Los Angeles & Southern California - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [244]
Across from the center the restored Casa de Estudillo is filled with authentic period furniture. Pick up a self-guided tour map. Other buildings around the plaza include a blacksmith shop, print shop and a candle-dipping shop – call the visitors center for hours.
The Plaza del Pasado, just off the plaza’s northwestern corner, is a colorful collection of import shops and restaurants – great for Mexican souvenirs without the trip to Tijuana. Along San Diego Ave, on the southern side of the plaza, small, historical-looking buildings (only one is authentic) house more souvenir and gift shops.
Two blocks from the Old Town perimeter sits Whaley House (Map; 619-297-7511; www.whaleyhouse.org; 2476 San Diego Ave; adult/child $6/4; 10am-10pm daily Jun-Aug, 10am-5pm Mon & Tues, 10am-10pm Thu-Sun Sep-May; ), the city’s oldest brick building, officially certified as haunted by the US Department of Commerce. Check out the collection of period furniture and clothing from when the house served as a courthouse, theater and private residence.
Just north of Old Town, Casa de Carillo dates from about 1820 and is said to be the oldest house in San Diego. It is now the pro shop for the public 18-hole Presidio Hills Golf Course (Map; 619-295-9476; www.golfsd.com; cnr Juan St & Wallace St; greens fee $10).
The Old Town transit center, on Taylor St at the northwestern edge of Old Town, is an important transit hub for the Coaster commuter train, the San Diego Trolley and buses. Old Town Trolley tours stop southeast of the plaza on Twiggs St.
PRESIDIO HILL
In 1769 Padre Junípero Serra and Gaspar de Portolá established the first Spanish settlement in California overlooking the valley of the San Diego River. You can walk up from Old Town along Mason St for excellent views of San Diego Bay and Mission Valley. Atop the hill, Presidio Park has several walking trails and shaded benches. A large cross, made with tiles from the original mission, commemorates Padre Serra. American forces occupied the hill in 1846, during the Mexican-American War, and named it Fort Stockton, for American commander Robert Stockton. A flagpole, a cannon, some plaques and earth walls now form the Fort Stockton Memorial. The nearby El Charro Statue, a bicentennial gift to the city from Mexico, depicts a Mexican cowboy on horseback. Nothing remains of the original Presidio structures.
The Serra Museum (Map; 619-297-3258; 2727 Presidio Dr; adult/child/student & senior $5/2/4; 10am-4:30pm) has a small but interesting collection of artifacts and pictures from the Mission and rancho periods, and gives a good sense of the earliest days of European settlement up to 1929 when the museum was founded.
Uptown & Hillcrest
Uptown is roughly a triangle north of Downtown, east of Old Town and south of Mission Valley. In the late 19th century it was fashionable to live in the hills north of Downtown, since only those who owned a horse-drawn carriage could afford it. Called Bankers Hill after some of the wealthy residents – or Pill Hill, because of the many doctors there – the upscale heights had unobstructed views of the bay and Point Loma before I-5 was built.
A few of the ornate Victorian mansions survive, most notably the 1889 Long-Waterman House (2408 1st Ave). Easily recognized by its towers, gables, bay windows and verandah, it was once the home of former California governor Robert Waterman. Also notable is the Timken House, one block to the north. The 375ft Spruce St Footbridge hangs over a deep canyon between Front and Brant Sts. The Quince St Bridge, between 3rd and 4th Aves, is a wood-trestle bridge built in 1905 and refurbished in 1988 after community activists protested its slated demolition.
In the 1970s, architect and artist