Cabrillo National Monument
Captain Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, in the service of the king of Spain, sailed north from the port of Navidad on Mexico’s west coast, entering a hitherto unknown port on September 28, 1542. Cabrillo named this superior harbor Puerto de San Miguel, today’s San Diego Bay. In 1913 President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed a half-acre of land on which the old Point Loma Lighthouse stood a national monument to commemorate the voyage and discovery of Cabrillo. Today the Cabrillo National Monument, now expanded to approximately 144 acres, is under the care of the National Park Service. Features of the monument include the fourteen-foot-high statue of Cabrillo carved by Portuguese sculptor Joas Chartes Almeida and the Old Point Loma Lighthouse on the highest point in the park. Cabrillo National Monument is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
San Diego, San Diego County
Photographer: John Bare