High above Old Town and Mission Valley, Presidio Park in San Diego is one of the happiest history lessons in California — a leafy, peaceful hilltop where the state itself began. According to the City of San Diego, the park was founded in 1769 as the site of the San Diego Presidio and the San Diego Mission, the first European settlements in the western United States, established that year by Father Junípero Serra and soldiers led by Gaspar de Portolá.
Crowning the hill is the white, Spanish Revival Junípero Serra Museum, at 2727 Presidio Drive. Built in 1928–1929 and designed by architect William Templeton Johnson, the museum is operated today by the San Diego History Center and is open Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in fall through spring, with Friday hours added in summer. Inside, exhibits tell the story of the Kumeyaay people who lived here first, the Spanish and Mexican eras, and the early days of the city below.
Come for the history, then stay for the park itself: shady lawns made for picnics, quiet paths, archaeological remains of the old presidio, and wide views stretching from Mission Valley toward the bay. Civic leader George Marston bought Presidio Hill in 1907 to save it, built the park and museum, and donated them to the city in 1929 — a gift San Diego is still enjoying almost a century later.
Photo: MARELBU via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
