Many wonder just exactly what a Labor Temple is. It is defined as an organization created for the purpose of improving conditions for those who work, including agricultural, educational, instructive and also, unions. The building is their “temple,” or meeting place. Throughout its long tenure, the Gaslamp’s Labor Temple Building has housed many of these, including unions for bartenders, cigar makers, theatrical employees , hod carriers and the Women Union Labor Leagues.
What do all of these buildings have in common? They are all still hotels, but now they provide low-cost homes for San Diegans on fixed incomes. They may be forgotten, and not the original tourist attractions they once were, but they are still providing people a much needed commodity in our town – affordable housing.
July 6,1820 – April 16,1862 United States Boundary Commissioner and Surveyor
WIlliam Heath Davis Jr. was born in 1822 in Honolulu on the island of Oahu in the Kingdom of Hawaii. His grandfather was Oliver Holmes born in 1777 in Massachusetts, and his grandmother was Mahi Kalanihoʻoulumokuikekai, the daughter of a high chief of Oahu who was killed in the bloody Battle of Nu’uanu. She was […]
Maria Estudillo, as the wife of William Heath Davis, was the link between Old Town San Diego and New Town built on the bay. Dona Maria de Jesus Telesfora de los Santos Reyes Estudillo was born in Santa Barbara, California on January 5,1829. Her parents were Juana Martinez and Don Jose Joaquin Estudillo. In 1834, her father was elected the first alcalde (mayor) of Yerba Buena (San Francisco) where the family had moved, […]
The Sandwich Islands Gazette January 27, 1838 “ Married on Friday evening, January 21st by Reverend Lowell Smith, Mr. William Heath Davis to Kaimiaina.” This short newspaper notice appeared just before William Heath Davis received a letter from his stepfather, John Coffin Jones. Mr. Jones, who was in Santa Barbara, California at the time, reiterated […]
New Town initially thrived. Davis completed his wharf at the foot of Market Street. It was 600 feet long and L-shaped. Goods that were unloaded from the ships were then transported by pack or wagon train to Fort Tejon, Fort Yuma, Fort Mohave, San Luis Rey, Chino, Santa Isabel and San Bernadino. A supply building, […]
Still – most San Diegans, who lived in Old Town which was the county seat, were slow to embrace the new site. This was further complicated by a financial depression in the mid 1850s, rumored Indian attacks, the threat of a possible war between the southern and northern states and heavy damage to […]
Choate-Gerichten-Peterson Block a.k.a. Ingersoll Tutton Mercantile Building 1894 818-836 5th Avenue Architect – Joseph Falkenham Architectural Style – Romanesque Revival Even after the boom building years of the 1880s, several of the structures along 5th Avenue were still relatively unadorned wooden buildings. After 5th Avenue was paved in 1888, many investors then turned their attention […]