Downtown San Diego is located on the site that Alonzo Horton bought 960 acres of land in 1867 and advertised the settlement in San Francisco as the next big place in California. The site competed with the existing settlement of San Diego, now the Old Town neighborhood in San Diego, to be the more important San Diego in the area. In 1871, a county clerk settled the matter by collecting the county records from the Whaley House in Old Town and moving it to New Town, making New Town the center of government beginning that year.
New Town began to boom with the assumption that a transcontinental Southern Pacific railroad line would terminate in San Diego, but the railroad from New Orleans was built to Los Angeles instead. San Diego went into decline after this, until the Panama Canal was built, and San Diego became the first American port for ships heading from the canal to the Pacific coast. The Panama-California Exposition of 1915 celebrated the opening of the canal and was the beginning of San Diego's steady growth.
One America Plaza, on Broadway at Kettner Boulevard. The skyscraper is 500 feet tall and was built in 1991.
Santa Fe Station, on Broadway at Kettner Boulevard. The station opened in 1915 and was built in the Spanish Colonial style to compliment the buildings of the Panama-California Exposition of 1915. The station originally served the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, and later also served the San Diego & Arizona Railway and the San Diego Electric Railway.
500 West Hotel, on Broadway at India Street. The hotel is in the former Armed Services YMCA, which was completed in 1924. Emerald Plaza, built in 1990, is in the background.
The San Diego County Courthouse, on Broadway. The courthouse was built in 1961.
The Sofia Hotel, on Broadway at Front Street. The building was originally the Pickwick Hotel, which was started by the former Pickwick Stage Line after the company switched to hotels. The hotel was built in 1927.
Horton Plaza mall, owned by Westfield America, Inc., and officially Westfield Horton Plaza. The mall covers six city blocks, between Broadway & G Street and 1st Avenue & 4th Avenue.
Horton Plaza was opened in 1985 and was the first successful downtown retail center in the United States since the rise of suburban shopping centers.
The NBC Building, on Broadway Circle. The highrise was built in 1975 and is 306 feet tall.
The U.S. Grant Hotel, on Broadway.
The hotel was opened in 1910 by Ulysses S. Grant, Jr., son of the 18th President. Also in 1910, the fountain in Horton Plaza, seen in the foreground, was built.
The Pacific Milestone of the Old Spanish Trail. The milestone, which parked the end of the route, is in Horton Plaza. The Old Spanish Trail was an automobile route from St. Augustine, Florida, to San Diego, California that was begun in 1915 and completed in the 1920s. The road connected several cities in the southern United States that shared history of Spanish colonization, and included Spanish missions and forts.
Buildings at Broadway & 4th Avenue. The Yard House restaurant is in the foreground, and the Plaza Hotel is on the left.
The old First National Bank Building, at 5th Avenue & Broadway. The highrise was built in 1909.
Buildings on 5th Avenue in the Gaslamp Quarter. The Woolworth Building is on the left. The tall building on the right is the Watts-Robinson Building, built in 1913. On the very right is the old Louis Bank of Commerce, with its twin Baroque Revival towers, which was built in 1888.
The old San Diego Trust and Savings Bank building, on Broadway. The structure was built in 1928 and is now a hotel.
A building at Broadway & 6th Avenue.
Buildings on 6th Avenue. The Comerica Bank Building, built in 1974, is in the background.
The Samuel I. Fox Building, on Broadway. The structure was built in 1929.
Golden Eagle Plaza, on B Street. The highrise was built in 1969 and was renovated in 1996.
Buildings on C Street.
Wells Fargo Plaza, on B Street. The skyscraper is 331 feet tall and was built in 1984.
The California Theatre, on 4th Avenue. The theater was built in 1927 and closed in 1977.
The Charles C. Dail Concourse and City Administration Building, on C Street. Both were built in 1964 and the highrise serves as San Diego's city hall.
Spreckles Theatre, on Broadway. The theater was built in 1912 to host live events and was converted to a film theater in 1922.
A building at C & Columbia Streets.
The Electra, on Broadway. The condominium skyscraper is being constructed using the facade of the San Diego Gas & Electric Company Power Station B, which was built in 1911 and supplied steam heat to much of Downtown and provided power to the city's streetcars.
Buildings on Fifth Avenue in the Gaslamp Quarter. The Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop is on the left. The Yuma Building, built in 1886 by Captain Jack Wilcox, who named it after the town in Arizona where he did business, is on the right. The Yuma Building was originally used as a hotel. The Gaslamp Quarter is a neighborhood to the south of Downtown, centered on Fifth Avenue. Elaborate buildings went up when a transcontinental railroad was rumored, but the area fell into decline when the railroad did not come, and it became the seedy Stingaree District. In the 1970s, after decades of decline, the neighborhood became the focus of rehabiliatation.
The McGurk Block, on the northeast corner of 5th & Market Streets. The structure was built in 1887 and was a originally a drugstore.
The I.O.O.F. Building, on Market Street. The building was constructed in 1882.
The former Gaslamp 15 Pacific Theatres, now Gaslamp Stadium, on Fifth Avenue. The Neo-Art Deco multiplex theater was built in the early 2000s.
The Station 4 Fire House, on 8th Avenue at J Street. The firehouse was built in 1938.
PETCO Park, home of the San Diego Padres, at 19 Tony Gwynn Way in the southern part of the Gaslamp Quarter. PETCO Park was opened in 2004 and seats 42,445. The ballpark is known for being a pitcher's park, and the stadium consitently ranks at or near the bottom in Major League Baseball for hits and home runs per year.
PETCO Park from the Park at the Park. The Park at the Park is a grassy area with berm seating and a small baseball diamond, and is open during games for fans to watch for just $5. When it is not a game day, the area is open as a public park.
The Western Metal Supply Company building, built in 1910, was incorporated into PETCO Park in left field. The left field foul pole is the southeastern corner of the building. The structure sits on 7th Avenue.
The Padres have retired five numbers, which are displayed beyond center field on the batter's eye. Steve Garvey's #6 was retired in 1989, Tony Gwynn's #19 was retired in 2004, Dave Winfield's #31 was retired in 2001, Randy Jones' #35 was retired in 1997, and Jackie Robinson's #42 was retired across Major League Basebell in 1997.
A statue of Tony Gwynn sits in The Park at the Park, beyond the outfield wall. The statue was unveiled in 2007 to honor the "Mr. Padre", regarded as the best player in the history of the team.
Showley Brothers Candy Factory, which was built in 1924 and produced candy until 1951. The building was originally located at The Park at the Park, and was moved half a block east to make way for the park.
The Simon Levi Company's facade of their old dry goods warehouse, from 1927. The facade has been preserved and incorporated into the Legend at the Ballpark condominium building, completed in 2007.
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