Mission Dam and Flume

The bronze credits Indian laborers in three words and moves on. They were Kumeyaay, working under engineers trained in Mexico, cutting a channel through the gorge and cementing river boulders with mortar made from lime and crushed seashell. The dam ran 220 feet across and stood twelve feet high, and the flume carried water six miles to the mission's fields. Flooding broke it by 1831. Secularization meant nobody rebuilt it, so the first major irrigation works on this coast lasted about fifteen years.

What the plaque says

Mission Dam and Flume After many attempts dating back to 1774 to provide a reliable source of water for crops and livestock for Mission San Diego de Alcala, a dam and flume system was finished between 1813 and 1816 by Indian laborers and Franciscan missionaries to divert waters of the San Diego River for a distance of 6 miles. The aqueduct system continued in existence until 1831 when constant flooding caused the dam and flume to fall into disrepair. They were not repaired due to secularization of the missions. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 52 First registered Dec. 6, 1932. Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with Mission Trails Regional Park, City of San Diego, and Squibob Chapter, E Clampus Vitus, May 2, 1992.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• San Diego State University — 4.9 mi
• El Camino Real — 5.4 mi
• Mission San Diego de Alcalá — 5.4 mi
• Bancroft Ranch House — 6.9 mi