Balboa Theatre 1924 648 4th Avenue, Southwest Corner of Fourth and E Architectural Style: Spanish Renaissance Revival Architect: William Wheeler “Curtain going up!” With pomp and circumstance, the magnificent Balboa theatre opened on Friday, March 28, 1924. All of San Diego was excited to welcome screen stars Corrinne Griffith, Conway Tearle, Adele Rowland and “the […]
The Watts-Robinson Building 1913 Northeast Corner of 5th and E Street Architects: Leonard T. Bristow & John B. Lyman, Jr. Architectural Style: Romanesque Revival Some buildings naturally take your breath away, but the interiors turn out to be less stellar. Others are largely utilitarian on the outside but are quite lovely on the inside. The […]
The U.S. Grant Hotel | 326 Broadway Architect: Harrison Albright Style: Classic Revival When Alonzo Horton arrived in San Diego in 1867, he purchased what we now know as downtown San Diego for 271/2 cents an acre. He immediately set about laying out the city grid, selling lots and making improvements to what he described as “heaven […]
Bancroft Building/ Aztec Theatre 1886 665 Fifth Avenue Architectural Style: Modern Architect: Clinton Day Some of the most innocuous buildings have the most interesting stories, and some of their owners are often more intriguing than the buildings themselves. Such may be the case of the Bancroft building, a modest almost plain building in the heart […]
Brunswig Drug Company 363 5th Avenue Architectural Style – Spanish Revival Architect: William Quayle – 1900 Quayle Brothers – 1925 Most of us can’t walk more than two or three blocks without stumbling across one of the many chain drugstores that populate our cities. Indeed, in the Gaslamp alone there are three CVS such establishments. […]
Commercial Bank Addition / Bijou Theater (1875658 Fifth Avenue Architectural Style – Florentine Revival William Lacey, Architect Although this structure, adjoining Old City Hall on the northern lot, appears to be a continuation of the Old City Hall building, it is actually a separate building with an entirely separate history. It was built by John […]
The Frey Block (1911) 435 Fourth Ave.; SW Corner of 4th and Market Architect: S.G. Kennedy Architectural Style: Modern Most everybody knows where the downtown Starbucks is, but not many know what it was. This well-known corner lot was sold by Alonzo Horton to A. Bowie and A. Amirous for $200.00 in 1869. It […]
The Broker’s Building1889 404 Market Street Architects: G.T. Burkett and R.E. Osgood (1873)Barnett McDougal (1889) Style: Commercial It has been said that some people are born lucky and some are not. And – to that end, there is an old saying – “I’d rather be lucky than good.” The original Broker’s Building was neither. On […]
Old City Hall 1874 and 1888 5th and G Street, SW Corner Architectural Style: Italianate Florentine Revival Architect: William Lacey (1874) Architect : Comstock and Trotsche (1888) As with most lots sold during the early Horton years, the site of Old City Hall was purchased from Alonzo Horton on December 23, 1867 […]
1892 702 Fifth Avenue Architect: John Stannard Architectural Style: Mixed The site of the current Cole Building, at the corner of Fifth Avenue and “G” Street, is one of the earliest developed properties in the area. Albert A. Cole, an early San Diego capitalist, purchased the property from Alonzo Horton in December of 1868 for […]