomer Beach.These simple, open gazebo-like structures along the walking path are fine places to gaze out at the broad ocean.Or you can just relax on an outdoor seat provided by nature.A major attraction along Coast Boulevard is spacious, grassy Scripps Park.Gnarled old trees dot the picturesque park, which contains many picnic areas and places to recreate on the grass.Ellen Browning Scripps Park is reported to be the most photographed spot in San Diego.More trees growing slantwise, blown by the prevailing sea breeze over the course of many years.Scripps Park contains the Abraham Lincoln Centennial Memorial plaque dedicated in 1909.Continuing south, more views looking back north of a truly spectacular coastline.Guy takes a nap on bench beneath a lifeguard tower.Shell Beach is one of many tiny sandy nooks that can be found among the rocky cliffs.A lady lies on a flat rock reading a book, as waves crash nearby.A beautiful walkway runs down from the Cave Store along Coast Boulevard for about a mile along the ocean.An artist paints a beautiful scene from a view point not far from Children’s Pool.I peer over the low wall and am greeted by a funny squirrel!One of these cormorants on a rock has its sun-drying wings spread dramatically.Getting very close to Children’s Pool, where many seals lie side by side on its wide, sunny beach.A quick turn back northward shows waves breaking against a vertical sandstone face!Legal disputes have entangled Children’s Pool over the years. The facility was created in 1931 by benefactor Ellen Browning Scripps as a safe spot for children to swim.People head down to see the colony of seals on the warm sand.At Children’s Pool Beach, a rope now keeps people from disturbing the protected marine mammals.Fisherman on the far sea wall have cast their lines into the blue Pacific Ocean.Continuing to walk south along more amazing coastline in La Jolla.Some surfers on a beach and in the foaming water below.Unusual sculpture at the rear of La Jolla’s Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego called Pleasure Point, by artist Nancy Rubins. It’s made of rowboats, canoes, jet skies, kayaks, surfboards…A stretch of green grass at Cuvier Park is the perfect place to sit or lie on a glorious Southern California day.Tide pools become visible at low tide along this easily accessible stretch of La Jolla.A dog takes a happy rest by some flowers as the surf rolls in.
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Taking an easy stroll above the wide, blue ocean in beautiful La Jolla.
My day in La Jolla yesterday was so wonderful I had to do it again!
A second walk today has my computer bursting with photos. So I’d better share some!
I’m going to create two blog posts. This first one involves a walk down the short but breathtaking Coast Walk Trail, then down Coast Boulevard from the Cave Store to La Jolla Cove Beach. Where the ocean meets land here is one of the most amazing, magical places a person might ever visit. A few photos hardly do the experience justice.
Be forewarned, this post starts with great natural beauty, but ends with sudden ugliness. You’ll see why I became a bit angry during my otherwise glorious adventure.
The Historic Coast Walk Trail begins near Torrey Pines Road and ends at the Cave Store on Coast Boulevard.Dozens of kayakers were out on the water as I walked west down the trail enjoying magnificent views.Red kayaks bunched close together below, east of Goldfish Point.Rounding a corner, shops and restaurants on Coast Boulevard come into view.Wooden steps plunge down to a scenic view point atop amazing sandstone cliffs. In the narrow cove on the left is an entrance to a sea cave.Nature’s beauty takes many forms, including a golden flower.From the view point I look east along eroded cliffs toward La Jolla homes.Heading back up to the Coast Walk Trail, which ends nearby at the Cave Store.A man-made tunnel inside the Cave Store leads from the gift shop to the Sunny Jim Sea Cave.About to turn north, beginning down Coast Boulevard, toward La Jolla Cove.The amazing Coast Boulevard passes La Jolla Cove, Scripps Park, Children’s Pool and the La Jolla tide pools!A message on the sidewalk caught my eye. Your troubles will cease and fortune will smile upon you.It’s possible to see into this sea cave.The rocky cliffs along Coast Boulevard are the home of pelicans, sea gulls and cormorants.Long-beaked pelicans and black cormorants have a rest in the warm sun between diving and hunting for fish.The cliffs of La Jolla are made of unstable sandstone, which occasionally crumbles into the Pacific Ocean.A gorgeous view of La Jolla Cove on a perfect spring day.A lifeguard tower rises above La Jolla Cove Beach. To the right of the tower is Point La Jolla.Looking down at La Jolla Cove Beach from the north. Buildings along Coast Boulevard are surmounted by those on Prospect Street.City of San Diego sign provides a warning. Caution, do not approach seals or sea lions! Harassing these marine mammals is against the law.A lady climbs stairs up from the beach, past a lifeguard rescue board.Some benches allow people to enjoy the view. Scuba divers in the cove swim with the sea life.Several thoughtless, self-centered people almost stepped on a seal as they crowded in to get a photograph.Agitated sea lion on a rock angrily confronts pestering people who don’t seem to care.
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Cool San Diego Sights! 