Johnson House

Location: 2706 San Diego Avenue
Old Town State Historic Park
Old Town San Diego, CA (map)
Phone: (619) 220-5422
More info: Website

George Alonzo Johnson, a wealthy Colorado River steamboat operator, bought this vacant lot on the plaza from his mother-in-law, Tomasa Pico de Alvarado, in 1869.

Captain Johnson, who lived with his wife Estefana at Rancho Los Penasquitos, built a modest, wood-frame office building on the lot. The building was rented out as a grocery store and later bookkeeping business. Typical of many American buildings, it had a false front and full-length wooden porch.

In 1880, the Johnsons lost their rancho to creditors and within several years moved to this building on the plaza, where the captain died in 1903. Reconstructed in 1989 by California State Parks, the building operates as a park concession.