Old Town State
Historic Park

Location: Old Town San Diego, CA (map)
Phone: (619) 220-5422
More info: Website

Old Town San Diego State Historic Park recreates the setting of California life between 1821 to 1872, when San Diego evolved from a Mexican pueblo into an American frontier town. Its historic buildings and museums reflect the many cultures involved in the community’s development. More »

Museums and Historic Sites

Alvarado House (1830)
Reconstructed wood frame was home of Tomasa Pico, the sister of Alta California's last Mexican governor.

Black Hawk Smithy and Stable (1868)
John Hinton Livery stable. May have also served as the servants quarters of Bandini casa.

Cosmopolitan Hotel (1869)
Original adobe mansion of Don Juan Bandini, a Spanish gentleman and American patriot.

Casa de Estudillo (1829)
Original adobe mansion was the heart of San Diego's social and religious activities during the Mexican Period.

Casa de Wrightington (1830s)
Original adobe once used as a military hospital.

Casa Machado Silvas (1843)
Original adobe where the Silvas family hid the Mexican flag from the Americans in the War of 1846.

Casa Machado Y Stewart (1835)
Original adobe home with beautiful period vegetable garden.

Colorado House (1851)
Reconstructed hotel is now home to the Wells Fargo Museum with orignal stagecoach.

Dodson Building (1869)
1872 photograph shows a gabled, single-story wood-frame building. Residence of Nelson H. Dodson, Iowa native.

First San Diego Courthouse (1847)
First brick building built in San Diego by the Mormons after the War with Mexico. Once served as a mayor's office.

Johnson House (1870)
Traditional wood pre-fab style house that was brought by ship around the Horn.

La Plaza de Las Armas (1827)
Main plaza in Old Town State Park. Includes a flagpole and old wagon.

Mason Street School (1865)
Original wood frame was San Diego's first public schoolhouse. Mary Chase Walker was the school marm.

McCoy House (1869)
Reconstructed home of California's first Sheriff. Now serves as a State Park interpretive center and museum.

Pedrorena-Altamirano House (1869)
Don Miguel de Pedrorena original adobe. He saved the Spanish gun "El Jupiter" by burying it in his yard.

Racine and Laramie Store - Casa de Rodriguez(1830) Reconstructed adobe was expanded and converted to serve as a tobacco store and bank exchange saloon.

Robinson-Rose House Visitor Center (1853)
Once home to the San Diego Herald, and a big part of our commercial district. Now the park's visitor center.

San Diego House (1830)
Home to Freeman and Light, the first African-Americans to start a business in the community.

San Diego Union Newspaper (1868)
Original home of the Altamirano family. Later used as the San Diego Union offices - California's oldest newspaper.

Seeley Stable Museum (1869)
Original Yuma/San Diego stage stop in the 1850s. Albert Seeley also ran mail from San Diego to Los Angeles as a private express. Fabulous museum of early transporation.

Trimmer-Dodson Building (1869)
Reflects a utilitarian style of architecture commonly found in American frontier communities.

United States House (1850)
Pre-fabricated building operated as a general store and express wagon office.

Wells Fargo History Museum
Located in the Colorado House with orignal stagecoach.