Ballast Point Whaling Station SiteLate in 1857, the three Johnson brothers and the twin Packard brothers came to this site to survey possibilities for a station to 'try out' or extract... [click for more]
Cabrillo Landing SiteSeeking the mythical Strait of Anián (the Northwest Passage) for Spain, on September 28, 1542, Iberian navigator Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo... [click for more]
Casa De BandiniThis adobe house was constructed about 1827 by José and Juan Bandini. As headquarters of Commodore Robert F. Stockton in 1846, it was the place... [click for more]
Casa De CarrilloPresidio Comandante Francisco María Ruiz built this house next to his 1808 pear garden lake in 1821 for his close relative and fellow soldier, ... [click for more]
Casa De LopezBuilt about 1835 by Juan Francisco Lopez, one of San Diego's early Spanish settlers, the Casa Larga, or Long House, was among the first substantial ho... [click for more]
Casa De MachadoThis adobe house, constructed about 1832 by José Manuel Machado, pioneer leatherjacket soldier of the Spanish Army who arrived at San Diego Pre... [click for more]
Casa De PedrorenaThis was the home of Miguel de Pedrorena, who arrived in San Diego Viejo in 1838. Don Miguel was a member of the Constitutional Convention at Monterey... [click for more]
Casa De StewartAdobe house constructed by José Manuel Machado in 1830s for his daughter Rosa, wife of John C. Stewart. Stewart was a shipmate of Richard Henry... [click for more]
Casa de EstudilloThree generations of Don José María Estudillo's family made their home in Casa de Estudillo. Rich in historical background, the casa is ... [click for more]
Congress Hall SiteThis building was originally a two-story public house built by George Dewitt Clinton Washington Robinson about 1867. From this building one of the las... [click for more]
Derby DikeUntil 1853 the erratic San Diego River dumped tons of debris into the harbor or poured into False Bay, now Mission Bay. At times it threatened to dest... [click for more]
El Campo SantoEl Campo Santo once included the adobe chapel on Conde Street, in which were buried José Antonio Aguirre, María Victoria Domíngue... [click for more]
Ferryboat BerkeleyThe steam ferryboat Berkeley was the first successful West Coast-built and operated ferry to be driven by a screw propeller as opposed to sid... [click for more]
Fort Rosecrans National CemeteryA burial ground before 1847, this graveyard became an Army post cemetery in the 1860s. It is the final resting place for most who fell at San Pasqual ... [click for more]
Fort RosecransPresident Millard Fillmore's executive order of 1852 created a U.S. Preserve on Point Loma. From 1870 to 1873 the coast artillery corpsmen evicted wha... [click for more]
Fort StocktonFortified briefly by Carlos Carrillo in 1828, this site became Fort Dupont (July-November 1846) after American forces took Old Town during the Mexican... [click for more]
Giant Dipper Roller CoasterThe 1925 Giant Dipper Roller Coaster (or “Earthquake”) is a large wooden roller coaster, and its highest “hills” reach a heigh... [click for more]
La Punta De Los MuertosSailors and marines were buried here in 1782, when San Diego Bay was surveyed and charted by Don Juan Pantoja y Arriaga, pilot, and Don José To... [click for more]
Montgomery MemorialAt Otay Mesa, in 1883, John Joseph Montgomery made the first flight in a heavier-than-air craft 20 years before the Wrights. Montgomery made many more... [click for more]
National City Depot Transcontinental RailroadThis National City California Southern Railroad depot built in 1882 served as the first Pacific Coast terminus station of the Santa Fe Railway system’... [click for more]
Old La PlayaFrom 1770 to 1870, this was San Diego's port. Over the Brookline hide house, Americans unofficially raised a U.S. flag in 1829. At that time La Playa ... [click for more]
Old Landing, Site Of El DesembarcaderoEl Desembarcadero was one of the first landmarks designated during the first year of the landmark program. The site was recognized as the landing plac... [click for more]
Old Town San Diego State Historic ParkSettled by pensioned soldiers from the presidio and their families, Old Town grew into a cluster of adobe houses and garden plots in the early 1800s. ... [click for more]
Peg Leg Smith MonumentThomas L. Smith, better known as 'Peg Leg,' 1801-1866, was a mountain man, prospector, and spinner of tall tales. Legends regarding his lost gold mine... [click for more]
Plaza, San Diego Viejo (Washington Square)This plaza was established as the center of the Mexican Pueblo of San Diego which elected its first ajuntamiento in 1834. On July 29, 1846, at 4 p.m.,... [click for more]
San Diego BarracksNew San Diego was established as a quartermaster depot by Captain Nathaniel Lyon, 2nd U.S. Infantry, in 1850-51 to supply military establishments in S... [click for more]
San Diego Presidio SiteSoldiers, sailors, Indians, and Franciscan missionaries from New Spain occupied the land at Presidio Hill on May 17, 1769 as a military outpost. Two m... [click for more]
Serra Palm (site)Site of the palm planted in 1769 by Padre Junípero Serra when he arrived at San Diego. Here the four divisions of the Portolá Expedition... [click for more]
Site Of Casa De CotaThis adobe is said to have been built about 1835 by Juan or Ramon Cota. ... [click for more]
Site Of Fort GuijarrosAn outpost of Spain's far-flung empire at its greatest extent, this fort was completed before 1800 from plans drawn by Alberto de Córdoba in 1795. Its... [click for more]
Site Of The Kate O. Sessions NurseryThis plaque commemorates the life and influence of a woman who envisioned a beautiful San Diego. On this site she operated a nursery and gained world ... [click for more]
Spanish LandingNear this point, sea and land parties of the Portolá-Serra expedition met in 1769. Two ships, the San Antonio and San Carlos, anchored on May 4... [click for more]
Star Of IndiaThe “Star of India,” a three-masted bark, is the oldest iron-hulled merchant ship afloat. Built on the Isle of Man, Great Britain, she was... [click for more]
The Exchange HotelThis tablet marks the site of the Exchange Hotel. Here, on June 29,1851, Masons met for the first time in San Diego and organized the lodge which beca... [click for more]
