Old Town San Diego State Historic Park

This site preserves San Diego's first non-Native town, which grew up at the foot of Presidio Hill after settlers moved down from the original 1769 Spanish fort on the bluff above; the settlement remained the center of the city through the Mexican period and into the early American era, from the 1820s through the 1870s. Five original adobe buildings anchor the park, including Casa de Estudillo, built in 1827 and independently recognized as a National Historic Landmark.

The state established the park in 1968, and living history demonstrations and free guided tours introduce visitors to daily life from the era, alongside reconstructed buildings such as the first San Diego courthouse and an early schoolhouse. The nearby Presidio site, where the original 1769 settlement once stood, and other historic sites cluster close enough together that the whole area functions as a single walkable historic district.

Because there is no charge to enter the park or any of its museums, and much of the surrounding area still operates in both English and Spanish, it can be one of the more welcoming historic sites in the region for Spanish-speaking families.