Gaslamp Quarter

Gaslamp Quarter

San Diego's Historic Gaslamp Quarter has become one of San Diego's most popular neighborhoods, featuring a charming blend of old and new building teeming with activity. In the 1870s Alonzo Horton built a wharf at the foot of Fifth Avenue and a development boom ensued. Although these days a wide variety of people enjoy the Gaslamp's bars and restaurants, the original visitors of the 1880s were gamblers and prostitutes, such as Wyatt Earp and Ida Bailey, who founded numerous gambling halls, saloons and brothels in San Diego's red light district, the Stingaree. San Diego remained a popular navy liberty port until 1912 when city officials cracked down on prostitution, effectively shutting down the lively Stingaree. In 1885, the Chinese Mission School opened; it quickly became a social center for Chinese and Japanese immigrants and facilitated interaction between Caucasian and Asian San Diegans. Today the Gaslamp's unique architecture stands as a testament to its 30-year heyday, between the years 1880 and 1910. Through the 1900s, the Gaslamp Quarter suffered economic and social decline, as the old buildings deteriorated and criminal activity mounted.

In an effort to combat social blight, the Redevelopment Agency drew upon the historic character of the Gaslamp Quarter to infuse it with new life. Their objective formed in 1976 was to "preserve the distinctive character of the original commercial architecture found in the Gaslamp Quarter while also providing for orderly change." The success of Horton Plaza, opened in 1985, helped stimulate the initial redevelopment activity within the Gaslamp Quarter. This 16.5-block neighborhood is now recognized on the National Register of Historic Places, and its 94 historically or architecturally significant structures now house more than 70 restaurants and nightclubs, movie theaters, shops, offices, galleries and lofts. The Asian Pacific Thematic District also has a significant history in the Gaslamp, and several Asian-style buildings still stand. Currently, 95,500 square feet of retail, 334 hotel rooms, and 364 residential units are planned for development over the next three years. Annual events such as Street Scene, the Mardi Gras Celebration, ShamRock, Taste of Gaslamp, and Cinco in the Gaslamp are held in this district, to the delight of San Diego area residents and visitors.

Written by San Diego's Center City Development Corporation