Linda Vista Historical Walking Tour

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Entering the 1940s, San Diego was a city of 200,000 with little industrial base. World War II transformed San Diego and the rapid creation of Linda Vista played a central role. See the rest of this entry for more on the history of Linda Vista.

2. Linda Vista Branch Library

The current library facility is an award winning building by architect Rob Quigley, dedicated on December 12, 1987. It features two courtyards which extend visually into the interior space and a raised rotunda with clerestory windows. Playful elements and lightweight wood construction balance the traditional Mediterranean styles, formal spaces, and clear programmatic plan.

3. Linda Vista Presbyterian Church

Begun in 1942 and dedicated July 30th, 1944, the church features 21 stained glass windows. The centerpiece window over the entrance was donated by Catholic nuns and provides a focal point when looking south down Ulric Street toward the church. A fire in 1980 damaged the annex building which has since been restored. The annex houses the Vine Child Care Center and has also served as Mesa College Extension classrooms.

4. Holy Family Church

This Catholic congregation first met in a local home, then in the Housing Administration Building until its church was built at the corner of this large site in 1943. The 1943 building is now the Ave Maria Social Hall. The Modern sanctuary added to the site was designed by architect Joseph F. Dameron and completed in 1971. Dameron designed many churches in San Diego County including St. James & St. Leo, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Immaculate Heart of Mary, and Tierrasanta Lutheran Church.

5. Kit Carson Elementary School

When residents began moving into the Linda Vista development in 1941 there were no school buildings and no funding had yet been provided for their construction. With operational support from the federal government, the San Diego School District provided teachers and opened Kit Carson Elementary School in September 1941, conducting classes in unoccupied project homes on Coolidge St.

6. Linda Vista United Methodist Church

The church buildings are notable for having been relocated. The social hall (at left from street) is from the Camp Callan (1941-45) army training center which was located on Torrey Pines Mesa. The central building houses the church office, chapel, and kitchen and was relocated from a Marine Corps base (perhaps Camp Matthews, 1918-1964) where it was used as a mess hall. The school rooms at the back of the property were relocated from a WWII Japanese-American internment camp in Arizona, either Poston or Gila River (both 1942-45). The large sanctuary at right was completed for the church on site in 1948. Today the church serves a largely Vietnamese and Filipino congregation.

7. Canyon Ridge Baptist Church

Originally Calvary Southern Baptist, this impressive mid-century modern building was designed by prolific local architect Robert E. Des Lauriers and built in 1963. The original colored glass windows were replaced with clear and white glass in a 2010 remodel.

8. Bayside Community Center

Bayside’s building was originally a church, built in 1957 and expanded by Bayside in 2004. Founded in 1932 by the Sisters of Social Services, the non-profit is one of the only remaining settlement houses in Southern California. Bayside relocated from downtown's Little Italy to Linda Vista in 1978, largely in response to the influx of Asian immigrants as a result of the Vietnam War. A community garden was added in 2011.

9. Skateworld (Tenant Activity Building)

The 1940 Latham Act that funded the building of Linda Vista housing did not provide for community, school, or commercial facilities. A 1941 amendment creating public works grants and 1942 guidelines for development finally led to Linda Vista’s first recreational and civic facility, the multi-use Tenant Activity Building. Work began in August 1943, was completed within 90 days, and was dedicated on December 26, 1943. The dedication included a week-long celebration including a riveters’ quiz contest, a carnival, youth activities, and a New Years’ ‘swing shift dance’ from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m.

10. Linda Vista Shopping Plaza

The original Public Buildings Administration plans included a central shopping plaza but it was over two years after residents began living here that Linda Vista received a commercial core. The center was designed by Pasadena architects Karl F. Giberson and Whitney P. Smith and was very different than the plaza today.

11. Educational Enrichment Systems (ESS)

This building was the second location for the Linda Vista Library. Groundbreaking for the new library was held on July 17, 1950, with the library opening on April 8, 1951. The facility was designed by F. R. George of the City Engineer’s office and was designed to allow for building of a partial second-story later if needed.

12. Calvary Korean Church

The Calvary Korean Church occupies what was first the Linda Vista Baptist Bible College and Seminary. Built in 1946, the seminary later moved to El Cajon and the building served as a community social hall. It was the site for social services and resettlement work for Vietnamese immigrants in the 1970s and 80s before being abandoned for a many years. The building was purchased and restored by San Diego Calvary Korean Presbyterian Church in 1991.

13. Montgomery Middle School

The school building was originally Stephen Watts Kearny Junior-Senior High School. Like Carson and Linda Vista Elementaries, its first classes were held in project homes. For Kearny these were 37 homes on Ingersoll St. beginning September 15, 1941. The school building was completed and opened for classes in 1942. Senior High grades were moved to the present Kearny High which opened on September 14, 1953 a mile north-east along Linda Vista Road.

14. Linda Vista Elementary School

Linda Vista Elementary School Opened in Fall, 1943. Need for schools continued to grow with successive phases of the development and Chesterton Elementary opened a year later.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

Linda Vista Historical Walking Tour

Created by Linda Vista Branch Library on July 31st 2017, 11:48:55 am.

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Description

San Diego's diverse Linda Vista neighborhood has a unique history, having been built as a federal wartime project. In the first phase in 1941, 3000 homes were built in 259 days. Much of the original construction remains. This tour visits the major civic sites in the core area and passes through parts of the 1941 residential development. The tour and site entries were developed by the Linda Vista Branch Library, part of San Diego Public Library, and the Linda Vista Town Council.

Entries on This Tour

Linda Vista Historical Walking Tour

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