New Self-Guided Walking Tours of University Heights
The University Heights Historical Society will offer a guided walking tour of the area's early history on Saturday, March 8, at 11 a.m., starting in front of the Darling House at 1625 Adams Avenue.
Kristin Harms with the historical society will lead a 1-hour walk and discuss some of our community’s most significant historical landmarks. Founded in 1888, University Heights is one of San Diego’s oldest neighborhoods and home to the former Mission Cliff Gardens, Bentley’s Ostrich Farm, the San Diego Silk Mill, Adams Avenue Trolley Carbarn, and the San Diego Normal School, the forerunner to San Diego State University.
We will walk about 1 ½ miles over 1 ½ hours on some uneven pavement and sidewalks. No dogs are allowed.
Mission Cliff Gardens, A Memoir is a touching tribute to John Davidson, former superintendent of Mission Cliff Gardens in University Heights, by his great-granddaughter, Carole Bryant. The Gardens were established in 1898 by visionary entrepreneur John D. Spreckels and transformed into a botanical wonder by John Davidson.
This 28-page booklet describes the journey of the Davidson family from Scotland to San Diego and their life at Mission Cliff Gardens from 1904 to 1935. The memoir is based on interviews by Carole with John Davidson’s daughter, Jean Davidson Bryant, and his granddaughter, Nancy Mavis Wormington.
The booklet contains 42 historical photos and postcards of Mission Cliff Gardens from Carole’s private collection. Carole, an architect, also provided a floor plan of the Pavilion and a site plan of Mission Cliff Gardens, based on historical photographs and memories from Mavis Wormington.
Empire Builder is the previously untold story of a pioneer who almost single-handedly transformed the bankrupt village of San Diego into a thriving city. When he first dropped anchor in San Diego Bay in 1887, John Diedrich Spreckels set into motion a series of events that later defined the city. Within just a few years, he owned and controlled the majority of San Diego’s industry including building construction, water supply management, and energy production, as well as improvements in transportation—particularly by ship, rail, electric streetcar, and automobile.
John Spreckels also shaped much of early University Heights through his ownership and operation of the San Diego Electric Railway, the Southern California Mountain and Water Supply Company, and Mission Cliff Gardens. He was also Vice-President of the Panama-California Exposition Company which hosted the 1915 Exposition at Balboa Park and spurred a building boom in University Heights.
Show your love for University Heights with our 7” diameter, bronze color plaque made from 14-gauge steel, sanded smooth, and coated with a durable UV powder coat to endure the elements for many years to come. Perfect for proudly displaying on the front of your house or business. Comes with 2 screws for attaching to wood or stucco, and a white plastic backing to make the lettering more visible.
This digital guide consists of a one-hour recorded webinar and the 63-page slide deck presented on March 31st by Senior Archaeologist/Historian Doug Mengers with PanGIS. Inc.
Mr. Mengers walks through the process of researching the history of your property, preparing a report to nominate it locally for historic designation within the City of San Diego, and completing a Mills Act application to reduce property taxes on designated properties.
Topics include: benefits, responsibilities, and up-front costs of historic designation, eligibility criteria for local designation with example properties, how to identify historic context, how to evaluate historic integrity, anatomy of a Historical Resource Research Report, local nomination process including application fees, and how to find a consultant including estimated fees.
The detailed slides include a link to the recorded webinar (on page 2) and other links to over 30 sources of historic information including databases, maps, photos, city directories, forms, and more.
The revitalization of University Heights in the early 1900s can be seen in its surviving neighborhood churches. As San Diego’s population shifted out to the new “streetcar suburbs” like University Heights, the need for neighborhood churches grew. Visit six churches in University Heights established during this era, some of which contain some of the most beautiful and inspiring art glass windows in San Diego.
Did you know that San Diego State University had it’s beginnings in University Heights? The San Diego Normal School was built in 1898 on Normal Street in University Heights to increase the certification of teachers. The school moved to Montezuma Mesa in 1931 and was renamed San Diego State University in the early 1970s. The tour highlights the eight historic buildings that still remain, and several potential heritage trees. An online version of this tour is available here.
Learn about 10 beautiful historic homes built by master architects and builders, and representing a variety of popular architectural styles from the early 20th century including Craftsman, American Colonial Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival.
Coming of Age in Wartime San Diego is a touching and humorous memoir by Virginia Bousfield Welch of her 93 years living in University Heights.
Born April 14, 1921, in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Virginia was only two years old when her grandparents sold their farm and headed west to San Diego with the family. Virginia lived with her mother, brother, and uncle in San Diego on Hamilton Street just north of El Cajon Blvd.
In the 1930s, Virginia recalls her mother taking a neighbor on a rather wild ride in her car down Texas Street through undeveloped Mission Valley to La Jolla to catch a bus to Los Angeles. “It took months before Miss Vera rode further than the grocery store with my mother.”
Virginia earned a teaching credential from San Diego State College and taught for 25 years with San Diego Unified School District, retiring from Alice Birney Elementary School in 1987. She recalls the shortages, rationing, and blackouts of wartime San Diego from 1941 to 1945.
She met her husband, Jack, at San Diego State College and they were married for 51 years before he died in 1997. Both of their sons attended Alice Birney Elementary School. Virginia lived for many years at the end of Adams Avenue in University Heights and passed away of natural causes at age 95 in 2016.