To visit this place, you'd think it couldn't possibly have a past. Think that and you'd be dead wrong.

This place has been a permanent fixture in San Diego's history longer than any of us have been around.

We've got some dirt for you. Dating back to 1782, this stretch of land had some folks who were, literally, drug through the mud. It seems that in a place that was once a railroad yard taking in goods and products brought ashore from ships and much later, the Old Police Headquarters, this place was also known as Punta de los Muertos or La Punta de los Muertos (Point of the Dead).

Even prior to 1769, when Father Junipero Serra came to San Diego to establish the first of California's missions, men who died were buried at this spot.

Dead Man's Point

La Punta de los Muertos is marked by a plaque at the southeast corner of Market and Pacific Highway. "Dead Man's Point" or "Point of the Dead" got that morbid name because in 1782 two ships came to the area prepared to survey the land. They came as part of the Spanish Expedition with Juan Pantoja y Arriaga leading the two ships "Princesa," and "La Favorita." More than 100 of the 300 men who were aboard the ships died. They got scurvy, died, and were buried on shore on this expansive property. They came. They saw. They died. This property is now called Seaport Village.

Side note: Interestingly, Juan Pantoja y Arriaga has a park named for him on "G" St. and Columbia in downtown San Diego (Map to Park), just a stone's throw from Seaport Villlage. There's no big significance to the park, but a tidbit we thought we'd toss in.

In a way, this property had been a dead end for San Diego going back generations. But, in the 1930s, with dredge fill and wood pilings, the area was prepared for the Old Police Headquarters. The Old Police Headquarters was built with money from the Public Works Administration. The Old Police Headquarters stood watch from 1938-1987 and though empty now, it still stands at the corner of Pacific Highway and Market Street desperately waiting to be restored and saved forever.

We don't want to beat a dead horse with historical information, but it always helps to make the point, that even a place like Seaport Village has secrets to tell. Opened in 1980, Seaport Village is a classic example of how a once barren land can be brought back from the dead.

Seaport Village is a place that nearly every San Diegan has frequented and nearly every tourist will visit. In either case, most people have no idea that what lies beneath this beautiful waterfront property.