Spanish rule gave way to Mexican rule in 1821, and the surrounding ranchos shaped a generation of life before California passed to the United States in 1848. San Diego incorporated as an American city in 1850, but the old settlement clustered around the presidio in what is now Old Town. The modern downtown is the work of one man's gamble: in 1867 Alonzo Horton bought the bayfront flats and laid out a 'New Town' close to the water, betting that a city should sit beside its harbor. He was right, and the center of San Diego has faced the bay ever since.
By the mid-twentieth century San Diego's tuna fleet, crewed largely by Portuguese and Italian fishing families, made the city the tuna capital of the world.
Why People Visit San Diego
San Diego rewards visitors with a rare mix: deep early-California history, a working Navy harbor, great parks, and miles of Pacific coast under a famously mild sky. People come for Balboa Park and the bay, the beaches and Point Loma sunsets, and the story of the city where California began — historic, easygoing, unmistakably Californian.
