Historical Marker · No. 57
La Punta de los Muertos
San Diego, San Diego County · California
Erected by San Diego County Board of Supervisors and the Historical Markers Committee, 1954
San Diego Bay had been visited for two hundred and forty years before anyone charted it properly. In 1782 Juan Pantoja y Arriaga did the work from the frigates Princesa and Favorita, and the men who died while it was done were buried on this point, which took its name from them. The chart made the harbor usable. The graves are under a waterfront of shops and hotels now, and the bronze standing over them was placed by the county in 1954, not by the state that listed the site.
What the plaque says
La Punta de los Muertos (Dead Men's Point) Burial site of sailors and marines in 1782 when San Diego Bay was surveyed & charted by Don Juan Pantoja y Arriaga, Pilot, and Don Jose' Tovar, Mate, of the Royal Frigates “La Princesa” and “La Favorita” under command of Don Agustin de Echeverria. State Registered Landmark No. 57 Marker placed by San Diego County Board of Supervisors and the Historical Markers Committee Erected 1954
Where it stands
32.71103, -117.17080 · Directions
More markers nearby
- San Diego Barracks — steps away
- Star of India — 0.7 mi
- Ferryboat Berkeley — 0.7 mi
- First Military Flying School in America — 2.0 mi