Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, located in the Old Town neighborhood of San Diego, California, is a state protected historical park in San Diego. It commemorates the early days of the City of San Diego and includes many historic buildings from the period 1820 to 1870. The park was established in 1968. In 2005 and 2006, California State Parks listed Old Town San Diego as the most visited state park in California.
Windansea Beach is a stretch of coastline located in the La Jolla community of San Diego, California. The neighborhood adjacent to the beach is named Windansea after the beach. It is named after the 1909 oceanfront Strand Hotel that was renamed "Windansea" Hotel in 1919 after the owner Arthur Snell ran a "naming contest". The Windansea Hotel which was located on Neptune Avenue between Playa del Sur and Playa del Norte burned down in 1943. Geographically, it is defined by the beachfront extending north of Palomar Avenue and south of Westbourne Street.
The José Castro House, sometimes known as the Castro-Breen Adobe, is a historic adobe home in San Juan Bautista, California, facing the Plaza de San Juan. The Monterey Colonial style house was built 1838-41 by General José Antonio Castro, a former Governor of Alta California. It was later sold to the Breen family, who lived there until 1933, when the house became a museum as part of San Juan Bautista State Historic Park.
Warner's Ranch, near Warner Springs, California, was notable as a way station for large numbers of emigrants on the Southern Emigrant Trail from 1849 to 1861, as it was a stop on both the Gila River Trail and the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach line (1859-1861). It was also operated as a pioneering cattle ranch.
Weaverville Joss House State Historic Park is a state park located in the center of the town of Weaverville, California. The site is a Taoist temple which is still in use, and is the oldest Chinese temple in California.
Balboa Park is a 1,200-acre (490 ha) historic urban cultural park in San Diego, California, United States. In addition to open space areas, natural vegetation zones, green belts, gardens, and walking paths, it contains museums, several theaters, and the San Diego Zoo. There are also many recreational facilities and several gift shops and restaurants within the boundaries of the park. Placed in reserve in 1835, the park's site is one of the oldest in the United States dedicated to public recreational use. Balboa Park is managed and maintained by the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of San Diego.
Palm Spring Station is a former Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach station located at Palm Spring in San Diego County, California. This station built in 1858 by division agent, Warren F. Hall is commemorated by California State Historical Marker Number 639 Palm Spring.
The Camp Clipper and Camp Essex were sub camps of the US Army Desert Training Center in San Bernardino County, California, located near Historic Route 66 and the Santa Fe Railway. The main headquarters for the Desert Training Center was Camp Young. This is where General Patton's 3rd Armored Division was stationed. Camp Clipper was designated a California Historic Landmark (No.985.5). The site of Camp Clipper is at the Fenner Rest Area in Fenner, California, on Interstate 40 and Route 66, 32 miles (51 km) west of Needles in San Bernardino County, California, near Clipper Mountains. Currently at the south end of the Mojave National Preserve. Camp Clipper was just to the east of Camp Essex. Clipper was a temporary camp for incoming and out going troops. Camp Essex was named after a small town near the camp, Essex. Near Camp Clipper was the 4,500 foot Camp Essex Army Airfield.
Casa de Lopez was a historical Adobe building in San Diego, California built in 1835. The Casa de Lopez site is a California Historical Landmark No. 60, listed on December 6, 1932. Casa de Lopez, often called the long House, built by Juan Francisco Lopez, a Spanish settler of San Diego. Casa de Lopez was one of the first large houses built in San Diego. Juan Matias Moreno lived in the house starting in 1846. Juan Matias Moreno as the secretary to 10th Governor of Alta California, Governor Pío Pico, the last Mexican governor. The house, with a current address of 3890 Twiggs Street, is now a restaurant in Old Town, San Diego. A Historical marker is on corner of Twiggs Street west of Congress Street built by the California State Park Commission.
Casa de Machado, also called Casa de Machado y Silvas is a historical Adobe building in San Diego, California built in 1832. The Casa de Lopez site is a California Historical Landmark No. 71, listed on December 6, 1932. Casa de Machado was built by José Manuel Machado, pioneer leatherjacket company soldier of the New Spain Army stationed in San Diego. He arrived at the San Diego Presidio in 1782 when he retired. José Manuel Machado built a house, Casa de Stewart, for his daughter Rosa, she married Jack Stewart. Stewart from Maine and was pilot boat operator in Maine. The Stewarts enlarged the house. Carmen Stewart Meza lived in the house for some years. The 1850s it was a Commercial Restaurant. 1930s, The Machado y Silvas family owned the house until the 1930s. In the 1930s and early 1940s the house was rooming-house, café, art studio, and souvenir shop. In 1942 the house became a church, Machado Memorail Chapel. Casa de Machado was acquired by California State Parks in 1968, who had it restored. The Casa de Machado y Silvas house's current address, 2737 San Diego Avenue, in Old Town, San Diego.
Casa de Pedrorena, also called Altamirano-Pedrorena House is a historical Adobe building in San Diego, California built in 1869. The Casa de Lopez site is a California Historical Landmark No. 70, listed on December 6, 1932. Casa de Pedrorena was the home of Miguel de Pedrorena. In 1838 Miguel de Pedrorena arrived in San Diego Viejo. Don Miguel was a member of the California Constitutional Conventions at Monterey, California in 1849. Monterey Convention of 1849 was the first California Constitutional Convention to take place, a major decidion of the convention was to ban slavery and set state boundaries. Pedrorena sister, Isabel de Altamirano, received the house in January 1871. Isabel de Altamirano married Jose Antonio Altamirano and they raised their family here. Jose Antonio Altamirano was born in 1835 in La Paz, Baja California. Jose Altamirano arrived in San Diego in 1849. In San Diego he did some mining and raised cattle in San Diego and Baja California. The house's current address, 2616 San Diego Ave in Old Town, San Diego. Casa de Pedrorena is the newest and last of Old Town San Diego's adobe houses.
Casa de Stewart, also called La Casa de Machado y Stewart is a historical adobe building in San Diego, California built in 1835. The Casa de Stewart site is a California Historical Landmark No. 73, listed on December 6, 1932.
El Desembarcadero, or the The Landing is a historical site in San Diego, California in San Diego Bay. The El Desembarcadero site is a California Historical Landmark No. 64 listed on December 6, 1932. It is the site of the landing by Spaniards coming to New Spain, Pueblo de San Diego, now Old Town, San Diego. Small ship's boats brought cargo and passengers to the San Diego Mission, Presidio of San Diego and Pueblo San Diego. It most likely that ships San Antonio and San Carlos landed at the site in 1769, loooking fresh water on the San Diego River, on their San Diego expedition. San Antonio arrived in San Diego Bay on April 11, 1769, and the San Carlos on April 29. They landed on May 1, 1769, Some of the ships grew died in San Diego and Father Serra and Father Vila, remain in San Diego. T
Exchange Hotel, also called Tebbett's Place was is a historical building in San Diego, California built in 1851. The Exchange Hotel site is a California Historical Landmark No. 491, listed on October 10, 1951. The Exchange Hotel was built by George P. Tebbetts and his partner Philip Hooff. Tebbetts became the third mayor of San Diego in 1852. Lieutenant George H. Derby stand at the Exchange Hotel when he arrived in San Diego to plan the Derby Dike in 1853. Soon after Exchange Hotel opened on June 29, 1851, a group of Free Masons had a meeting. This was the first Freemasonry meeting in San Diego. The group started a lodge which became San Diego Lodge No. 35, F. & A.M., the oldest lodge in Southern California. Exchange Hotel became the Franklin House, when a third story was added to the Exchange Hotel by Messers Franklin. Joseph Mannasse owned the Franklin House for sometime. Racine & Laramie Tobacconist built both the Exchange Hotel and the Franklin House. The Franklin House was lost in an April 1872 fire, the site has been a vacant lot for sometime.
Fort Stockton, later called Fort Dupont was a historical fortress in San Diego, California built in 1828. The Fort Stockton site is a California Historical Landmark No. 54, listed on December 6, 1932.
La Cristianita Canyon, or La Christianita Canyon, Los Cristianitos Valley, Canyon of the Little Christians, La Cañada de los Bautismos is a canyon now on the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in San Clemente, San Diego County. La Cristianita Canyon is a California Historical Landmark No. 562 listed on December 31, 1956. The site was a campsite for the Spanish Commander Juan Bautista de Anza and Father Francisco Garcés expedition of 1775 and 1776. The expedition camped at the site in July 1769. At the campsite was a spring where the expedition rested and watered its stock of mules, cattle, and horses.
La Punta de Los Muertos, also called Sailors, Dead Men's Point is a historical site in San Diego, California. La Punta de Los Muertos site is a California Historical Landmark No. 57, listed on December 6, 1932. The site is thought to be the burial site of those that died in the survey party of Don Juan Pantoja y Arriaga and Don José Továr in 1782. Don Juan Pantoja y Arriaga arrived at San Diego Bay on the Spanish Empire Royal frigate La Princesa. With La Princesa was the frigate La Favorita. The ships were under the command of Don Augustín de Echeverria or Esteban José Martínez. La Princesa was under Agustín de Echeverría and Josef Tovar. Some sailors on the ships most likely died from scurvy or an intestinal disease, from lack of fresh food on the trip to San Diego. Esteban Martínez and Pantoja was also on the trip. Don Juan Pantoja was the leader of the San Diego Bay survey party, called the Pantoja voyage. The site is now a city shopping mall and Ruocco Park, near the San Diego Police Museum.
Mason Street Schoolhouse is a historical building in San Diego, California built in 1865. The Mason Street School District No. 1 is a California Historical Landmark No. 538, listed on September 14, 1955. The Mason Street School is the First Publicly owned School in San Diego. The school was used from 1865 to 1872. The Schoolhouse was moved once. For sometime in the 1940s to 1952 the Schoolhouse was a tamale restaurant, which operated out of the building until 1952. In 1952 San Diego County Historical Days Association acquired the Schoolhouse. The State of California acquired the Schoolhouse in 2013. The school building is now the Mason Street School Museum in Old Town San Diego at 3966 Mason Street. The school was restored in 1955.
Mule Hill is a historical site in San Pasqual Valley, San Diego, California. Mule Hill site is a California Historical Landmark No. 452, listed on November 2, 1949. The Mule Hill, a low hill, was the site of a battle during the Mexican–American War on December 7, 1846. The Mule Hill battle took place the day after the Battle of San Pasqual. The battle of San Pasqual took place five miles east of Mule Hill. The Mexican Californios attacked General Stephen Kearny's troops on Mule Hill. Kearny and his troops were on the way to San Diego when they were again attacked. The Kearny troops counterattacked, took, and held the hill until December 11. Kearny and his troops ran short of food and were forced to eat mule meat, the hill's namesake. Captain Turner was the one who ordered Lieutenant William H. Emory and a squad of dragoons to attack the Californios lancers, Leonardo Cota's men, at Mule Hill, killing five Californios lancers.
San Diego Viejo Plaza, also called Plaza de Las Armas, Old Town Plaza, Washington Square, is a historical site in San Diego, California. The San Diego Viejo Plaza site is California Historical Landmark No. 63, listed on December 5, 1932. The plaza was the center of Pueblo de San Diego founded in 1835 in Alta California.
