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The Old Town’s 12-acre State Park was created in 1968 just before the city’s 200th anniversary.
SAN DIEGO – As we continue our Then and Now series of San Diego’s neighborhoods, we head to Old Town, one of the most visited places in California. It is also known as the birthplace of California and while it continues to retain much of its past, it attracts people from all over the world to what happens now.
The Bazaar del Mundo in the old town is celebrating its 50th anniversary this week and Mayor Todd Gloria plans to attend the opening ceremony. Many things have changed in the old town, but one thing that has not changed is the rich history and culture of the old town.
As one of the most popular places in San Diego, Old Town attracts approximately four million visitors each year. The Old Town’s story tells how San Diego started with the arrival of Spanish settlements in 1769, but it’s the festivals, restaurants, and shopping that keep people coming back.
“I really like that crystal shop there called South American Imports. They have great prices, I am really into crystals. The atmosphere is great! ” said a visitor.
San Diego Avenue is home to some of the most unique places in Old Town. Cafe Coyote opened its doors over 30 years ago and still has the same owner, and was recently named San Diego’s Best Mexican Restaurant by the CA Restaurant Association.
“We’re popular because we’re doing the right things. Like our fresh tortillas, we are very famous for our fresh tortillas, our margaritas, we use really good ingredients, ”said Christine Smith, Café Coyote Manager. “We have a great staff. We have ladies who have been here for 20, 25 years. We have a lot of people who have been here for a very long time. “
Thousands of years ago, people began to live in what is now known as the Old Town. They called themselves Kumeyaay. A new two and a half acre exhibit called “Land of the First People” was recently added to the state park in her honor. The Old Town’s 12-acre State Park was created in 1968 just before the city’s 200th anniversary.
“The first people founded their civilization here about 10,000 years ago and they are still here. That’s another reason the state park addition is so relevant, ”said Fred Grand, president of the Old Town Chamber of Commerce.
With nearly two dozen historical sites and museums, the Whaley House is perhaps the most talked about. It was built in 1856 and named America’s Most Wanted House by the Travel Channel, and it was filmed in the 2012 horror film The Haunting of Whaley House. Today it is a museum that offers guided tours seven days a week.
“The house was San Diego’s first commercial theater, one of the first courtrooms in the area, one of the first general stores in the area, and the home of a very prominent San Diego family,” said Victor Santana, Whaley House operations manager.
The trolley tours are one of the biggest attractions in the old town. The trolley transports approximately 400,000 people through Old Town and parts of San Diego each year.
The tours in the old town started in 1989. The orange and green trams travel a 40-mile loop, visit 11 neighborhoods, and stop at each one along the way.
“We have the advantage that there is an important traffic junction right here at the Altstadt train station. So people don’t have to drive to get here. You can use public transport or the tram, “said Fred Grand, president of Old Town’s Old Town Chamber of Commerce.
According to Grand, the economic landscape of the old town with 450 shops and 32 restaurants is in good shape and continues to grow.
“We’re like other parts of San Diego. We want to promote more living when it’s done well. Maybe an apartment building. We updated our parish plan not long ago and doubled the number of homes that could be built here, ”said Grand.
The Bazaar del Mundo in the old town will also celebrate its 50th anniversary from November 4th to 7th. Opened in 1971, Diane Powers, owner of Casa Guadalajara, has created a unique San Diego shopping and dining experience that draws thousands of visitors to historic Old Town State Park each year.
CELEBRATE THE SAN DIEGO SERIES
Celebrate San Diego was a 1986/1987 series about neighborhoods in San Diego County. CBS 8 anchor reporter Connie Healy and a team of photographers roamed the county providing detailed profiles of several cities and towns in the area. They were history lessons focused on change and progress.
Many of the longtime residents she spoke to thought about what it was like to grow up in their city and what they thought of all the changes they had seen. You really get a feel for what the character and personality of the community was like in each profile – and how diverse the county really is.
Thirty-five years later, we’re sending out a team of reporters to see how things have changed or stayed the same in each of the nearly 20 neighborhoods we studied in the mid-1980s.
Connie shares her memories of working on this fantastic series below:
“I love talking to people. People make the news, not news anchors. They simply tell how we live our lives. In the 1980s, Celebrate San Diego did just that. It painted a picture of everyday life very different from what we live in today and a city many of us would not even recognize.
Talking to people, listening to their stories is what reporters do every day. But these stories about life in San Diego 50 to 100 years ago were amazing. This city has come a long way in the past 30 years, but some of the people in these stories saw change at the speed of light. I encourage you to take some time to peek into our past, indulge in the present, and celebrate the wonderful city we all call home. “
MORE THROWBACKS OF OLD TOWN
MORE THEN & NOW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries
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