“Suspicious Origin Theory” Discounted
By Debbie L. Sklar / Special for the OB Rag
At about 10 a.m. on April 20, 1872, smoke began rising over Old Town San Diego.
Within hours, flames had swept through the heart of the community, destroying some of its most important buildings, including the old courthouse, the Franklin House, the Colorado House and other structures around the plaza.
The destruction was devastating.
But the fire also marked an important turning point in San Diego history.
Major Destruction
The blaze did not single-handedly move San Diego from Old Town to the waterfront. That transition was already underway. But the destruction of much of Old Town’s commercial center came at a crucial moment, helping cement the shift toward the growing community that became today’s downtown San Diego.
The fire began in the former courthouse building on San Diego Avenue near the plaza. Built in 1847 with the help of members of the Mormon Battalion, the small brick structure had served many purposes over the years, including as a courthouse, meeting place, church, school and polling place.
By 1872, it was being used as a general store operated by Rudolph Schiller.
Historical accounts reported that the fire broke between the ceiling and roof, apparently from a stovepipe. Flames quickly consumed the building and spread to nearby structures.
Old Town had no effective firefighting apparatus capable of containing such a blaze. A pump in the plaza was reportedly not working properly. By the time the Hook and Ladder Company from New Town arrived, the fire had already done most of its damage.
The Franklin House, Old Town’s foremost hotel and its first three-story building, was destroyed. So was the Colorado House, along with other businesses and buildings surrounding the plaza.
The loss was particularly significant because Old Town was already facing a challenge from a new community developing closer to San Diego Bay.
Hello, Alonzo Horton
In 1867, businessman Alonzo Horton arrived in San Diego and purchased about 960 acres south of Old Town near the waterfront. He subdivided the property and promoted what became known as Horton’s Addition, or New Town.
Horton believed the location offered better opportunities for commerce because of its proximity to the bay and shipping. His development efforts attracted residents and businesses, and New Town began emerging as a competitor to Old Town.
The political shift came even before the fire.
By 1871, the county seat had moved from Old Town to New Town, and county records were transferred to the new courthouse there. The City of San Diego identifies the courthouse as having been built in 1871 on land donated by Horton at Union, Broadway and C Street.
Then came the fire.
With Old Town’s commercial district badly damaged, the community’s ability to compete with Horton’s growing New Town was weakened even further.
On June 4, 1872, New Town celebrated the completion of its new courthouse on what is now Broadway at Front Street, on land donated by Horton. The timing underscored how quickly San Diego’s civic center was shifting south.
Old Town had been the center of civic and commercial life for decades. Its plaza had served as a gathering place for government, business, and social activity during both the Mexican and early American periods.
Now, San Diego’s future was increasingly tied to the waterfront.
The fire also disrupted the businesses that had operated around the plaza. Some merchants found other locations in Old Town. California State Parks’ account of the fire notes that Schiller occupied empty space on the east side of the plaza, while saloon keeper Dan Clark quickly established his business elsewhere. Joseph Mannasse, meanwhile, waited for an insurance settlement.
The fire’s significance was not simply the number of buildings destroyed. It came at a moment when Old Town was already losing businesses and government functions to New Town.
The San Diego History Center has described the destruction of the Franklin House, Colorado House and courthouse as a decisive blow to Old Town’s ability to maintain its position against Horton’s growing community.
There has long been speculation that the fire may have been deliberately set to drive business away from Old Town. California State Parks notes that such theories have circulated over the years. But there is no established evidence that the blaze was arson. Contemporary accounts instead identified the stovepipe in Schiller’s store as the source of the fire.
What is certain is what happened afterward.
The fire destroyed a substantial portion of the old commercial center at precisely the moment San Diego’s political and economic center was shifting south.
Old Town, New Town
Over time, Horton’s New Town became the downtown San Diego of today, while Old Town took on a different identity — one centered increasingly on preserving and interpreting the city’s earliest history.
Today, visitors to Old Town San Diego State Historic Park can walk around the plaza and see reconstructed and preserved buildings representing the community’s Mexican and early American eras.
This photo and the one below are of Old Town San Diego State Historic Park with various museums and buildings. (Photo by Brian Baer/courtesy of California State Parks, 2026)
It can be easy to overlook how dramatically that same area changed on April 20, 1872.
The fire did not create downtown San Diego. The movement toward New Town had already begun.
But by destroying much of Old Town’s commercial heart at a pivotal moment, the blaze helped make the city’s new direction difficult to reverse.
In that sense, the flames of 1872 did more than destroy buildings.
They helped mark the end of Old Town as the center of San Diego — and the beginning of a new chapter for the city by the bay.
Sources:
California State Parks, “Small Building, Big Responsibilities: The First San Diego Courthouse.”
California State Parks, “The 1872 Old Town Fire,” Cosmopolitan Chronicle.
San Diego History Center, “The Franklin House.”
San Diego History Center, “The Franklin Brothers of San Diego.”
San Diego History Center, “The Urban Layout of Old Town San Diego.”
San Diego History Center, History of San Diego, 1542–1908, by William E. Smythe.
City of San Diego Digital Archives, “First County Courthouse in New Town”
Old Town in 1869, with the original courthouse at left. (Photo and caption info courtesy of the Henry W. Coil Library and Museum of Freemasonry)
I specifically asked Debbie to research and write about this fire, which for decades I’d heard was from suspicious origins and a little too convenient for Horton and his new New Town. But this article lays to rest those thoughts.