Old Town San Diego, the site of the first permanent Spanish settlement in California, is considered the "birthplace" of California.
It was here, on a hillside in 1769, that Father Junipero Serra established the first of 21 missions which would end up spanning the California Coast. These missions established the cornerstone of California’s colonization.
At the base of the hill in the 1820’s, a small Mexican community of adobe buildings, now known as Old Town San Diego, was formed and by 1835 had attained the status of El Pueblo de San Diego.
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| The Adobe Chapel was originally built in 1850 as a home, and was converted to a church by Don José Aguirre in 1858. Much of the interior artifacts from the original chapel have been retained, including the tabernacle, the altar with its beautiful marbleized finish, some woodwork including pews and doors, and José Aguirre's tombstone is laid in the floor. |
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| Old Town is full of various types of local art. |
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| I kept hearing this rooster crowing. Turns out it was this dude right behind me..... |
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| Mmmmmm, them's good eatin!!! |
On this spot, in 1846, a U.S. Navy Lieutenant and a Marine Lieutenant, raised the first American flag in the Old Town San Diego Plaza.
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| The flag in the background is at the site of the old Ft. Stockton, near the Presidio, mentioned earlier. The next (final) San Diego blog will detail this area. |
