Junípero Serra Museum

Junípero Serra Museum Review

The hill on which San Diego's original Spanish presidio (fortress) and California's first mission were perched is now the domain of a Spanish Mission-style museum established, along with Presidio Park, by department store magnate and philanthropist George Marston in 1929 to commemorate the history of the site from the time it was occupied by the Kumeyaay Indians through its Spanish, Mexican, and American periods. Artifacts include Kumeyaay baskets, Spanish riding gear, and an 18th-century cannon once used to protect Fort Guijarros down the hill in Old Town. The education room has hands-on stations where kids can grind acorns in metates (stones used for grinding grain), or dig for buried artifacts with archaeology tools. Ascend the tower to compare the view you'd have gotten before 1929 with the one you have today. The museum, now operated by the San Diego History Center, is at the north end of Presidio Park, near Taylor Street.