CONNECT with the CityNew Discoveries
Welcome to the New Discoveries blog! City of San Diego City Clerk Archives staff use this area to upload newly rediscovered documents from San Diego’s history. In their duties, staff often find unique and interesting pieces of history they want to bring to the public. Those documents are uploaded here and then organized into their appropriate Collection, or a new Collection is created. Please check back frequently for fascinating new finds and discoveries!
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May 19, 1913 - Return to Home
From this petition in 1913, we can know that Ah Quin, the leader of the Chinese community at the time, proposed to remove the bodies of 75 Chinese from the Mt. Hope Cemetery and prepare to shipment to China for reburial. "Fallen leaves return to their roots" is a Chinese idiom. The Chinese who lived under the anti-Chinese policy had no family members in the early days of the United States. Their wish was to return to their hometown after death.
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1894, Artistic Center in La Jolla - Green Dragon
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This series of photos showed the scenes and life in the Green Dragon Colony in La Jolla. Anna Held came to San Diego in 1894 as a governess for the family of Ulysses St. Grant Jr., the 18th president’s son. She purchased an undeveloped hillside for $165. Her friend Kate Sessions, the famous horticulturist, planted lush eucalyptus trees here. It attracted more and more artists, musicians, writers, and actors to visit and became an extraordinary artistic center in the early days of La Jolla. The only intact part left of the original Green Dragon Colony today is its fireplace. The original German inscription in Held's own handwriting remains on it. It translates to: “Sacred to me is my hearth; sacred to me is my home.”
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May 4, 1870 - Endless Thoughts
This bill showed the Pueblo of San Diego payment of $250.00 for survey and topographic map of Mount Hope Cemetery in 1870. In 1869, a citizen committee was formed and responsible for establishing a new, municipal cemetery for San Diego. Mount Hope Cemetery was selected by the committee and opened in 1871. This scenic area contains historically significant monuments to some of San Diego's most notable citizens, including Alonzo Horton, the father of modern San Diego; Kate Sessions, San Diego's pioneering horticulturist; Ah Quinn, a merchant, farmer and leader in the Chinese Mission; and Dr. Charles Merwin Fenn, a founding member of the San Diego Medical Society.
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October 8, 1959 - Guard the City’s Archives
What do you think is particularly important to protect in case of war? Precious artworks, ancient books? From this article published in the San Diego Evening Tribune on October 8, 1959, under the shadow of the war at that time, the city hoped to build a repository for its vital records in an outlying area of the county. This plan was not chosen, but a disaster plan has been implemented to protect the City’s Archives. We are a small but mighty team dedicated to protecting San Diego’s history since 1850!
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October 18, 1910 - Flowers Blooming in San Diego
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This series of photos shows floral exhibition organized by the San Diego Floral Association at the U.S. Grant Hotel in the fall of 1910. Beautiful flowers and well-designed courtyard create an ornamental and artistic garden, which makes it an incomparable experience for every visitor to enjoy.
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January 18, 1908 - Weird San Diego
We have always been fascinated with oddities and the unusual. The Archives found an example of this in a petition from 1908 for a "Freak Show." James Porter asked to show off his “three live freak cows, a duck with 4 legs + 4 feet, a hen with 3 legs + 3 feet” in a monthly exhibit. We are curious to know how many feet his cows had.
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November 6, 1904 - Arbor Day in the City Park
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In 1904, many San Diegans participated in the Arbor Day in City Park, which is today's Balboa Park. Even to this day, our city still holds an annual Arbor Day in the spring. You can join with your family and friends to beautify our city and let the tradition of more than 110 years continue to pass on.
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August 5, 1850 - Richard Freeman’s Wage
Do you know who was the first black police officer in San Diego? His name was Richard Freeman. From this valuable record of 1850, we know that his wage was $14. This is also consistent with the record we found in Ordinance No. 27.
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June 2, 1958 - Dirtiest Job in the Civic Center
Check out this article we found in the City Clerk Archives about the Archives being “a dusty back room,” sixty-five years ago. The Evening Tribune highlights the assistant City Clerk, Laverne Miller as she goes on to describe her role being the “dirtiest job in the Civic Center!”
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September 9, 1926 - Escondido Grape Day
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This beautifully decorated float carried members of the community for the Escondido Grape Day Festival held in 1926. Since its inception of 1908, the people of Escondido have held an annual celebration called “Grape Day” because grapes were one of the most important local agricultural products. Did you know that Escondido’s oldest and most famous event will be held on September 9th, 2023?
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October 6, 1914 - Free Plants and Seeds
The letter, written by the “City Beautiful Campaign Committee” to the Board of Park Commissioners in 1914, helped the 1400-Acre City Park to provide as many plants, seeds, bulbs as possible for distribution to people who couldn’t afford to buy plants. On the back of this letter, a poster was shown for the upcoming Panama–California Exposition to be held the following year. Prior to the Exposition, every citizen hoped to decorate their houses with beautiful plants and flowers, so that San Diego could welcome visitors from all over the world with the most beautiful scenery.
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December 10, 1935 - Ordinance 793 "Service to All"
Check out the history of Ordinance 793 the Service to ALL Ordinance adopted by the City Council in December 1935. This ordinance made it unlawful for signs discouraging patronage from any "race or color" to be displayed in the City of San Diego.
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July 15, 1921 - The Brown Billy Goat
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In 1921, Miss Cecile Ferguson donated her pedigree brown billy-goat to the Board of Park Commissioners because she was worried that it would get too big to care for. Do you see the photo, It's Miss Ferguson with her two-month-old beautiful brown billy-goat. The Board of Park Commissioners were very happy to accept the donation so the goat could live in the park with other animals.
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undated, Amazing Image of Kate O. Sessions
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Check out this amazing image of Kate O. Sessions! Katherine Olivia Sessions was born on November 8, 1857, responsible for the beautiful work as a landscape architect that you continue to see throughout Balboa Park to date. Deemed as the “Mother of Balboa Park,” an American botanist, winning international commendation for her extensive expertise in gardening and her vast knowledge of all types of horticultural subjects.
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October 17, 1924 - Dr. Charlotte Johnson Baker's Report
Read this report completed by our famous first female Doctor in San Diego, Dr. Charlotte Johnson Baker. Dr. Baker improved women’s lives throughout the years, including the right to vote. This document is another pivotal piece that she played in advocating for young girls and the importance in having a place to be cared for other than jail.
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1924-1958 - San Diego Zoo Attendance
The San Diego Zoo is a favorite landmark of many San Diegans and visitors alike, check out what we found in the City Clerk Archives! This census captures the visitor attendance from 1924 all the way through 1958! This document also captures the City and County growth in population rate!
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September 18, 1922 - A Last Recommendation
William Ellsworth Smythe wrote the History of San Diego at the turn of the last Century. He passed away less than a month after this letter was dated. His book has two parts, a historical overview of when the City was first settled by Junipero Serra and then after California incorporated into America with personal stories of locals from the front lines.
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August 12, 1913 - The California State Flower: A Snow Plant?
When California was choosing a state flower, someone had suggested the Snow Plant. This letter from Laura Kimball, a fern collector from National City, related to the famous Kimball brothers, details her thoughts on the fungi with an amusing description.
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August 4, 1874 through October 5, 1875 - Show Me the Money: Horton Signs a Check
Cancelled checks are not often kept by anyone, but these receipts were found in the City Archives. To our surprise and delight, we found A. E. Horton’s signature on the back of them!