View source for Presidio of San Diego

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name                     = San Diego Presidio
| nrhp_type                = nhl
| image                    = Presidio of San Diego 1820 map.jpg
| caption                  = 1820 map, Presidio of San Diego
| location                 = [[San Diego, California]]
| coordinates              = {{coord|32|45|31|N|117|11|36|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin                 = United States San Diego#USA California San Diego County#USA California#USA
| area                     =
| built                    = 1769<ref name=nhl_summary>{{Cite web |title=San Diego Presidio |work=National Historic Landmarks Quioklinks |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=130&ResourceType=Site |access-date=18 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721183215/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceID=130&resourceType=Site |archive-date=21 July 2011}}</ref>
| architect                =
| architecture             =
| added                    = October 15, 1966
| designated_nrhp_type     = October 9, 1960<ref name=nhl_summary />
| designated_other1        = California
| designated_other1_date   = 1932<ref name=CHL>{{cite ohp|59|Presidio of San Diego|2012-10-13}}</ref>
| designated_other1_number = 59
| designated_other2        = San Diego
| designated_other2_number = 4
| designated_other2_date   = February 29, 1968<ref name=SDHL>{{cite web|title=Historical Landmarks Designated by the San Diego Historical Resources Board|publisher=City of San Diego|url=http://www.sandiego.gov/planning/programs/historical/pdf/landmarklist.pdf}}</ref>
| refnum                   = 66000226<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2008a}}</ref>
}}

'''El Presidio Real de San Diego''' ('''Royal Presidio of San Diego''') is a historic [[fortification|fort]] in [[San Diego]], California. It was established on May 14, 1769, by [[Gaspar de Portolá]], leader of the [[Portola expedition|first European land exploration]] of [[Alta California]]—at that time an unexplored northwestern frontier area of [[New Spain]].

The presidio was the first permanent European settlement on the [[Pacific coast]] of the present-day United States. As the first of the [[presidio]]s and [[Spanish missions in California]], it was the base of operations for the Spanish colonization of California.<ref name="nhl_summary" /> The associated [[Mission San Diego de Alcalá]] later moved a few miles away.

Essentially abandoned by 1835,<ref name=nomination>{{Cite web |last=Snell |first=Charles |title=San Diego Presidio |work=National Register of Historic Places - Inventory Nomination Form |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |year=1963 |url={{NHLS url|id=66000226}} |format=pdf |access-date=18 May 2012}}</ref> the site of the original Presidio lies on a hill within present-day [[Presidio Park]], although no historic structures remain above ground. The '''San Diego Presidio''' was registered as a [[California Historical Landmark]] in 1932,<ref name=CHL /> then declared a [[National Register of Historic Places listings in San Diego County, California|National Historic Landmark]] in 1960.<ref name=nhl_summary />

==History==
Prior to occupation by the Spanish, the site of the Presidio was home to the [[Kumeyaay people|Kumeyaay]] people (called the ''Diegueños'' by the Spaniards).

The first Europeans to explore [[San Diego Bay]] and its environs were members of the maritime expedition led by [[Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo]] in 1542. [[Sebastián Vizcaíno]] visited again in 1602, but no settlement was made until the fort was begun in May 1769. On July 16, 1769, [[Mission San Diego de Alcala|Mission San Diego de Alcalá]] was established by [[Junípero Serra]] on Presidio Hill. The presidio had a commanding view of San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean, allowing the Spanish to see potential intruders.

Less than a month after the mission was established, a Kumeyaay uprising occurred; four Spaniards were wounded and a boy was killed. After the attack, the Spaniards built a stockade which was finished in March 1770. It included two bronze cannons: one pointed to the bay, the other to the nearby Indian village.

In 1773 and 1774, [[adobe]] structures were built to replace the temporary wood and brush huts. Later in 1774, the mission was moved a few miles up Mission Valley to separate the Kumeyaay from the influence of the presidial garrison. By 1783, there were 54 troops stationed at the presidio.<ref>For the [[Juan Vicente de Güemes Padilla Horcasitas y Aguayo, 2nd Count of Revillagigedo|Revillagigedo]] Census of 1790, see [http://sfgenealogy.com/spanish/cen1790.htm The Census of 1790, California] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716044411/http://sfgenealogy.com/spanish/cen1790.htm |date=2011-07-16}}, California Spanish Genealogy. Retrieved on 2008-08-04. Compiled from William Marvin Mason. ''The Census of 1790: A Demographic History of California''. (Menlo Park: Ballena Press, 1998). 75–105. {{ISBN|978-0-87919-137-5}}.</ref>

[[File:Presidio of San Diego ruins.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Ruins of the San Diego Presidio (National Historic Landmarks collection).]]
With [[Mexican independence]] in 1821, the presidio came under Mexican control, and was officially relinquished by the Spanish on April 20, 1822. From 1825–1829, it served as the Mexican governor's residence. The presidio was abandoned by 1835 and fell to ruins, because settlers preferred to live in the more accessible town—present-day [[Old Town San Diego State Historic Park]]—which developed at the foot of Presidio Hill.

==Preservation==
[[File:PresdidioPark.jpg|thumb|right|The Serra Museum in [[Presidio Park]] marks the original site of the Presidio and Mission]]
In 1907, [[George Marston (California politician)|George Marston]], a wealthy department store owner, bought Presidio Hill with an interest to preserve the site. Unable to attract public funding, Marston built a private park in 1925 with the help of architect [[John Nolen]]. He also funded the [[Junípero Serra Museum]], designed by [[William Templeton Johnson]] and built in 1928–1929 in [[Spanish Colonial Revival architecture|Spanish Revival style]] architecture, to house and showcase the collection of the San Diego Historical Society (now the San Diego History Center).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sandiegohistory.org/serra_museum.html|title=The Junipero Serra Museum|publisher=San Diego History Center|access-date=18 December 2012}}</ref> Serra Museum is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the Presidio, but in fact nothing remains of the original Presidio. Marston donated the park and museum to the city in 1929. Presidio Park is still owned by the city of San Diego; the Serra Museum is managed by the San Diego History Center.

No historical structures remain in Presidio Park today. The Presidio site is occasionally used for archaeological excavations.

There are additional photographs available.<ref name=photos>{{Cite web |title=San Diego Presidio |work=Photographs |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |url={{NHLS url|id=66000226}} |format=pdf |access-date=18 May 2012}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|California}}
* [[List of pre-statehood Mayors of San Diego, California|Commandants of the Presidio of San Diego]]
* [[Spanish missions in California#Military districts|Military Districts in Spanish California]]
* [[Pueblo de San Diego]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{See also|Bibliography of California history}}
* "Early History of the San Diego Presidial District, 1542-1782." UC Berkeley thesis, 1930, by Lucien C. Atherton.

==External links==
{{commons category|Presidio Park, San Diego, California}}
* [http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/99summer/presidio.htm "Use of Presidio Hill", ''Journal of San Diego History'' 45:3 (Summer 1999)] by Jennifer Luksic and Nik Kendziorski
* [http://www.militarymuseum.org/PresidioSD.html El Presidio Real de San Diego]
* [http://www.sandiegohistory.org/books/smythe/2-1.htm "Life on Presidio Hill Under the Spanish Flag", ''History of San Diego'' (1907-08) by William E. Smythe]
* [http://www.sandiego.gov/park-and-recreation/parks/regional/presidio/index.shtml Presidio Park] - City of San Diego website
* [https://www.sandiegohistory.org/serra_museum.html Serra Museum] - San Diego History Center website
* [https://archive.today/20121205054130/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/ca/ Early History of the California Coast, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary]

{{California Missions}}
{{Registered Historic Places}}

[[Category:California presidios|San Diego]]
[[Category:1769 in The Californias]]
[[Category:Parks in San Diego]]
[[Category:History of San Diego]]
[[Category:History of San Diego County, California]]
[[Category:Forts on the National Register of Historic Places in California]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in San Diego]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in California]]
[[Category:1769 establishments in The Californias]]
[[Category:Spanish Colonial architecture in California]]