08/23/2026
Do you know the story behind the Iipay ~ Tipai Kumeyaay Mut Niihepok (Land of the First People State park?
A piece of San Diego's oldest history was almost sold away.
For thousands of years, the land along the San Diego River in what is now Old Town was home to the Kumeyaay people.
But in the early 2000s, a 2.5-acre piece of that historic landscape at Juan and Taylor streets that had been promised to Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, but that plan became suddenly in jeopardy.
In 2006, SOHO Executive Director Bruce C***s wrote an impassioned, history-rich appeal to San Diegans to write and speak out against Caltrans's plan to sell its surplus Old Town office property—a 2.5-acre site at the corner of Juan and Taylor Streets.
Caltrans had already promised the Old Town Planning Group that the land would go to Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. For thousands of years this land had been a Kumeyaay settlement along the San Diego River.
SOHO contacted Chris Keho in the state Legislature and the late Senator James Mills for California to acquire the property to expand the park and interpret this "lost" corner to honor Kumeyaay heritage and culture and the river connection.
SOHO believed this was an opportunity that could not be lost and spearheaded the effort, along with SOHO members they worked with Old Town businesses, nonprofit organizations, and elected officials to build public support for transferring the property to State Parks.
When Caltrans committed to sell the property to private buyers, SOHO successfully litigated to cancel the sale.
SOHO helped push the effort forward through legislation, advocacy, and, ultimately, it was SOHO who was forced into litigation when Caltrans committed to sell the property to private buyers.
SOHO continued to lead this charge for many years, and at significant cost. And SOHO stopped the sale.
The big idea was that the site could become a new “front door” to Old Town, reconnecting visitors with a landscape that had been almost completely obscured by pavement and development.
Beneath and around that landscape were layers of San Diego's earliest history: the Kumeyaay village of Cosoy, the river that shaped the location of the Presidio and early settlement, and archaeological remains connected to the city's Spanish, Mexican, and American past.
C***s described one particularly striking moment. Standing on what looked like an ordinary asphalt parking lot, he pointed out that people were actually standing on the former bank of the San Diego River. He said he would like to see the old riverbed restored with its native plants, including the sycamores, willows and oaks that once dotted the banks.
While SOHO's legal action was successful, the vision took years to become reality.
But, in 2021, Old Town San Diego State Historic Park finally opened Iipay ~ Tipai Kumeyaay Mut Niihepok (Land of the First People)—its first major expansion in more than 25 years.
Today, the 2.5-acre site is a place of gathering, native plants, Kumeyaay knowledge, art, and interpretation.
A mosaic evokes Kumeyaay cosmology, native animals are represented with their Kumeyaay names, and a dry riverbed recalls the San Diego River that once flowed here. This was all designed in partnership with Kumeyaay Diegueno Land Conservancy.
Most importantly, the space helps tell a story that had been missing from the historic park: the story of the people who were here first.
SOHO's role was only one part of an effort involving Kumeyaay leaders, State Parks, elected officials, artists, historians, and many others. But sometimes preservation requires patience measured not in months, but in decades.
SOHO saw the possibility. SOHO fought to keep the land. And eventually, the community got the park.
SOHO | This Place Has a Story
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