Posts Tagged ‘John Judson Ames’

George Horatio Derby

We found ourselves in a large bar and billiard-room . . . Here I saw Lieutenant Derby, of the Topographical Engineers, an elderly gentlemen of emaciated appearance and serious cast of features. . .

William Heath Davis

Of the new town of San Diego, now the city of San Diego, I can say that I was its founder.   –William Heath Davis, interview with San Diego Sun, December 1887.

Often forgotten in San Diego history is the pioneer some historians regard as the true founder of the City of San Diego.  William Heath Davis certainly believed he deserved credit for his attempt of 1850—an effort that failed but paved the way for a later city builder named Alonzo E. Horton.

Read the story of San Diego’s founding:  Davis’ Folly.