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San Diego's Historic Gaslamp Quarter has become one of San
Diego's most popular neighborhoods, featuring a charming blend
of ola 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.
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