VILLAGE LIGHTS HISTORICAL PLAQUES
POINT LOMA ASSOCIATION
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Cabrillo National Monument
The National Park Service established Cabrillo National Monument in 1913 to commemorate Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the first recorded European to set foot on what is now the west coast of the U.S. The park offers breathtaking views of the San Diego harbor and skyline, Coronado Island and Naval Air Station North Island. The iconic 1855 Old Point Loma Lighthouse and keepers’ museum, a restored World War II bunker, tidepools, trails, and visitor center add to this National Park’s attractions for thousands of visitors annually.
Cabrillo National Monument (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery
In 1852, President Fillmore established San Diego’s first military reservation on Point Loma. Gun emplacements soon appeared along with quarters and training facilities. Fort Rosecrans was named for Civil War General William S. Rosecrans in 1898, and was completed by 1904. Thousands of soldiers were trained here, and in 1932, Fort Rosecrans became the 62nd California Historical Landmark. Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery is the lasting legacy of Fort Rosecrans, a final resting place for more than 120,000 Americans who died as long ago as 1846.
Fort Rosecrans, California - San Diego History Center | San Diego, CA | Our City, Our Story
La Playa Trail
La Playa Trail, the oldest commercial route in the western United States, is a well-worn path leading north along the shoreline toward the pueblo of San Diego. Although the native Kumeyaay people had been traveling the old road for thousands of years, Vicente Vila, captain of the San Carlos from the Portola expedition, was the first European to document La Playa Trail in 1769. Beginning at Ballast Point, the trail ran along present-day Rosecrans Street through the pueblo of San Diego past the Kumeyaay village of Cosoy, and east along the San Diego River.
Roseville
Named for its developer, German Jewish immigrant Louis Rose, Roseville is the oldest settled part of Point Loma. Rose bought the area in 1866, laid out streets, built a wharf and hotel, and hoped to link Roseville to a railroad. He thought it would be a future city, and for a time it was a separate city competing with San Diego's New Town across the bay. A plaque at the corner of Rosecrans Street and Avenida de Portugal, then the center of Roseville, recognizes its establishment in 1869.
Tunaville
Tunaville was home to Portuguese immigrants as far back as 1885, and by the 1940’s had become a bustling tuna fishermen’s haven. Early Portuguese fishing settlements grew along the base of Kellogg and McCall streets in La Playa and Roseville, when the natural tidelands meandered as far inland as today’s Scott Street. By 1933, the larger St. Agnes Catholic Church was completed with funding from the fishermen. St. Agnes’ campanile included a lighted statue of Our Lady of Good Voyage, an ever-present beacon for fishing boats returning from sea.
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay are the original native inhabitants of San Diego County, living in the region for 12,000 years. Many of the neighborhoods in San Diego County, previously thought to be Spanish, are in fact Kumeyaay. Mat Loan translates to Point Loma by the Kumeyaay. It was here that they gathered mussels, fished, and harvested abalone shells to trade with Arizona tribes. Kumeyaay were masters of the bays and oceans. They were maritime people thousands of years before arrival of the Spaniards.
https://obrag.org/2014/09/descendants-of-early-native-point-lomans-speak-out/
1915 Panama-California Exposition
The Panama California International Exposition of 1915-1916 celebrated the completion of the Panama Canal while promoting San Diego as the first U.S. port of call. A road race featuring the country’s top racers attracted 50,000 people to the exposition. Eighteen drivers started the race, driving for six hours and over 300 miles on a route through Point Loma that still exists today - along Rosecrans, Chatsworth, Catalina, and Canon Streets. Only five cars finished, with Earl Cooper in Stutz #8 winning with an average speed of 65 mph.
San Diego Exposition Road Race - Panama-California Exposition (pancalarchive.org)
Chinese Fishermen
From 1860 to the early 1890’s, Chinese immigrants constructed a fishing village and shipbuilding facility near the corner of Talbot Street and Anchorage Lane along La Playa Trail. The small Asian immigrant community provided nearly all the fresh fish needs of San Diego and exported dried fish and abalone to China. They also supplied Chinese laborers on the California Southern Railroad with fish and clams. These pioneer fishermen were instrumental in developing what would become one of San Diego’s most important industries.
Marker recalls Chinese fishing village on Point Loma. – Cool San Diego Sights!
Portuguese Hall & Chapel
The Point Loma United Portuguese SES [PS1] and Chapel is an important cultural landmark that celebrates the contributions of the Portuguese community to San Diego's history and culture. Built in 1922, the chapel is one of only two in California, serving as a place of worship for Portuguese immigrants from the Azores, Madeira, and mainland Portugal, while the SES hall serves as a community center for Portuguese cultural. The popular Festa do Espiritu Santo is still celebrated to this day, culminating in a parade through Point Loma streets.
Jennings House
The oldest home in Point Loma was built in 1887 by one of Point Loma’s founders, Frank Jennings. When Jennings and his family arrived, Roseville consisted of little more than a hotel, a wharf and a few fishermen’s shacks. Twenty years earlier, Louis Rose had established the community along the eastern shore of the peninsula. The Jennings House on Rosecrans became a sweet shop and apartments in the 1930s and a boarding house for soldiers and fishermen in the 1940s. In later decades, the house served many purposes including a bakery, boutique, bookstore, art gallery, and coffee shop.
https://obhistory.org/2019/02/23/mar-21-the-jennings-family-more-than-meets-the-eye/
Ocean Beach
Originally coined Mussel Beach, Ocean Beach was named in 1887 by Billy Carlson and Albert E. Higgins who built the Cliff House hotel. The resort did not do well due to 2.5 hour carriage ride from downtown San Diego. Developer D.C. Collier, a "father" of Ocean Beach, laid out streets, brough electricity and a street car line in the first decade of 1900. By the 1920s, tourists were coming and home construction increased, making the beach town a hometown as well. Ocean Beach’s unique casual legacy and hometown pride is still prevalent today.
Naval Training Center – Liberty Station
The Naval Training Center (NTC) Point Loma was established in 1923 as a basic training facility for enlisted personnel joining the U.S. Navy. As the largest U.S. Navy training facility on the West Coast during World War II, NTC transformed civilians into sailors by teaching essential naval skills. Hundreds of thousands of recruits passed through NTC during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The facility closed in the 1990’s and later transformed into “Liberty Station,” a mixed-use community with residential, commercial, cultural and recreational spaces.