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San Diego History

Founded in 1769 by Spanish missionaries, San Diego is the oldest settled community on the Pacific Coast. The city also has a Native American history that began long before the arrival of European explorers. In the decades before statehood in 1850, San Diego was a small pueblo governed by the Spanish, and later by Mexico. The books and websites listed below are a starting point for exploring the rich history of the San Diego region. Additional resources can be found in the California Collection of the Central Library.

San Diego Public Library

25 items

  • Looks at how the city developed from a small village settled by early Franciscan missionaries and the Spanish military. This book shows how the city's architecture still reflects and preserves its Spanish heritage, but also incorporates…
    BookLondon : Pavilion Books Ltd, 2016. — 979.4985/HENDRICKSON
  • San Diego

    California's Cornerstone

    Engstrand, Iris Wilson
    A comprehensive history of San Diego from the time of the indigenous people to the controversial mayoral election of 2004. Chapters cover the Spanish, Mexican, Victorian, WWI and WWII eras, and the post-war boom. Includes a 25-page…
    BookSan Diego, Calif. : Sunbelt Publications, 2005. — 979.4985/ENGSTRAND
  • Historian Richard W. Crawford recalls the significant events and one-of-a-kind characters like benefactor Frank "Booze" Beyer, baseball hero Albert Spalding and novelist Scott O'Dell.
    BookCharleston, SC : The History Press, [2013] — 979.4985/CRAWFORD
  • Strangers in a Stolen Land

    Indians of San Diego County From Prehistory to the New Deal

    Carrico, Richard L.
    The story of Indians in San Diego County from 1850 through the 1930s. This analysis provides a glimpse into the cultural history of the native peoples of the region, including the Kumeyaay (Ipai/Tipai), Luiseno, Cupeno, and Cahuilla.
    BookSan Diego, Calif. : Sunbelt Publications, c2008. — 979.498/CARRICO
  • San Diego

    An Introduction to the Region

    The standard one-volume reference work on the natural features and historical development of San Diego County. It is the basic reference work for county residents, new or old, who would like to better understand this unique region of…
    BookSan Diego, CA : Sunbelt Publications, Inc., 2014. — 917.94985/SAN
  • Turning the Pages

    San Diego Public Library History, 1882-1982

    Breed, Clara E. (Clara Estelle), 1906-1994
    Former head librarian Clara E. Breed wrote the book in honor of the centennial history of the San Diego Public Library, tracing its beginnings from a few donated books housed in rent-free rooms on the second floor of the Commercial Bank…
    BookSan Diego, Calif. : Friends of the San Diego Public Library, c1983. — 027.4/BREED
  • A collection of articles about the history of San Diego from Richard W. Crawford's local history column "The Way We Were" published in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
    BookCharleston, SC : History Press, 2011. — 979.4985/CRAWFORD
  • San Diego

    Perfecting Paradise

    Showley, Roger M.
    A superbly written and illustrated history that traces the development of San Diego from a dusty, lightly settled Spanish outpost to a thriving, booming, west coast metropolis. Author Roger M. Showley, a third-generation San Diegan, has…
    BookCarlsbad, Calif. : Heritage Media Corp., c1999. — 979.4985/SHOWLEY
  • From the earliest peoples of the county to the later settlers, each wave of immigration has left its mark on San Diego County in place names. Author Leland Fetzer spent thirty years as a San Diego State University professor.
    BookSan Diego : Sunbelt Publications, 2005. — 979.498/FETZER
  • Antigua California

    Mission and Colony on the Peninsular Frontier, 1697-1768

    Crosby, Harry W., 1926-
    Crosby provides a comprehensive survey of the Baja California missions (as colonial Antigua California is known today) from their foundings by the Jesuit order in the late 1600s until the 1760s, when the expulsion of that religious order…
    BookAlbuquerque : University of New Mexico Press, c1994. — 972.202/CROSBY
  • Well-illustrated with historic photographs, this book is the best introduction to the early history of downtown San Diego. MacPhail covers approximately 1850 through 1920 and discusses the development of an area that competed for…
    BookSan Diego : San Diego Historical Society, c1979. — 979.498/MACPHAIL
  • Balboa Park

    a Millennium History

    Showley, Roger M.
    Balboa Park: A Millennium History celebrates San Diego's love affair with this cherished cultural gem, this cultivated paradise. It's sometimes called the Smithsonian of the West because of the wealth of attractions assembled in one place.…
    BookCarlsbad, Calif. : Heritage Media Corp., 1999. — 979.498/SHOWLEY
  • The San Diego History Center publishes the Journal of San Diego History, which has articles of interest on local people, communities, and events. View archived issues on their website. The Research Archives at the San Diego History Center…
    Web resource
  • An archive of the local history column historian and archivist Rick Crawford wrote for the San Diego Union-Tribune. It’s a place where students, historians, writers, and history buffs can share knowledge, questions, and ideas about San…
    Web resource
  • Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO) is the oldest countywide historic preservation organization in California. Through education, advocacy, and stewardship SOHO's mission is to preserve, promote, and support preservation of the…
    Web resource
  • Everything you never knew about local history, geography, sports, architecture, music, art, theater, literature, place names, movies, TV, plants, and animals. Written by a native San Diegan and retired reference librarian from the San…
    BookSan Diego, CA : Silver Gate Pub., c1989. — 917.9498/KOOPERMAN
  • The second volume of fascinating local facts. Written by a native San Diegan and retired reference librarian from the San Diego Public Library.
    BookSan Diego, CA : Silver Gate Pub., c1993. — 917.9498/KOOPERMAN
  • History of San Diego, 1542-1908

    An Account of the Rise and Progress of the Pioneer Settlement on the Pacific Coast of the United States

    Smythe, William Ellsworth, 1861-1922
    William Smythe’s History of San Diego, 1542-1907 contains a comprehensive discussion of the settlement of San Diego from the earliest times to the beginning of the 20th Century. The book has a chapter on early Spanish families and one on…
    BookSan Diego : History Co., 1907. — 979.498/SMYTHE
  • The History of San Diego, v. 1. 1492-1774. Early settlement.
    BookSan Diego, Calif. : Union-Tribune Pub. Co., c1960. — 979.498/POURADE
  • The History of San Diego, v. 2. 1769-1835. The Mission and Presidio periods.
    BookSan Diego, CA : Union-Tribune Pub. Co. c1961. — 979.498/POURADE