First Baptist Church of San Diego
On October 31, 1869, the First Baptist Church of San Diego dedicated its church bell, a prize awarded by city father Alonzo Horton for being the first Protestant Church to complete an edifice in the “new” San Diego. The clapboard church, situated on Seventh near the corner of F Street, would not have looked out of place in New England. By 1888, First Baptist had moved to swankier, more palatial stucco quarters at the corner of Tenth and E. By its 100th anniversary in 1969, the church was set up in a jet-age auditorium full of curving balconies; and since 2000, the congregation has worshipped in a quarter-circle sanctuary decked out in wood panels, rough stone, and earth-toned upholstery. But the bell remains, tucked into the triangular promontory that juts out above the entrance. [+more]