Oldtown V South San Diego

Downtown San Diego 1890?

For more than a hundred years Old Town was San Diego. It began with the founding of the fort and mission in July, 1769; it ended, “as a place of real consequence”, with the fire of April, 1872, which destroyed most of the business part of the town and turned the scale decisively in favor of the new settlement which had sprung up at Horton’s Addition

Now Horton was a Real Estate developer from back east and had a good notion of land values (location,location,location: right!) Alonzo Horton purchased 900 acres closer to the waterfront for $265, naming it “New Town.” It would grow to become the city and county seat, now downtown San Diego.

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One response to “ Oldtown V South San Diego”

February 18, 2025

John Doe

So Old Town was the hub and Downtown San Diego was a few huts and a lot of coyotes, and Mr. Horton bought up a lot of land Downtown and started wheeling and dealing,( sorta, kinda like his forte)
Then Old Town business district burned down. Horton believed Downtown, where the water was made a lot more sense as the hub of a city than Old Town.
What do you think?

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Oldtown V South San Diego