Having had some family members from out of town the last few days, they’ve had a chance to see some of the history of San Diego that those of us who live here may not even know.
Let’s face it.A lot of us in San Diego don’t know much about the history of San Diego.
And that’s why today’s celebration at Presidio Park and other celebrations this year to mark the 250thbirthday of San Diego are important.
If you asked people on the streets of San Diego if they know what year San Diego was founded, would they know it was 1769? Would they know that San Diego is historically referred to as the birthplace of California? Would they know that a fort and a Catholic mission expanded into a settlement under Spanish and then Mexican rule and that San Diego officially became part of the United States in 1848?
And would they know that long before that, in 1542, Explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovered San Diego Bay and before that, Native Americans such as the Kumeyaay people had been living in the San Diego area for thousands of years?
And what’s great about the San Diego present is that you can still visit the places of San Diego’s past…from the Cabrillo Monument, to the Kumeyaay lands, to Presidio Park and the Mission San Diego de Alcala.
And you shouldn’t have to be family visiting from out of town to see it.
This 250th birthday year of the city of San Diego is a good time to catch up on our history in our own backyard.
(Photo credit City of San Diego)