San Diego History Center

The architecture of this 1,200 acre park is beautiful.
It’s an art and cultural park with lots of history about how it came to be. This place holds a lot of nostalgia for me, being a family vaca go-​to as a kid.
While most of the grounds themselves are kept up as I remember, many of the museums are not. The RHF Science center is probably the most disappointing for the money. It’s in serious need of updating and repairs, however I will say the Omnimax theater; a newer addition is pretty cool.
The Museum of Man, the Museum of Natural History and the San Diego history museum were my favorites, really interesting and well worth the admission price.

Now is the time to see the History Center, if you want a special treat. You can see original paintings by Dr. Seuss. I learned so much about Theodor Seuss Geisel, the real Dr. Seuss. Did you know he studied with the surrealists in Paris? His amazing animals made more sense after I learned this. The exhibit is at the museum until 12/​31/​2015.

Amazing Dr. Seuss exhibit. Everyone who has appreciated his books as a kid, will love the museum as an adult.

For Military it’s free. I spoke with the Events Coordinator to have my reenlistment into the Navy there and she (Nicole, if I’m not mistaken) had it arranged. it was perfect. Great Exhibits that change throughout the year. DR. SEUSS will be coming to you soon

This place is great for the whole family and out of town guests. I love balboa park but the museums and gardens are amazing. I liked this place because I was able to take my family plus all my family members from Nj and they loved it as well. Check it out is worth it.

Stumbled upon the SD History Center as my traveling companion and I were exploring Balboa Park.
We stopped on a whim because we heard that there was a special exhibition on the history of San Diego Craft Beer. After spending several days in the area sampling numerous brews at local breweries it was great to get some of the history behind the craft beer movement in the area which dates back to before Prohibition. We were also lucky as this was the last weekend that this exhibition was on view. We loved that exhibit plotted the history of the homebrew movement in San Diego and accurately demonstrated that the craft beer culture in the San Diego area is truly a collaborative culture. That was something that we were able to experience first hand during out time at all of the breweries we visited. I also loved the fact that many of these brewers started as home brewers working with established breweries before venturing off on their own. It was like «Six Degrees of Brewing». This was an exhibition that could be enjoyed by those with either an extensive or limited beer/​brewing knowledge.
My only fault of the museum is that it was much smaller then I thought it was. I wished there were more exhibits on the history of San Diego and some of its other cultural aspects. I guess their rotate their exhibits but for a city so rich in history there was a lot more that I think the museum could have offered this out of towner.

SO, I’ve been working on a book project for like 4 or 5 years. To say it’s coming along slowly is an understatement. Anyway, I’m currently working on a chapter about video games in San Diego during the 1970’s and 1980’s. The internet doesn’t have a lot of reference for me and contacting San Diego papers (like the Reader and the Coronado Eagle) has been an exercise in frustration since they don’t seem to respond to any inquiries. As a last resort, I visited the San Diego History Center archive which is in the basement under the main museum. BINGO!
The center is old, but well-​organized and the staff are all super helpful and friendly. It’s $ 8 to conduct research, but the fee is well worth it due to the amount of attention and assistance you get. Within a few minutes, I’d struck gold and found the photo reference I was looking for. One of the center directors then came over and clearly explained the process and additional fees for using the reference in my work.
It was a hot summer day and my wife was sitting outside with our dog, so I didn’t get to spend a ton of time here. I can see coming back here and spending hours looking through the photo archives when I get ready to resume writing on other topics!

My wife and I were in San Diego in vacation and in Balboa Park and we saw that there was an exhibit on San Diego Beer in the history museum. We had a AAA card, so we got a buck off the $ 8 entry fee.
The exhibit was really cool, it showed how beer was made and stuff, which I already knew, but I loved the history of how San Diego became a top 5 craft beer city.
There are now 65 breweries in San Diego County, and they make awesome beer!
We got through the exhibit in about 45 minutes, $ 8 is a little steep, but it was a great exhibit!

Last night was our first time to the SD History museum in Balboa Park. We came for the «History Happy hour» which is the last Friday of each month, thru Nov. 1, and it was a great event. It included beer samples, BBQ, live music from Charlie Imes (which was great), admission to the «Bottled and Kegged» exhibition about San Diego’s craft brewing business, and viewing of the documentary, «Suds County USA» about the micro-​brew movement and home-​brewing in San Diego, featuring lots of interviews of local brewers and music from local bands.
For more info on the exhibit or the happy hours, check out the History museum’s website, and for the movie, you can check out the sudscountyusa website, and even purchase it online for less than $ 10 A very unique night out in San Diego!

As a part of The BIG Exchange I brought my daughter here for our first visit. I love to learn about the history and how families from the East Coast with lots of money and even more money built up the Southern California coast. We enjoyed the period clothing and the giant floor map. The art work through is beautiful. It’s a small but mighty museum. We just missed all the great parts of the Tuna Industry of San Diego exhibit — but the next one will be on CRAFT BEER!!! So I’ll be sure and go back for that!
Museum Gift Shop — tons and tons of things MADE IN CHINA — luckily I found some great old neighborhood photos from Hillcrest, North Park, Mission Beach, Chula Vista and Point Loma — I’m excited to add them to our home. Would be nice if the SD History Center would be mindful to have items in the gift shop that are either locally or US made.

I’ve been here twice a few years apart and I was pleased to see this time that the exhibits were totally different. So it’s small but they seem to work on showing different things. I loved learning about the history of San Diego from the 1800s to now.
The tuna exhibit was actually really interesting, I never would have guessed that San Diego was so important in the development of canned tuna.
The museum is only $ 6 for adults and the price feels right. Since it’s so tiny I wouldn’t come here just for this museum but if you’re going to be in Balboa Park it’s a really nice stop.
Also I normally never look at gift shops but they had a really good one full of some really cool prints.

Pretty cool local history museum. It teaches you a lot about the city of San Diego. Got to see behind the scenes on how the conservators work on their pieces. That was pretty cool, except that the humidity was terrible (but necessary).

This is a cute local history museum. It’s small, but there’s a nice diverse set of exhibits, so most people should be able to find something interesting. The huge maps on the floor of one room are fun, and the displays provide a detailed history of the city. I’m easily bored by art museums, so I didn’t really get much out of the big art exhibit that took up about a third of the space, but I did like the rotating exhibit about the different neighborhoods in San Diego. Even the gift shop has some interesting things, and we enjoyed looking around even though we didn’t buy anything. Expect to spend perhaps an hour or two here; admission is fairly priced for the size of the museum, and there are deals and discounts available (we got our tickets through Groupon, I think).

I took my students here for a field trip/​guided tour and it was so interesting to learn about all the different neighborhoods in SD. I really enjoyed how the tour started with the American Indians who first cultivated the land here and then we learned about the different districts, how they came about & the type of people/​minorities that settled there. Midway through the permanent exhibit there are costumes for you to put on and take pictures with — that was a crowd pleaser.
There is also a temporary exhibit right now: Portraits of a Proud Community. This exhibit is a compilation of black & white photographs, focusing on the rise of the middle-​class African American community in SD. The best part of this exhibit is the table where people could write their thoughts on a post-​it and stick it onto the table. One squiggly, handwritten post-​it read: «It makes me feel good about myself.» I assume a young child wrote this. We need more exhibits like this to teach young children about empowerment, to give hope, and validate identities. Kudos to the SD History Center!

General:
Tuesday — Sunday, 10:00 a.m. — 5:00 p.m.
$ 6 Adults
$ 4 Seniors, Students, Military
$ 2 children 6 – 17
Free on the second tuesday of each month
It is in the same building as the museum of Photographic Arts.
Across from the Botanical «pool»
The museum is mapped in «phases» starting with geographical, and then follows an interesting timeline.
There might be discounts listed under «coupons» through the deals link, on the Balboa website:
Pros
The exhibitions are large
There are interactive activities for children
There is a GREAT gift shop and the prices are average
There is A LOT of time taken to present San Diego artifacts
The limited time exhibitions have a lot to look at and read
The placards next to each piece gives a very detailed and well-​written description.
Cons
The main «center» (phase 1) of the museum is very echo-​y, because the ceilings are so high… If there are a lot of children– it can get loud.
Comments
This was the first time I’ve been in this museum. I kept telling my friend how much my parents should come. There are a lot of artifacts from Californian and San Diego. The gift shop was packed with treasures, it really would be a great place to find unique gifts.
When I visited, the current exhibition was «Portrait of a Proud Community: Norman Baynard’s Logan Heights 1939 – 1985.» There was an abundance of photographs, and the descriptions were very insightful. I will go back to this museum the next time we’re at Balboa.

Not bad not bad. Theres some cool things to check out in here onna Free Tuesday. The map of SD County laid out on the floor in one of the rooms is pretty cool. Itsa small spot, but you can spend some time walking through. The SD History Center, is a-​ok!

Not bad… I learned a lot about San Diego when I came here. For example Mr. Horton Plaza was a really cool dude back in the late 19^th century. The Wells Fargo Bank operated in a coach. Yah, just walk up to the ATM lady in the coach and she would exchange your checks for real cash.
But on a serious note, it’s a decent place to learn some background on San Diego and how real estate has developed in the past century and a half. Nice cool pictures and some old ledgers and record books.
They have some old school clothing. Kinda looks like costumes but they’re the real deal. They also have some old school board games. Stuff you have never heard off. Neat stuff.
Tip: Admission is FREE for SD residents every second Tuesday of the month. Regular price is 5 bucks. They have discounts for military, students, and seniors and you save a buck.

I am giving this museum 3 stars (deserved 2) because it was only $ 5. I know I am lame but I was excited to see and learn SD History.
I did not get the history from the map of SD on the floor.
Worse even was the room of ladies dresses, YES DRESSES! But wait here’s how we get SD history… the ladies who wore these dresses lived in San Diego! Whoa! I totally get it now, ladies from San Diego wore Dior. I feel so cultured now. Check me out!

This museum surprised me, in a positive way.
The thing about local museums and sites is that it’s so rare for locals to see these features of their own city, as they’re such classic traveler destinations. So maybe it’s because I’m a new resident of this city, but I really appreciated getting an enriching knowledge of San Diego’s history. I have a feeling that many residents really aren’t really familiar with how this city was shaped.
They have a smaller area with a rotating exhibit, and then a permanent exhibit as well. The rotating exhibit that I saw was focused on the early retail experience of San Diego, specifically the Marston Co Department Store and its clothing history.
Strong features of this museum include an arts section for local artists’ history, an old trolley train and a giant map you can walk on… I think this would be the kid-​friendliest part. But I imagine kids might find the historical component a little dull.
I also really liked that they had another little section of the museum reserved for local elementary school students’ projects about various civil rights histories. That was a really cool and surprisingly informative treat.

What better place to shop than Balboa Park? I mostly wanted to post a review about the GIFT SHOP at the Museum of San Diego History, but of course the museum itself is definitely the main attraction.
This gift shop is a great place to stop in and buy gifts for friends and family of all ages. The shop features quality Tiffany and Craftsman reproduction lamps, Art Deco jewelry, wonderful books on San Diego, art history and nature parks, posters, magnets, canes, decorative pillows, toys and more. Seriously people — this little gift shop is a hidden treasure and I encourage you to check it out. You don’t have to pay admission to the museum.
The Museum of San Diego history is ALSO worth seeing. I’ve seen many amazing things here like a history of wedding dresses, a vintage San Diego streetcar, a giant map of San Diego you can walk on, and amazing photographs of what our fair city looked like when downtown was full of (real)sailors and the bay was brimming with tall ships. Check their website for current exhibits. Support the city you love — go check this place out and make a donation.