Downtown San Diego is home to an eight-block historical district that preserves the history of Chinese Americans and their descendants. At the center of the district is the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum. The organization was founded in 1986 as the San Diego Chinese Historical Society of Greater San Diego and Baja California by Dorothy Hom and first president Sally Wong-Avery. The museum has been open to the public since 1996, offering extensive exhibits about Chinese and Chinese American history, art, and culture, a garden as well as cultural events and celebrations throughout the year.
Located near San Diego's historic Gaslamp District, the Horton Grand Hotel is actually a restoration of two hotels, the Grand Horton and the Brooklyn Kahle Saddlery. Still a working hotel, the Grand Horton was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The William Heath Davis House is the oldest surviving structure of New Town, now San Diego’s downtown. Today it is the Gaslamp Museum. Davis was born in Hawaii in 1822 and moved to what is now San Fransisco when he was 17. He was an adventurer and became a wilderness guide in the Sacramento Valley. By the 1940s, he started his own shipping business and made a fortune selling supplies and land to people who came to California for the gold rush.
This 1882 building took over a decade to construct due to lack of supplies and cash. Many donations, searching, and fundraising events finally gave the community of Odd Fellows and Masons what they needed to construct this Classical Revival style building. When the cornerstone was laid, a parade was held. Both the Odd Fellows and Masons shared this building until 1910, when the latter moved into a new hall made just for them. This building, more specifically the second floor, is still in operation by the local members of the Odd Fellows.
One of the first brick structures in San Diego, the Yuma Building was completed under the supervision of Captain Alfred Henry Wilcox who later acquired the building. Wilcox was a sea captain, Colorado River pioneer, and steamboat and steamship entrepreneur. The building is named in honor of Wilcox's Colorado River pioneering days around the village (now city) of Yuma. This building was completed in 1869 and it's history parallels the often colorful history of the neighborhood. For example, the building was at the center of the great Stingaree Raid of 1912 as part of the city’s efforts to rid the red light district of prostitution. In recent years the building has been home retail shops and apartments.
The Keating Building, now home to a luxury boutique hotel, was built in 1890. Fannie Keating led the effort to design and build the structure as a tribute to her late husband, George J. Keating. The couple had moved to California from Kansas in hopes that the region's climate would help the ailing George Keating. The couple made a significant fortune with their business which provided farm equipment, and they were looking forward to spending more time together in their new home. Unfortunately, George Keating died just a couple years after moving to San Diego. The building's top floors were home to a number of offices for attorneys and local companies while the first floor held the city's public library from 1901 until 1903. Keating's name remains at the top of the building.
Constructed in 1888 and located in San Diego's historic Gaslamp District, this Romanesque Revival Style building has maintained its original appearance, sans the five more modern fire escapes. The building is named after Thomas Nesmith and Major General Adolphus Washington Greeley. The former was president of the Bank of San Diego and the Citizen’s Committee of 40 (established in 1870), while the latter was an Army officer stationed in the area. A building designed to house politicians and businessmen and their offices, one other prominent tenant was Clara Shortridge Foltz, the first woman attorney admitted to the California Bar Association. Today it holds office buildings and a bar & grill.
Long considered the historic Gaslamp District's "Jewel," this building of two towers was completed in 1888. The Bank of Commerce until 1893 when one, Isidor Louis purchased the building. Louis opened an oyster bar here that is said to have been a favorite of Wyatt Earp's when he retired to the area. With the bar on the ground floor, the upper floors became a brothel, named the Golden Poppy Hotel. Until 2014 the building was operated as an historic stop of Wyatt Earp history.
A fixture of downtown San Diego for over a century, the Jessop Street Clock was once of the city's most famous attractions. The intricately designed clock was the brainchild of Joseph Jessop, and was designed by one of his employees, Claude Ledger. The Jessop clock made its public debut at the 1907 Sacramento State Fair, where it won a gold medal. The clock was moved to Horton Plaza in 1984.
The Balboa Theatre is located in the heart of downtown San Diego, CA, adjacent to the historic "Gaslamp Quarter," and is part of the Horton Plaza area. It was originally built in 1924 as a silent movie house and opened in March of that year, with a seating capacity of over 1500. Designed by architect William Wheeler, it has been called "one of the best commercial examples of the Spanish Colonial style in San Diego, borrowing directly from the [1915 Panama-California International] Exposition and utilizing many of the same contractors, designers and craftsmen." The theatre suffered decades of disuse, but in the early 21st Century was restored over a three-and-a-half year period at a cost of $26.5 million. It re-opened in January 2008 as a performing arts center with a seating capacity of over 1300. One of the last remaining theatres from the 1920s still in existence in San Diego, it was voted by CNN as one of the world’s 15 “most spectacular” theatres. It was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
The luxurious US Grant Hotel was born to be a top-shelf hotel. It opened in October of 1910 after five years of construction. The downtown San Diego building cost $1.9 million and became a local sensation. It drew thousands of curious people for its grand opening. Built in honor of former president Ulysses S. Grant, the Hotel also features the world’s first electrically lit fountain, designed by the hotel's architect Irving Gill and given to the hotel as a gift from the city of San Diego.
Spreckels Theatre opened in 1912 with a grand celebration that coincided with the opening of the Panama Canal. The theater has changed hands, but with only a few exceptions, it has been in operation since the time of its opening. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This short walking tour includes stops at a dozen museums, historic buildings, and landmarks in downtown San Diego in just about one mile. The tour ends just a few blocks from the city's naval history museums along the waterfront. Enjoy!
