Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. 12 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1904.
From the record
“The California Quadrangle, California Building, and California Tower are historic structures located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. They were built for the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition and served as the grand entry to the event.”
Wikipedia article California Quadrangle, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 148 National Register listings published here for San Diego County · listed in 1974 · category: Building.
National Register reference number.74000548- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Then and now
1904 to 1996
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
92 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
19041996
Fires near this property
457 since 1994
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 457 fires within 5 miles of The California Building (Museum of Us)
between 1994 and 2020, burning about 172 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 92 were recorded as arson.
Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted
here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
Reported cause
Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
244
Arson/incendiarism
92
Debris and open burning
47
Smoking
38
Misuse of fire by a minor
21
Equipment and vehicle use
9
Natural
3
Recreation and ceremony
2
Power generation/transmission/distribution
1
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Date
Cause
Size
Reported by
Name on the report
9 September 2011
Arson/incendiarism
under an acre
San Diego Unit
not named
8 September 2008
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
7 September 2005
Debris and open burning
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
6 September 1994
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
1.0 acres
San Diego Unit
ASSIST 53
5 September 2006
Debris and open burning
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
5 September 2005
Debris and open burning
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
30 September 2016
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
30 September 2010
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
16 workings within 5 miles of The California Building (Museum of Us): 13 past producers, 2 unknowns, 1 producer.
1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Granite, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
San Diego, the town this property stands in, in 21 storm reports between 1994 and 2023: 6 flash flood, 4 thunderstorm wind, 4 lightning, 2 funnel cloud.
The reports record 1 death and 3 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office
filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date
opens the federal record of that event.
San Diego Lindbergh Field recorded a wind gust of 58 mph ahead of an approaching squall line. This was the highest wind gust ever measured at Lindbergh Field for the month of December. Just south of the airport in National City, the top 200 feet of the KSON broadcast tower snapped off. A portion of the tower fell on 20 parked cars. Winds gusts over 60 mph blew down many trees and caused damage to houses, cars, and power poles.
NBC San Diego reported a lightning strike to the Unified Port of San Diego building, resulting in part of the roof getting peeled back. The strike also took out power to the building, but no injuries were reported.
A series of Pacific storm systems produced widespread heavy rainfall across the San Diego metro area, producing rainfall totals of 3-5 inches near Fashion Valley from January 14-17, with the heaviest occurring the morning of January 15- the morning of January 16. The San Diego River reached 12.4-12.7 feet at Fashion Valley.||Every cross street in Mission Valley along the San Diego River was flooded, including toward the San Diego Trolley. Three vehicles were abandoned and under 2-3 feet of flowing water on Camino Del Este, Qualcomm Way and Fashion Valley Road. The San Diego River overflowed, with over 1 foot of standing water into the nearby parking structure.||Numerous swiftwater rescues were conducted, including one rescue of a woman whose car was completely submerged into the flood waters at Camino De La Reina and Avenida del No; a helicopter search for two victims was conducted near 4700 Pacific Highway, with five victims having been rescued from the water.||Hotel guests at the Riverleaf Inn were evacuated and vehicles were submerged in flowing water.
Periods of moderate rainfall fell across the San Diego metro area on the afternoon of November 8. Several reports of flooding were received:|The Department of Highways reported flooding on Highway 94 and Federal Blvd, where 0.50 inch fell in three hours.|The Department of Highways also reported flooding at SR 94 and College Ave.|A National Weather Service employee reported roadway flooding on University Ave where rainfall of 0.25-0.30 inch had been reported in one hour.
Accumulations of pea-sized hail resulted in multiple traffic collisions along Interstate 15 between University and El Cajon Blvd. Southbound Interstate 15 was closed for a few hours.
The San Diego River was near flood stage when it swept a homeless man away near Ward Road in Mission Valley. He was rescued by two men in the vicinity who happened to hear him call for help.
A cold upper-level low pressure center spawned an area of thunderstorms that affected much of southern San Diego County with gusty winds, small hail, and power outages. Lightning associated with the storm system struck a palm tree in the skyline district of San Diego, shearing off the top twenty feet. The resulting shock wave shattered all the windows of the home on the property, sent dishes and glasses cascading from cupboards, and knocked pictures off the walls. Windows were broken in Fifteen nearby homes, an elementary school, and a high school two blocks away. Also, a nearby utility pole caught fire, and the top of a wood and concrete fence was destroyed.
United States Geological Survey topographic
sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then
testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
Other National Register properties close
enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both
positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties
to their map sheets.
Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.
Block
