Credits

Books:

▪ Balboa Park Expositions 1915 – 1936: The Magic City, A Book of Days. San Diego: The San Diego Historical Society, 1982.

▪ Bartholomew, Harland. Master Plan for Balboa Park, San Diego, California. St. Louis: Harland Bartholomew and Associates, City Planners–Civil

Engineers–Landscape Architects, June 1960.

▪ Clark, Ellen and Ray Riegert. Hidden San Diego. Berkley, CA: Ulysses Press, 2005.

▪ Crooks, Pamela. Discover Balboa Park: A Complete Guide to America’s Greatest Urban Park. La Mesa, CA: Ridgway Park Publishing, 2000.

▪ Goodhue, Bertram Grosvenor. The Architecture and the Gardens of the San Diego Exposition. San Francisco: Paul Elder and Company Publishers, 1916.

▪ Hendrickson, Nancy. San Diego Then and Now. San Diego: Thunder Bay Press, 2003.

▪ Hudson, Andrew. The Magic of Balboa Park. La Jolla, CA: PhotoSecrets Publishing, 2000.

▪ Johnson, Marael and Joe Yogerst. National Geographic Traveler San Diego. Washington DC: National Geographic Society, 2003.

▪ Marshall, David. San Diego’s Balboa Park. Postcard History Series. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2007.

▪ Puplava, Kathy and Paul Sirois. Trees and Gardens of Balboa Park. San Diego: Tecolote Publications, 2001.

▪ Wurman, Richard Saul. Access San Diego. 5th ed. New York: Access Press, 2008.

Websites:

www.balboapark.org

www.sandiegohistory.org

Creator: Katharina von Ow

Consultants: Tari Donohue and Chet Orloff

Balboa Park offers many more Attractions

San Diego Natural History Museum

Spanish Village Art Center

There are fifteen museums in the park, such as the San Diego Natural History Museum, the San Diego Museum of Art, the Timken Museum of Art, and the San Diego Aerospace Museum.

The World-Famous San Diego Zoo is also located within Balboa Park. The exotic animals on view during the 1915-1916 exposition created the basis for the now world-renowned zoo.

Many recreational opportunities can be enjoyed in the park; among them a golf course, tennis courts, a baseball field, a velodrome, a swimming pool, walking and jogging trails, playgrounds, chess tables, and picnic areas.

The Spanish Village Art Center was constructed for the 1935-1936 exposition to represent a typical Spanish village. It contains gallery-studios where artists can be seen at work and artwork can be purchased.

The Old Globe Theatre (modeled after Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London) was built for the 1935-1936 fair and is used for theater productions. The Spreckels Organ Pavilion, constructed for the 1915-1916 exposition, contains the largest outdoor pipe organ in the world. There are free public concerts every Sunday.

The possibilities for spending time at Balboa Park are endless. There is something for everybody, and every day this urban oasis is enjoyed by locals and visitors alike.

Inside the Botanical Building

Botanical Building and Fountain

Flowers inside the Botanical Building

The Botanical Building houses more than 2,100 permanent plants, among them palm trees, ferns and a large variety of orchids. Throughout the year additional plants are planted as seasonal displays.

Besides the Botanical Building there are many other gardens to visit, among them the Cactus Garden, the Palm Canyon, and the Rose Garden.

Botanical Building and Lily Pond

Lily Pond

The Botanical Building was constructed for the 1915-1916 exposition. The most striking feature about this structure is the gigantic wooden beam roof construction. San Diego’s perfect climate allows it to be such an open construction.

The Lily Pond was also built for the 1915-1916 fair. During World War II the pond was used as a rehabilitation pool for wounded soldiers. The lawns around the Lily Pond are very popular for sitting on the grass and relaxing. The pond is home to water lilies as well as large and colorful koi fish.

House of Hospitality

Fountain in the courtyard of the House of Hospitality

Woman of Tehuantepec

The House of Hospitality, originally designed for the 1915-1916 fair and remodeled for the 1935-1936 exposition, is the home of the well-stocked Balboa Park Visitor Center and also houses the large Prado Restaurant which is very popular with wedding parties celebrating at Balboa Park.

The lovely tiled fountain in the courtyard with its statue showing an Aztec woman called the “Woman of Tehuantepec” was carved by the local artist Donal Hord for the 1935-1936 exposition and is one of the most popular photo spots in the park.

Casa del Prado

Casa del Prado: Front Entrance

Courtyard of the Casa del Prado

Casa del Prado: South Wing

The beautifully ornate Casa del Prado was erected for the 1915-1916 exposition as the Food and Beverage building. It served many purposes over the years but had to be torn down in the 1960s.

The Committee of One Hundred, a citizens’ organization formed in 1967, fought for preservation and collected money for the building to be completely reconstructed. This group is still active and very much involved in the preservation of the Spanish Colonial architecture in Balboa Park.

California Building

West Gate & California Building

Entrance of the California Building

The California Building was built for the 1915-1916 exposition and was one of the few buildings intended to be permanent. It is one of the best known structures in Balboa Park with its high tower and tiled dome and a landmark of San Diego. The southern facade is decorated with sculpted figures important in the history of California. Today the building houses the anthropological Museum of Man.

The Beginnings of Balboa Park

Statue of Kate Sessions

George White Marston

The horticulturalist Kate Sessions (1857-1940) is considered to be the “Mother of Balboa Park.” In 1892 she agreed to lease a parcel of land in Balboa Park from the city of San Diego to establish her nursery and in return she would plant 100 trees each year in the park for ten years and 300 elsewhere in San Diego. Because of this, thousands of trees and shrubs from all over the world now grow in the park.

George White Marston (1850-1946), a department store owner, commissioned two master plans for the park and was also involved in saving the exhibition buildings from being torn down at the end of the two World’s Fairs. His house near Balboa Park now belongs to the park and is a museum.

The California Pacific International Exposition, 1935-1936

Lily Pond

The Botanical Building, the main entrance and gardens

Since the first exposition had created a big boost in the further development of San Diego, another World’s Fair was undertaken to promote San Diego and create economic opportunities during the Great Depression.

For the California Pacific International Exposition (1935-1936) the local architect Richard S. Requa added structures in the styles representing pueblo, Mayan, Mexican, Spanish and 1930s-modern.

During both World Wars many of the buildings left over from the two expositions were then used by the military which caused them significant damage.

Since most buildings were not built to be permanent, the city government wanted to tear them down. However, the citizens of San Diego were able to prevent the their destruction and had them renovated or reconstructed.

In 1977 Balboa Park and its exposition architecture were declared a National Historic Landmark and added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Architecture and Exhibits of the Panama-California Exposition, 1915-1916

The main road El Prado

Zuni Exhibit: Recreation of a Native American Pueblo (1915)

The New York architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue and his associate Carleton Winslow were the lead architects for the exposition. Goodhue created a new style drawing from California’s Spanish history.

The buildings of previous world’s fairs had all been designed in the Neoclassical and Beaux-Arts style. Goodhue’s style for the buildings, later called Spanish Colonial, became widely popular in California and today is seen as typical for California.

Except for a few buildings, the structures were built as temporary buildings out of wood-and-plaster with decorations made out of cardboard.

Among the exhibits at the 1915-1916 exposition was a full recreation of a Native American pueblo village, including Native Americans posing as inhabitants.