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| Landmark #491 | San Diego County | Visited: February 9, 2013 | Plaque? NO. 🙁 |
| What is it? | An empty lot! |
| What makes it historical? | THE GUIDE SAYS: This tablet marks the site of the Exchange Hotel. Here, on June 29,1851, Masons met for the first time in San Diego and organized the lodge which became San Diego Lodge No. 35, F. & A.M., the oldest lodge of Masons in Southern California.
OTHER TIDBITS: This is a mysterious hotel, since no one bothered to depict it either as a drawing or daguerreotype while it was still standing! George Parrish Tebbetts, co-founder and casual namesake of “Tebbetts’ Place,” had a colorful story, though! He arrived in San Francisco in 1849 and teamed up with a Chinese boy (whose name has been lost to history) to quest for gold on the American River. They struck it rich, and the boy wanted to return to China with some of the money. Mr. Tebbetts gave him $3,000 for the journey, and heard nothing more until, forty-five years later, the grown boy walked into his office for a reintroduction! After founding the Exchange Hotel with his partner, Philip Hooff, he went on to buy Ranchos San Luis Rey and San Roque, and become the third mayor of San Diego! |
| How can I Help the Helpers? | HERE’S HOW:
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| Where is this place? | LISTED DIRECTIONS: 2729 San Diego Ave Old Town San Diego State Historic Park San Diego, CA 92110 ANNOTATIONS: From Los Angeles: ~117mi (189km) — 2hrs |
| When should I go? | Whenever the mood strikes you! |