Starting in 1890, a series of successive cable car companies developed the park land at Park and Adams to attract riders up to the barren University Heights. The San Diego Electric Railway Company purchased the property in 1898 and transformed it into the magnificent Mission Cliff Gardens.

After illegally replacing the 122-year-old wood gate and railing on Adams Avenue at Mission Cliff Drive earlier this year, the property owner at 1608 Mission Cliff Drive completed reconstruction of the gate and railing, per requirements of the City of San Diego Historic Preservation Planning Department.

Since 1997, the University Heights Historical Society has worked to preserve the architectural, cultural, and historic resources in University Heights through research, education, and advocacy.

In this short video, Bill Ellig with the University Heights Historic Society talks with Sheila, owner of the Everett Gee and Eileen Lois Jackson Residence in University Heights, an excellent example of a Spanish Colonial Revival style single-family house originally owned by two very interesting people who had a significant impact on San Diego’s social and cultural history.

The University Heights Historical Society has been working with City of San Diego Historic Preservation Planning staff and Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO) since 2015 to identify bungalow courts throughout University Heights, and to include them in the Historic Preservation Elements of both the North Park and Uptown Community Plans.

University Heights is fortunate to have four historic districts, which are defined by the City of San Diego municipal code as a geographic concentration of buildings (or other resources) that collectively convey a shared significance under one or more of the City’s designation criteria.

Claimed to be the largest municipal elevated water tower in the United States on its completion in 1924, the University Heights Water Tower was instrumental in the development of the surrounding neighborhood.