They hav a delightful patio and dining room featuring delicious Mexican food and delicious American cuisine. This replicated mini-museum features horse-drawn carriages and western memorabilia.įacing the Old Town Plaza is the Cosmopolitan Restaurant and Hotel (6) at 2660 Calhoun St. To the south past the Fiesta de Reyes (3) (see the Fiesta de Reyes walking tour in this chapter), is the highly recommended Seeley Stables (7), a reconstruction of the original 1867 stable. Interactive displays and rare old photos of San Diego make the McCoy House a must-see historic museum in Old Town. Friendly museum staff are on hand to answer any questions. Just behind the Visitor Center is a reproduction of the 1869 McCoy House (2), a fascinating interpretive center that brings alive San Diego’s past. Press the button in front of the diorama for an audio guide narrating what life was like for the early residents of Old Town. Of particular importance is a fantastic diorama of Old Town as it looked in 1872. Today, it’s home to the Old Town San Diego State Historic Park Visitor Center. The original building on this site was the first commercial building in Old Town. THE SAN DIEGAN OLD TOWN TOURĪ good place to begin the SAN DIEGAN’s Old Town tour is at the Robinson-Rose Building (1). Also, many restaurants have parking lots. All of the lots are designated by shaded gray areas on the Old Town map in this chapter. There are seven major parking lots in Old Town. If you decide to drive, parking in Old Town is not a problem, except on holidays and often in the summer. Buses, taxis, the Coaster commuter train and the bright red Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) Trolley (511) or, all stop at the convenient Old Town Transit Center (4), which is located half a block from the heart of Old Town. If you prefer not to drive to Old Town, you can easily take public transportation. We recommend allowing 3–4 hours to experience all that the park has to offer. Travel at your own pace and discover fascinating historic sites, as well as where to shop and the best places to dine. You can also take the SAN DIEGAN’s self-guided tour. The Visitor Center and most of the other historic buildings in the park are open daily: October–April 10 a.m.–4 p.m. These informative tours also provide anecdotes of San Diego’s Old Town history. and 2 p.m and cost ($10) for adults and ($5) for ages 6-17. (The bold-faced numbers in the text refer to locations on the chapter map.) The park staff and volunteers, dressed in old-fashioned attire, conduct tours daily at 11 a.m. So naturally, it’s San Diego’s most visited attraction.įor a brief overview of a few of the many historic sites in Old Town, take the one-hour walking tour, which departs from the Old Town San Diego State Historic Park Visitor Center (1) (61) located at the Robinson-Rose Building.
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Plus, this is San Diego’s only major attraction offering free admission and free parking. It is truly one of the most worthwhile attractions in all of California. Here you will see California as it was in the early 1830s. A visit to Old Town, the historically significant birthplace of San Diego, and California, is a must. The remains of that first mission can be seen in excavations in Presidio Park (31) above Old Town. On July 16, 1769, Father Junipero Serra founded the first of 21 missions in California, the Mission of San Diego de Alcalá. In 1769 New Spain directed Don Gaspar Portola and Father Junipero Serra to proceed northward from Loreto, Mexico, and to establish a colony and a mission in San Diego. But more than 150 years passed before New Spain finally saw the need to establish a settlement north of Baja California, Mexico. On November 10, 1602, Don Sebastian Vizcaino and a small armada sailed into the well-protected harbor. Sixty years elapsed before another European explorer set eyes on San Diego. Cabrillo recorded the position of the port he called San Miguel in his log and then set sail, never to return. On September 28, 1542, Portuguese navigator Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo and his crew of Spanish sailors discovered San Diego’s beautiful natural harbor. Don’t miss the opportunity to experience Old Town and to walk where San Diego’s founding fathers walked. Restored adobe homes, museums, landmarks, commercial shops, restaurants, informative park rangers and volunteers all bring the flavor of the past into the present. Old Town San Diego State Historic Park conveys an authentic re-creation of the city’s glorious history between 18. For additional information on a specific agenda item, or to reach this community planning group, please contact the chairperson listed on the Community Planning Group Contact List.Old Town San Diego is a Historic Treasure worth seeing. The meetings are held at the Whaley House Courtroom, 2482 San Diego Avenue. The group meets the second Wednesday of every month at 3:30 p.m.