San Diego

===American period===
[[File:San Diego California Looking East Across the Bay by Alfred Mathews 1873.jpg|thumb|left|View of [[San Diego Bay]] in 1873 following the [[conquest of California|U.S. conquest of California]]]]
The state of California was admitted to the United States in 1850. That same year San Diego was designated the seat of the newly established County of San Diego and was incorporated as a city. [[Joshua H. Bean]], the last alcalde of San Diego, was elected the first mayor. Two years later the city was bankrupt;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sandiego.gov/city-clerk/aboutus/history.shtml|title=A History of San Diego Government|work=Office of the City Clerk|publisher=City of San Diego|access-date=May 27, 2014|archive-date=May 5, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505220356/http://www.sandiego.gov/city-clerk/aboutus/history.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref> the California legislature revoked the city's charter and placed it under control of a board of trustees, where it remained until 1889. A city charter was reestablished in 1889, and today's city charter was adopted in 1931.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sandiego.gov/city-clerk/officialdocs/legisdocs/charter.shtml |title=City of San Diego website |publisher=Sandiego.gov |access-date=July 1, 2010 |archive-date=October 11, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011124524/http://www.sandiego.gov/city-clerk/officialdocs/legisdocs/charter.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The original town of San Diego was located at the foot of Presidio Hill, in the area which is now [[Old Town San Diego State Historic Park]]. The location was not ideal, being several miles away from navigable water at its port at [[La Playa, San Diego|La Playa]]. In 1850, [[William Heath Davis]] promoted a new development by the bay shore called "New San Diego", several miles south of the original settlement; however, for several decades the new development consisted only of a pier, a few houses and an [[San Diego Barracks|Army depot]] for the support of [[Fort Yuma]].  After 1854, the fort became supplied by sea and by [[Steamboats of the Colorado River|steamboats on the Colorado River]] and the depot fell into disuse.  From 1857 to 1860, San Diego became the western terminus of the [[San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line]], the earliest overland [[stagecoach]] and mail operation from the [[Eastern United States]] to California, coming from [[Texas]] through [[New Mexico Territory]] in less than 30 days.<ref name = "Pierce">Basil C. Pearce, [http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/1969/april/jackass/ "The Jackass Mail—San Antonio and San Diego Mail Line"], ''San Diego Historical Society Quarterly'', Spring 1969, Volume 15, Number 2</ref>
[[File:View of the US Grant with the main fountain at the entrance (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|alt=Oval, black and white shoulder-height portrait of a man in his forties or fifties, slightly balding wearing a suit|[[Horton Plaza and Broadway Fountain|Horton Plaza]] honors [[Alonzo Horton]], who helped develop [[Downtown San Diego|Downtown]].]]
In the late 1860s, [[Alonzo Horton]] promoted a move to the bayside area, which he called "New Town" and which became [[Downtown San Diego]]. Horton promoted the area heavily, and people and businesses began to relocate to New Town because its location on [[San Diego Bay]] was convenient to shipping.  New Town soon eclipsed the original settlement, known to this day as [[Old Town, San Diego, California|Old Town]], and became the economic and governmental heart of the city.<ref name=Cornerstone>{{harvnb|Engstrand|2005|page=80}}</ref> Still, San Diego remained a relative backwater town until the arrival of a railroad connection in 1878. In 1884–1886, [[John J. Montgomery]] made the first controlled flights by an American in a heavier-than-air unpowered glider just south of San Diego at Otay Mesa, helping to pioneer a new science of aerodynamics.

In 1912, San Diego was the site of a [[San Diego free speech fight|free speech fight]] between the [[Industrial Workers of the World]] and the city government who passed an ordinance forbidding the [[freedom of speech]] along an area of "Soapbox Row" that led to civil disobedience, [[vigilantism]], [[police violence]], the abduction of [[Emma Goldman]]'s husband [[Ben Reitman]] and [[San Diego free speech fight|multiple riots]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hall|first=Matthew T.|date=February 8, 2012|title=100 years ago, San Diego banned free speech|url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-100-years-ago-san-diego-banned-free-speech-2012feb08-story.html|access-date=July 9, 2021|website=San Diego Union-Tribune|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Dotinga|first=Randy|date=March 15, 2011|title=When San Diego Had Its Own Big Labor Clash|url=https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/news/when-san-diego-had-its-own-big-labor-clash/|access-date=July 9, 2021|website=Voice of San Diego|language=en-US}}</ref> San Diego's proximity to Tijuana during the [[Mexican Revolution]] made this one of the most significant [[free speech fights]] during the [[Wobbly]] era.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Waller|first=Tom|date=April 2, 1992|title=The Wobblies and San Diego's shame {{!}} San Diego Reader|url=https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/1992/apr/02/battle-soapbox-row/|access-date=July 9, 2021|website=San Diego Reader|language=en}}</ref>

In 1916, the neighborhood of [[Stingaree, San Diego|Stingaree]], the original home of San Diego's first [[Chinatown]] and "Soapbox Row", was demolished by anti-[[vice]] campaigners to make way for the [[Gaslamp Quarter, San Diego|Gaslamp Quarter]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Shady Ladies in the "Stingaree District" When The Red Lights Went Out in San Diego|url=http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/74spring/stingaree.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051024201814/http://sandiegohistory.org/journal/74spring/stingaree.htm|archive-date=October 24, 2005|access-date=March 8, 2011|publisher=San Diego History Center}}</ref>

[[File:Guide Book of the Panama California Exposition (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|alt=Hand drawn illustration of Balboa Park|[[Balboa Park (San Diego)|Balboa Park]] was built for the [[Panama–California Exposition|Panama-California Exposition of 1915]].]]
In the early part of the 20th century, San Diego hosted the [[World's Fair]] twice: the [[Panama-California Exposition (1915)]] and the [[California Pacific International Exposition]] in 1935. Both expositions were held in [[Balboa Park (San Diego)|Balboa Park]], and many of the Spanish/Baroque-style buildings that were built for those expositions remain to this day as central features of the park. The buildings were intended to be temporary structures, but most remained in continuous use until they progressively fell into disrepair. Most were eventually rebuilt, using castings of the original façades to retain the architectural style.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050501/news_1m1balboa.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318030233/http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050501/news_1m1balboa.html|archive-date=March 18, 2015|title=Balboa Park future is full of repair jobs |work=[[The San Diego Union-Tribune]]|date=March 18, 2015|access-date=August 7, 2018}}</ref> The menagerie of exotic animals featured at the 1915 exposition provided the basis for the [[San Diego Zoo]].<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/78summer/zoo.htm |author1=Marjorie Betts Shaw |title=The San Diego Zoological Garden: A Foundation to Build on |journal=Journal of San Diego History |volume =24| issue =  3, Summer 1978 |access-date=May 4, 2011}}</ref> During the 1950s there was a citywide festival called [[Fiesta del Pacifico]] highlighting the area's Spanish and Mexican past.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sandiegohistory.org/books/pourade/dream/dreamchapter5.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304120140/http://www.sandiegohistory.org/books/pourade/dream/dreamchapter5.htm|archive-date=March 4, 2016|title=CHAPTER 5: A Fiesta – Re-living the Days of the Dons {{!}} San Diego History Center|date=March 4, 2016|access-date=August 7, 2018}}</ref> In the 2010s there was a proposal for a large-scale celebration of the 100th anniversary of Balboa Park, but the plans were abandoned when the organization tasked with putting on the celebration went out of business.<ref name="Tony">{{cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2014/mar/05/local/la-me-balboa-park-20140306|title=Balboa Park centennial event organizers end efforts|last=Perry|first=Tony|date=March 5, 2014|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=April 8, 2014}}</ref>

The southern portion of the [[Point Loma, San Diego|Point Loma]] peninsula was set aside for military purposes as early as 1852. Over the next several decades the [[United States Army|Army]] set up a series of coastal artillery batteries and named the area [[Fort Rosecrans]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.militarymuseum.org/FtRosecrans.html|title=Historic California Posts: Fort Rosecrans|work=California State Military Museum|access-date=November 26, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070714022628/http://www.militarymuseum.org/FtRosecrans.html|archive-date=July 14, 2007}}</ref> Significant U.S. Navy presence began in 1901 with the establishment of the Navy Coaling Station in Point Loma, and expanded greatly during the 1920s.<ref>[http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/local/kearny/page00d.html University of San Diego: Military Bases in San Diego] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070411224332/http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/local/kearny/page00d.html |date=April 11, 2007 }}</ref> By 1930, the city was host to [[Naval Base San Diego]], [[Naval Training Center San Diego]], [[San Diego Naval Hospital]], [[Camp Matthews]], and [[Camp Kearny]] (now [[Marine Corps Air Station Miramar]]). The city was also an early center for aviation: as early as World War I, San Diego was proclaiming itself "The Air Capital of the West".<ref name = "Shepherd">{{cite journal|url=http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/94winter/eagle.htm |author1=Gerald A. Shepherd |title=When the Lone Eagle returned to San Diego |journal=Journal of San Diego History |volume= 40| issue = s. 1 and 2, Winter 1992 |access-date=May 4, 2011}}</ref> The city was home to important airplane developers and manufacturers like Ryan Airlines (later [[Ryan Aeronautical]]), founded in 1925, and [[Consolidated Aircraft]] (later [[Convair]]), founded in 1923.<ref>{{cite web|title=Consolidated Aircraft/Convair Online Exhibition|url=http://sandiegoairandspace.org/exhibits/consolidated_aircraft_exhibit/|publisher=San Diego Air & Space Museum|access-date=September 22, 2014}}</ref> [[Charles A. Lindbergh]]'s plane [[The Spirit of St. Louis]] was built in San Diego in 1927 by Ryan Airlines.<ref name = "Shepherd" />
[[File:Corner of San Diego's Fifth Street and F Street, looking north, ca.1903 (CHS-9776).jpg|thumb|right|[[Downtown San Diego]], {{Circa|1903}}]]
During [[World War II]], San Diego became a major hub of military and defense activity, due to the presence of so many military installations and defense manufacturers. The city's population grew rapidly during and after World War II, more than doubling between 1930 (147,995) and 1950 (333,865).<ref name="RM 54">Moffatt, Riley.  ''Population History of Western U.S. Cities & Towns, 1850–1990''. Lanham: Scarecrow, 1996, 54.</ref> During the final months of the war, the Japanese had a plan to target multiple U.S. cities for [[biological attack]], starting with San Diego. The plan was called "[[Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night]]" and called for [[kamikaze]] planes filled with fleas infected with plague (''[[Yersinia pestis]]'') to crash into civilian population centers in the city, hoping to spread plague in the city and effectively kill tens of thousands of civilians. The plan was scheduled to launch on September 22, 1945, but was not carried out because [[Japanese surrender|Japan surrendered]] five weeks earlier.<ref>Naomi Baumslag, ''Murderous Medicine: Nazi Doctors, Human Experimentation, and Typhus'', 2005, p.207</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.npr.org/2011/04/25/135638924/where-to-find-the-worlds-most-wicked-bugs| author=Amy Stewart| title=Where To Find The World's Most 'Wicked Bugs': Fleas| publisher=National Public Radio| date=April 25, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2001/06/05/commentary/world-commentary/the-trial-of-unit-731/| author=Russell Working| title=The trial of Unit 731| newspaper=The Japan Times| date=June 5, 2001}}</ref>

After World War II, the military continued to play a major role in the local economy, but post-[[Cold War]] cutbacks took a heavy toll on the local defense and aerospace industries. The resulting downturn led San Diego leaders to seek to diversify the city's economy by focusing on research and science, as well as tourism.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.milkeninstitute.org/publications/publications.taf?function=detail&ID=312&cat=resrep |title=Milken Institute |publisher=Milken Institute |access-date=July 1, 2010}}</ref>
[[File:Sdmarina.JPG|thumb|left|Starting in the 1980s, many areas of Downtown, such as the [[Marina, San Diego|Marina District]], underwent [[Urban renewal|redevelopment]].]]
From the start of the 20th century through the 1970s, the American [[tuna]] fishing fleet and tuna canning industry were based in San Diego, "the tuna capital of the world".<ref name="gala">{{cite web|url=http://www.sandiegohistory.org/press/MOH2012|title=San Diego History Center Honors San Diego's Tuna Fishing Industry at Annual Gala|work=San Diego History Center|access-date=September 1, 2012}}</ref> San Diego's first tuna cannery was founded in 1911, and by the mid-1930s the canneries employed more than 1,000 people. A large fishing fleet supported the canneries, mostly staffed by immigrant fishermen from [[Japan]], and later from the [[Autonomous regions of Portugal|Portuguese]] [[Azores]] and [[Italy]] whose influence is still felt in neighborhoods like [[Little Italy, San Diego|Little Italy]] and [[Point Loma, San Diego|Point Loma]].<ref>{{cite journal|journal=The Journal of San Diego History|author1=Felando, August  |author2=Medina, Harold |name-list-style=amp |title=The Origins of California's High-Seas Tuna Fleet|pages=5–8, 18|volume=58|date=Winter–Spring 2012|issue=1 & 2|issn=0022-4383}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2006/nov/19/realestate/re-guide19|title=It's the old country, with new condos|last=Lechowitzky|first=Irene|date=November 19, 2006|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=September 1, 2012}}</ref> Due to rising costs and foreign competition, the last of the canneries closed in the early 1980s.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.4sd.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/jun/20/1ez20history182544-san-diego-once-was-tuna-capital/?ap|title=San Diego once was 'Tuna Capital of World'|last=Crawford|first=Richard|date=June 20, 2009|work=San Diego Union Tribune|access-date=September 1, 2012}}{{Dead link|date=January 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Downtown San Diego was in decline in the 1960s and 1970s, but experienced some urban renewal since the early 1980s, including the opening of [[Westfield Horton Plaza|Horton Plaza]], the revival of the [[Gaslamp Quarter, San Diego, California|Gaslamp Quarter]], and the construction of the [[San Diego Convention Center]]; [[Petco Park]] opened in 2004.<ref name="Erie">{{cite journal|last=Erie|first=Steven P.|author2=Kogan, Vladimir |author3=MacKenzi, Scott A.|title=Redevelopment, San Diego Style: The Limits of Public–Private Partnerships|journal=Urban Affairs Review|date=May 2010 |volume=45|issue=5|pages=644–678|doi=10.1177/1078087409359760|s2cid=154024558}}</ref> Outside of downtown, San Diego annexed large swaths of land and for suburban expansion to the north and control of the [[San Ysidro Port of Entry]].

As the [[Cold War]] ended, the military shrank and so did defense spending. San Diego has since become a center of the emerging biotech industry and is home to telecommunications giant [[Qualcomm]]. San Diego had also grown in the tourism industry with the popularity of attractions such as the [[San Diego Zoo]], [[SeaWorld San Diego]], and [[Legoland California]] in [[Carlsbad, California|Carlsbad]].{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}