Serra Museum Education Program
Water ~ Barter ~ Shelter ~ Food ~ Dig Box ~ City Life ~ Mission & Rancho Life

Life in an American Town

As people came to San Diego to live, they wanted to live closer to the harbor where the ships were and where more of the business was being done. These new people, who mostly arrived by ship, came from places in the Eastern United States where cities looked different and other languages and religions were common. New Town, as Alonzo Horton called his settlement, grew at the edge of San Diego Bay. The houses and buildings in Old Town got dirtier and shabbier as people moved away, and soon Old Town and Presidio Hill were almost forgotten.

In New Town, there were stores and businesses that sold cloth, food, tools and other things the people wanted. There was a court house and a public hall where opera singers and actors performed. Restaurants and bars served food and drink. Visitors who came by ship stayed at the Horton House hotel before finding a place to stay in the booming New Town. On the streets of New Town you might see a Spanish-speaking vaquero or cowboy, a Chinese cook, an Indian in work clothes, or a lady dressed in fine clothing. The streets were busy with horses, wagons, horse-drawn streetcars, and even bicycles.

Newspapers told people about all the things that were happening in their town They also helped people in San Diego keep in contact with the rest of the world. When the railroad came to San Diego in the 1880's, another connection with the East Coast was made, and it was even easier for people to move to San Diego.

People who lived in town did not usually grow their own food or raise animals for meat. Other people did these things, and sold what was made or grown. People who lived in towns did not each have their own shoemaker or carpenter or winemaker. They relied on businesses to do these things for them. Sometimes the jobs that were done, like blacksmith, butcher, or running a stable for horses, were dirty, smelly, and people did not want to live near these businesses. In a town, people lived closer together than on the ranchos. They had to find ways to get along and not bother each other.

Things to do and see:

1. Take the blocks and make a town with them. Don't forget to leave room for roads! Notice how close the houses have to be to each other! Where will you put the smelly butcher shop? How do you decide who has to live next to it?
2. Look at your town. How do the people get their food and water? How do the streets get cleaned up after the horses ride down them? Where is the garbage taken?
3. Look at the photograph of San Diego in 1874. What is different about the way people lived then? What are some things or businesses that are the same?