Balboa Park
Balboa Park is home to many museums and other attractions and is right next to the world famous San Diego Zoo. There are several museums, art galleries, the Old Globe theater, beautiful gardens and much more.
Balboa was founded in 1868 on a 1,400 acre and was initially called ‘San Diego’s City Park. In 1910, the “City Park” was renamed “Balboa Park” after the Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa who crossed Panama to discover the Pacific Ocean.
A number of the buildings including the Quadrange and California Building, the Administration Building, the Botantical Building, the Spreckels Organ Pavilion and the New Mexico Building remain in the park from the 1915-1916 Panama-California Exposition.
A second exposition – the California Pacific Exposition San Diego 1935-1936 – celebrated the completion of the Metropolitan Water District Aqueduct from the Colorado River and other federal projects. Structures built during this time included the Federal, General Exhibits, California State Entertainment, Education, Christian Science and Ford Buildings.
The Balboa Park organizations offer free Tuesday admission on a rotating basis.
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