The Gaslamp Quarter sign is an archway spanning Fifth Avenue, defined by a series of glowing bulbs surrounding the words Gaslamp Quarter in a clean, sans-serif font. It arrived in nineteen ninety-one, long after the neighborhood had…
Gaslamp Historic District
Walk past beautifully preserved Victorian-era buildings while hearing tales of the city's wild 19th-century saloon culture and the preservation movement that saved these blocks from demolition.
Listen to this tour in the Mira app →
1. Gaslamp Quarter Sign
2. Horton Grand Hotel
The Horton Grand Hotel stands as a four-story Victorian structure with an ornate white facade and deep red brick accents. It is a puzzle of two separate hotels, the Horton and the Grand, joined together after being dismantled and moved…
3. Gaslamp Museum at the Davis-Horton House
The Davis-Horton House stands out with its saltbox roof and simple wooden siding, a stark contrast to the modern brick and glass surrounding it in the Gaslamp Quarter. Built in eighteen fifty, this structure arrived in San Diego as a kit…
4. Yuma Building
The Yuma Building features a distinct yellow brick facade that separates it from the neighboring structures in the Gaslamp Quarter. Built in eighteen eighty-two, it served as a hotel for travelers arriving by train. When the city’s…
5. Keating Hotel By At Mine Hospitality
The Keating Hotel wears a bright, butter-yellow exterior topped by a distinct, ornate cornice that stands out against the surrounding brickwork of the Gaslamp Quarter. Built in eighteen ninety, George Keating commissioned this structure as…
6. Balboa Theatre
The Balboa Theatre features a tall, vertical blade sign that spells out its name in glowing bulbs, rising high above the sidewalk. Opened in nineteen twenty-four, this building served as a grand vaudeville and movie house designed by…
7. Horton Plaza Historic Park
The tall, white fountain centered in Horton Plaza shoots water into the air from a basin built in nineteen ten. Alonzo Horton bought the land for this park at an auction in eighteen sixty-seven, betting that the city center would shift…
8. Independent Order of Odd Fellows Building
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows Building features a rounded corner tower topped by a distinctive, shimmering copper dome that stands out above the flat roofs of the Gaslamp Quarter. Built in nineteen oh two, the structure served as a…