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Guide to the Old San Diego Community Church Records
MS 219
MS 219
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Table of contents
Title: Old San Diego Community Church Records
Identifier/Call Number: MS 219
Contributing Institution:
San Diego History Center Document Collection
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.75 Linear feet
(2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1938-1970
Abstract: The collection contains materials related to the development, administration, and activities of the Old San Diego Community
Church, as well as the surrounding Old Town San Diego neighborhood.
creator:
Old San Diego Community Church.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession number 2001.091.
This collection is open for research.
The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.
Collection processed by Lauren Rasmussen on April 4, 2012.
Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous
funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.
Old San Diego Community Church Records, MS 219, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.
Biographical / Historical Notes
The Old San Diego Community Church, also called the Old Town Community Church, was an Evangelical Protestant church founded
in 1941. The plan for the Church stemmed from the results of the 1941 Old Town census which found that the majority of the
area’s families identified as Protestant, but there was no community church in the neighborhood. Original Sunday services
were held in the Old San Diego Chamber of Commerce building until August 1, 1942 when George Marston, a local philanthropist,
helped the Church purchase the Casa de Machado adobe in Old Town. Under Reverend Joseph S. Fox, the adobe was renovated and
renamed the Machado Memorial Chapel. Reverend Fox served the church until 1951, when he retired to do field work for the International
Council of Community Churches. Reverend Fox was later installed as Pastor Emeritus at the Church’s 20th anniversary celebration
in 1962.
The Church served as the home to the local Boy Scout Troop and the Old Town Men’s Club. The Church had close ties with the
San Diego Historical Society, the San Diego Historical Days Association, and the International Council of Community Churches.
Between 1963 and 1964, the Church began to feel pressure from the California State Parks Department and the San Diego City
Council to vacate the Machado Chapel so that an historical ‘Old Town Park’ could be established. In 1967, the State offered
the congregation $225k to purchase the Church’s land. The offer was unanimously rejected by the Church. Despite the efforts
of the congregation and the presiding minister, Reverend Robert D. Edwards, the Church was eventually forced out and held
its last services in the Machado Memorial Chapel on August 3, 1969. It appears that the Church considered purchasing additional
land in Old Town to re-establish themselves, but this plan never came to fruition.
The collection spans from 1938, during the years of the Church’s development, to 1970, shortly after the building was taken
over by the State. The documents primarily consist of Church records, including by-laws, meeting minutes, administrative reports,
and correspondence. Several sermons and service programs are also present, as are newspaper articles related to church activities.
A small section of miscellaneous items regarding the organizations the Church was involved with are also present. This includes
issues of the San Diego Historical Society’s newsletter, ‘The Historic’, pamphlets for the International Council of Community
Churches, and bylaws of the San Diego Historical Days Association. Of note are the church’s Negotiating Committee meeting
minutes and Church correspondence that includes letters with State and City representatives regarding the dispute over the
Old Town Historical Park development. The Church also kept materials related to the Old Town neighborhood that include maps,
event flyers, and community newsletters.
The collection is arranged into three series:
Series I: Old San Diego Community Church Records
Series II: Old Town San Diego
Series III: Miscellanea
Items within each series are arranged by subject.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Some documents are brittle or warped around the edges. (April 4, 2012)
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Bentley, Robert A.
Edwards, Robert D.
Fox, Joseph S.
International Council of Community Churches.
Marston, George White, 1850-1946
Old San Diego Community Church.
Page, Willard A.
San Diego Chamber of Commerce.
San Diego Historical Society.
Sanders, Robert E.
Casa de Machado (San Diego, Calif.)
Christian communities
Christianity
Church
Community churches
Independent churches
Machado de Silvas adobe (San Diego, Calif.)
Machado Memorial Chapel (San Diego, Calif.)
Old Town (San Diego, Calif.)
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park (Calif.)
Pastor
Protestant
Protestant church buildings
Religion
Religious communities
Religious institutions
San Diego (Calif.)