Gaslamp Quarter

Yuma Building

Internet sources differ on the date for the construction of the Yuma Building, varying from 1882 to 1888. What is undisputed is that it was originally owned by Captain Wilcox who arrived in 1849 at the helm of the U.S. Invincible. Captain Wilcox named the building Yuma because he had business interests in Yuma, Arizona. Like the nearby Louis Bank of Commerce building, the Yuma Building has a chequered history. At one stage it was a brothel, the first to be closed during a major 1912 cleanup of the area.

Old City Hall

The limited width of 5th Avenue and rampant car parking make many of the buildings in the Gaslamp Quarter difficult to photograph. Old City Hall is an exception as it is located on the junction with ‘G’ Street. This building was not designed to be a City Hall, indeed it was only 2 stories high when it was completed in 1874. Two more stories were added in 1887 and the San Diego Public Library moved in to the new third floor. The City of San Diego purchased the building in 1891 and it then became City Hall housing the administrative offices, police department and council chamber for the next 35 years.

Gaslamp Quarter

Welcome to San Diego’s New Town started in 1867. The new business district that supplanted the Old Town has a history of ups and downs. Wyatt Earp ran gambling halls here and at times the Red Light Quarter would have been an appropriate name. In the 1980’s when the New Town was in near terminal decline, work started to renovate some of the historic buildings. The revitalised New Town is now known as the Gaslamp Quarter. Centred around 5th Avenue its restaurants and bars are very popular, especially in the evening.

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Llewelyn Building

And finally, a building with a Welsh name. The Llewelyn Building was constructed in 1887 by William Llewelyn to house his family shoe store. William’s surname suggests that he was Welsh by either birth or descent, but we have not been able to confirm this. His store survived until 1906 then the became home to hotels of various names with unsavoury reputations. In 1917 charges were brought against the proprietor for operating a ’cat house’ which we suspect was not a boarding kennel for cats. Today the Llewelyn Building houses restaurants on the ground floor and a backpacker hostel upstairs.

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Louis Bank of Commerce Building

Built in 1888 in the Baroque Revival style, the Louis Bank of Commerce was the first granite building in San Diego. The building has a very varied history. It housed the bank only until 1893 when the ground floor became an Oyster Bar that was frequented by Wyatt Earp and it is believed that he may have owned the building. The upper floors were later converted to the Golden Poppy Hotel, which was really a bordello. Nowadays the ground floor is a restaurant and the upper floors are offices with rather more respectable tenants such as a firm of lawyers.

Horton Grand Hotel

Not all of the buildings in the Gaslamp Quarter are on their original sites. The Horton Grand Hotel was rebuilt brick by brick in 1986 from two 1886 hotels, the Kahle Saddlery and the Grand Hotel both of which were scheduled for demolition. While it can’t compete with the history and guest list of the Hotel del Coronado it does add to the ‘old time’ feel of the area.

- Some beautifully renovated historic buildings.

- Good variety of restaurants.

- Too many parked cars blocking the views of the historic buildings.

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