History of San Diego

outh of the border remained part of Mexico as the far northern frontier of Baja California from the Colorado River to the Pacific Ocean and is now the Tijuana, Rosarito Beach and Tecate Municipalities and also the northernmost part of the Mexicali Municipality.

New Town

The state of California was admitted to the United States in 1850. That same year San Diego was designated the seat of the newly established San Diego County and was incorporated as a city. Also that year, a new development began down by the Bay shore, called "New San Diego". At first and for many years, it was only a few houses, a pier and the New San Diego Depot, of the U. S. Army. San Diego gradually declined and remained a backwater until the railroads arrived. The initial city charter was established in 1889 and today's city charter was adopted in 1931.

The original town of San Diego was located at the foot of Presidio Hill, in the area which is now Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. The location was not ideal, being several miles away from navigable water. In the late 1860s, Alonzo Horton promoted a move to "New Town", several miles south of the original settlement, in the area which became Downtown San Diego. People and businesses flocked to New Town because of its location on San Diego Bay convenient to shipping. New Town quickly eclipsed the original settlement, known to this day as Old Town, and became the economic and governmental heart of the city.

In the early part of the 20th century, San Diego hosted two World's Fairs: the Panama-California Exposition in 1915 and the California Pacific International Exposition in 1935. Both expositions were held in Balboa Park, and many of the