“We won!” was the happy chant from members of Point Loma’s La Playa Trail Association. A humbling honor indeed: In the category of Community History, the group earned one of several annual historic preservation awards from the City of San Diego Historical Resources Board. “La Playa Trail Association has become known for its lecture series promoting community history and preservation,” says Myra Herrmann, senior planner and tribal liaison for the City of San Diego. “Because of the outreach done through these lectures, members from all parts of the community are able to learn about our past and our present, which connects our Peninsula’s past to the broader San Diego history.” Everyone is welcome to attend the next lecture in the series, slated for 5:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 26 at Point Loma Assembly, 3035 Talbot St. Returning for a second presentation is Rick Kennedy, professor of history at Point Loma Nazarene University. He will present “The La Playa Trail and its Fellow California Trails: A Comparison of San Diego, Dana Point, San Pedro, Santa Barbara, Monterey and San Francisco.” A $10 donation at the assembly door is suggested. Let’s take a peek at some history along the Trail. In 1931, soon after the founding of the San Diego Historical Society, historians John and Winifred Davidson and architect Richard Requa began to define and mark the oldest commercial trail in the western United States. If you live or work in Point Loma, you travel some part of that early path. It begins at the landing site of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo and the Spanish Fort Guijarros on Ballast Point and weaves along what is now Rosecrans Street. It then stretches to the old Mission San Diego.
In 2005, several Point Loma residents formed the La Playa Trail Association to carry on the work of earlier trailblazers. Today, 17 civic-minded members continue to refurbish, rededicate and rebuild a number of historic markers. Take a walk along the trail and find the more recent additions: The Roseville Marker on the sidewalk near Union Bank (1175 Rosecrans St.) and the monument to the Chinese Fishing and Shipbuilding Industry by the water at La Playa.
The La Playa Trail boasts some 75 registered national, state and city historic landmarks along the route and more than 400 sites of historic interest. Historian and association secretary Charles Best documents these sites and contributes rib-tickling historical minutes worthy of any good history journal.
Association president Klonie Kunzel says, “Our association members are extremely proud of the Historical Resources Board Award. We are all committed to telling the story of the historic La Playa Trail, adding to the rich antiquity of Point Loma. An awards ceremony will take place on May 28 at San Diego Civic Concourse, and we’ll all be there to accept.”
Posters created by each of the nine award recipients will be on public display in the lobby of the City Administration Building May 20 to 28, commemorating National Historic Preservation Month. Cheers to our ancestors and the later adventurers who called the trail home.
Find La Playa Trail Association at laplayatrail.org or email Klonie at [email protected].