Location:
Nordstrom Horton Plaza
103 Horton Plaza
San Diego, CA 92101
Tel: (619) 239-1700
Website: www.nordstrom.com

In the city's long history, several names had came up as the founding father. The oldest name is Juan Cabrillo who was the first to discover San Diego Bay in 1542. Some nominate Junipero Serra, the padre who guided the establishment of Alta California's first mission in 1769. William Heath Davis who was the catalyst of the 1850 of New Town but the project failed miserably is also high on the list. Alonzo Erastus Horton, from whom Horton Plaza is named after is considered by many as the founding father of today's San Diego.

Born in Connecticut in 1813, Horton moved westward in search of his fortune, ending in San Francisco during the gold rush where profited more from supplying ice and store merchandise in the Mother Lode than panning for the metal.

He was 54 years old when he headed to San Diego and purchased 960 acres of New Town within one month of his arrival. He paid a total of $264 (27.5 cents per acre). He created a grid of streets with small blocks and without alleys, allowing for a larger number of (more valuable) corner lots to be sold. The first real estate boom was under way.

Mannequin

Mannequin

Mannequin