National Register Plaque Installed on Teachers Training Annex 1

National Register Plaque on Teachers Training Annex 1, Normal Street at El Cajon Blvd.

This week, a plaque gifted by the University Heights Historical Society to the San Diego Unified School District, was installed on the Teachers Training Annex 1 commemorating its status as a national landmark. The Teachers Training Annex was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999 through the efforts of the University Heights Historical Society.

The Teachers Training Annex was built in 1910 as a training laboratory for the San Diego Normal School, where student teachers were observed as they provided instruction to school-age children.

The San Diego Normal School was dedicated in 1899 in University Heights as a training facility for elementary school teachers. It became San Diego State Teachers College in 1921 and then moved in 1931 to Montezuma Mesa where it eventually became San Diego State University. This year, San Diego State University (SDSU) is celebrating 125 years of history this year, which includes its first campus in University Heights in 1899.

The Teachers Training Annex was elementary school for thousands of San Diego children, including Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, and acclaimed San Diego philanthropist Christopher "Kit" Sickels.