University Heights Walking Tour

Historic Normal School Site

Introduction

As one of San Diego’s oldest neighborhoods, University Heights has many historical landmarks. One of the most significant is the site of the Normal School on Normal Street at Campus Avenue. The Normal School was built in 1898 to increase certification of teachers and was the forerunner to San Diego State University. 

This tour developed by the University Heights Historical Society will highlight the history of the Normal School, the remaining buildings from the Normal School era, and later buildings associated with San Diego City Schools, based upon a historic survey conducted in 2009 by Urbana Preservation and Planning. Also included on the tour are several possible heritage trees identified in 2018 by Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO) in collaboration with Cultural Landscape Specialist Vonn Marie May.

Please click  here  if you would like to support the efforts of the University Heights Historical Society to preserve to preserve the architectural, cultural, and historic resources in University Heights through research, education, and advocacy. You may also sign up for email updates about historic preservation in University Heights, including the Normal School site, by clicking  here .

Enjoy the tour! The suggested starting point for the tour is at the Teachers Training Annex on Normal Street at the west end of El Cajon Blvd.

San Diego College of the Arts

University Heights was subdivided in 1887 by the College Hill Land Association, a syndicate of individuals owning land in the proposed subdivision. The drawing point of the new subdivision was to be a branch of the University of Southern California, the San Diego College of Arts. The proposed college was be located on present day Normal Street at Campus Avenue, where the San Diego Unified School District administrative offices are currently located.

On August 6,1888, Subdivision Map #558 was filed with the San Diego County Recorder, delineating the new University Heights subdivision. However, construction of the San Diego College of the Arts never advanced beyond the planning stage as the real estate boom suddenly burst by 1889.

The Grand State Normal School

In the late 1890s, San Diego officials believed that a normal school should be established to help the town grow and increase certification of teachers. The site of the aborted San Diego College of the Arts on Normal Street at Campus Avenue was donated to the State of California to build a "Normal School,'' a state-sponsored teacher-training college.

The term "normal" refers to the goal of these institutions to instill and reinforce particular “norms” or societal values and ideologies within students. The first normal school is generally considered to be the École Normale in Champagne, France, founded in 1685 by St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle.

So in 1898, the Normal School Board of Trustees selected the San Diego firm of Hebbard and Gill to design the new school building, which was created in the classic Beaux-Arts style. Ground was broken for construction on August 1, 1898 and the building was dedicated on May 1, 1899. By the end of 1899, 135 students had enrolled in the school, and grew to 400 by 1910.

Normal School Moves to Montezuma Mesa

The Normal School operated at the Normal Street campus for over 30 years and gained new stature as San Diego State Teachers College in 1921.

As enrollment at the Normal School grew, the student body began to outgrow the facilities built for a maximum of 600 students. So in 1931, the Normal School moved to its present location on Montezuma Mesa and was renamed San Diego State College in 1935. The school was renamed again as San Diego State University in the early 1970s.

Walking Tour of Historic Normal School Site

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The Future of the Historic Normal School Campus

Since the 1950s, San Diego City Schools and the San Diego Unified School District have used the remaining eight historic buildings on the Normal School site for educational and administrative purposes.

In December 2019, the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) Board of Education decided to move the SDUSD administrative offices off of the Normal School site and to redevelop the 11-acre site to include affordable housing for teachers and staff.

The  Community Coalition of University Heights , including the University Heights Historical Society, has worked closely with SDUSD since 2018 to also include joint uses on the site for the benefit of both SDUSD staff and the community, including:

  • Preservation and adaptive reuse of Annexes 1 through 4;
  • Preservation of the heritage tree in front of Annex 3 and at the corner of Normal and Campus;
  • Civic plaza in front of Annex 1;
  • Parks and open space for use by people and dogs;
  • Outdoor amphitheater;
  • Adaptable, joint use meeting facility;
  • Commercial uses to support residential housing.

Support Historic Preservation in University Heights

If you have enjoyed this tour developed by the University Heights Historical Society, please support us by clicking  here .

You may also sign up for email updates about historic preservation in University Heights, including the Normal School site, by clicking  here .