Historical Marker · No. 523
San Diego Barracks
San Diego, San Diego County · California
Erected by San Diego County Board of Supervisors and the Historical Markers Committee, erected 1955
The Army bought these lots in September 1850 from the men laying out New San Diego, a townsite set close to deep water because Old Town was not. Captain Nathaniel Lyon built the depot; eleven years later he was killed at Wilson's Creek, the first Union general to die in the war. The town itself failed by 1853 and was known for years afterward as Davis's Folly. The depot outlasted it by seven decades, and the downtown that grew back around it is Alonzo Horton's, not Davis's.
What the plaque says
San Diego Barracks 1850 - 1921 An army supply depot for Southern California was established on this site in 1850. Designated New San Diego Post, it was garrisoned by troops from December 2, 1858 to May, 1866. Reoccupied December, 1869. Name changed to San Diego Barracks April 5, 1879. Abandoned December 15, 1921. Acquired by City of San Diego, July 13, 1938. State Registered Landmark No. 523 Marker placed by San Diego County Board of Supervisors and the Historical Markers Committee Erected 1955
Where it stands
32.71165, -117.17008 · Directions
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