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Guide to the Tradewell Middletown Collecion
MS 231
MS 231
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Table of contents
Title: Tradewell Middletown Collection
Identifier/Call Number: MS 231
Contributing Institution:
San Diego History Center Document Collection
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.5 Linear feet
(1 box)
Date (inclusive): 1869-1991
Abstract: The collection contains documents related to the Middletown historic district and Mission Brewery in San Diego.
creator:
Tradewell, Thelma C.
This collection is open for research.
The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.
Tradewell Middletown Collection, MS 231, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.
Collection processed by Tradewell Middletown Collection on May 10, 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.
Biographical / Historical Notes
Middletown is one of the original historic districts in San Diego. It is 687 acres in size and makes up a long, narrow strip
of low hills and tidal flats West of Balboa Park between downtown San Diego and Old Town. This acreage was originally granted
to a group of ten investors, including Juan Bandini and Cave Johnson Couts, on May 27, 1850 who paid a total of $3,187 for
the land. As Italian immigration into San Diego increased in the late 1800s, an Italian fishing community emerged in the Middletown
area. Middletown school was also erected in the district in 1888. The Italian neighborhood was later divided by the construction
of the freeway corridor in the mid-twentieth century. Today, Middletown is best known for the historic sites of Mission Brewery
Plaza and the Santa Fe Depot, as well as Little Italy and the India Street Art Colony. The district was designated a historic
landmark in the late 1980s, and the San Diego mayor declared May 27, 1990 Middletown Founder’s Day. Thelma Tradewell, Chairwoman
of the Middletown Property Owners Association at the time, as well as several other local organizations like the Save Our
Heritage Organization (SOHO) and Harborview Association, were pivotal in achieving this designation.
Mission Brewery, located in Middletown, was commissioned by the City of San Diego in the early 1900s, and Wilhem Griesser
and Son, a Chicago-based Architectural Firm, was hired for its design. Richard Griesser designed the mission revival-style
brewery and oversaw its construction in 1912. The brewery officially opened in 1913. In its heyday, it was a social center
that offered beer tastings and lunches to community leaders and was constantly promoting their brew. The brewery was unfortunately
short-lived, mostly due to the strong Temperance and Prohibition movements whose influence grew substantially in San Diego
between 1910 and 1915. Mission Brewery officially closed its doors in 1917. The building was briefly used as an Isolation
Hospital during the Influenza Epidemic in 1919. After its purchase by the American Agar Company in 1923, the building served
as a seaweed processing plant until 1986. The brewery was soon designated a National Historic Site in July 1989 for its significant
link to Prohibition and due to the fact that it was the first mission revival-style brewery built in the country. The building
was renovated around that time and designated as an office complex, with the adjacent land being used for a restaurant and
underground parking. This site is known today as Mission Brewery Plaza.
This collection contains documents related to the historic district of Middletown as well as Mission Brewery Plaza. This includes
information on the history of Middletown and Mission Brewery, as well as documents regarding the designation of Middletown
as a historic district, and Mission Brewery as a historic site. The collection also contains maps of the different neighborhoods
encompassed by Middletown, as well as an aerial photo of the district. There are papers pertaining to the early inhabitants
of the district; Middletown Founder’s Day on May 27, 1990; and the Dedication of the Mission Brewery as a historic site, which
also took place in 1990. Other items of interest include research and information on the preservation of historic buildings,
the renovation and remodel of Mission Brewery, and recordings of City Council Meetings regarding Middletown’s historic designation.
The collection is arranged into two series:
Series I: Middletown Historic District
Series II: Mission Brewery
Items within each series are arranged by subject or date.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Bandini, Juan
Couts, Cave Johnson, 1821-1874
Foote Development Co..
Griesser, Richard
Griesser, Wilhelm
Harborview Association.
Lia, Marie Burke
Lowery, William David
Middletown Property Owners Association.
Mission Brewery.
San Diego (Calif.). City Council.
Save Our Heritage Organisation.
Tradewell, Thelma C.
Breweries
Historic districts -- California
Historic landmarks
Historic preservation
Little Italy (San Diego, Calif.)
Maps
Middletown (San Diego, Calif.)
Mission Hills (San Diego, Calif.)
Old Town (San Diego, Calif.)
Red-light districts
San Diego (Calif.)
Stingaree District (San Diego, Calif.)