Sure, we all remember Geraldo Rivera's mad caper to open the vault of Al Capone. His discovery was a bust. That was 1986. A better story goes back to 1922. It was in 1922 when King Tut's intact tomb was discovered. It was anything but a bust. The tomb was discovered and the world was awash with boundless enthusiasm for all things ancient Egypt.

What does that have to do with San Diego? Sometimes, you have to walk like an Egyptian to see what needs to be discovered in San Diego. We discovered that San Diego was part of the King Tut craze.

Actually, San Diego had picked up on the Egyptian theme before the King Tut craze and began to construct its own appreciation of Egyptian architecture in the early 1900s on the property of what is now, Point Loma Nazarene University. There was also a half-hearted attempt to include Egyptian elements in the construction of some of the buildings used for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park.

After 1922, the rush was on to market Egyptian architecture. The real estate industry wanted to capitalize on the excitement and create a new way of living. This creative burst seemed to take firm hold in Southern California. Typically, Egyptian Revival architecture was mostly found on churches, prisons, cemeteries, and interestingly, 1920s movie houses.

San Diego had an advantage during the King Tut rage. The Egyptian Revival architecture was especially suited for the Southern California climate. Because of the flat roofs and open courtyard gardens, complete with palm trees and exotic flowers, Egyptian architecture flourished. While Southern California gets mocked for its stucco buildings, stucco played a role in architecture of the Egyptian Revival period. Somehow the stucco was made to look like ancient sandstone by American builders. Unlike the stucco of today, that stucco withstood time.

Marketing. Marketing. Post-Tut "Egyptomania" set in. What better way to get people to buy-in than to tie them into the King Tut phenomenom? Shazzam! Egyptian Revival buildings sprung up. Today, tooling around you can find most of the the remaining Egyptian Revival buildings relatively close to Balboa Park. There are some scattered examples throughout the region, but we won't send you on a wild Sphinx chase.

Where are the buildings in San Diego and how do you know they are Egyptian? We knew you'd ask. Hold your Egyptian Nemes (striped headdress) on. We'll make it simple.

You're looking for:

Flat roof
Sloping walls or column tapering upward
Squared-off blocks of stone
Twisted or spiral molding
Bundled shaft
Lotus flower details and Pharoah heads
Gorge-and-roll cornice (Egyptian cornice)

Alright. Now, below are some locations you can find remnants of the Egyptian architecture or buildings pretty well intact.

Today, driving around San Diego you can spot the Egyptian influences if you know where to look. For example, a quick trip wandering around Mount Hope Cemetery and Greenwood Cemetery Greenwood Cemetery (right next to each other) will offer glimpses of the graves of Alonzo E. Horton and George W. Marston and other influential San Diegans including the biggest Egyptian display, the Mitchell family mausoleum at Greenwood. We understand that you may not be dying to drive around cemeteries looking for Egyptian architectural influences, but don't fret, there are other places you can go.

Mitchell Family Mausoleum - can be recognized from the fence line of Greenwood Cemetery on Imperial Avenue. Go inside the cemetery for a better look, though. The building is a dead-ringer for Egyptian Revival architecture. Get out of the car and walk toward the Mitchell building. Don't be lazy. There's something inside to appreciate.

1926 New Bush Egyptian Movie Theater - 3812 Park Boulevard. Now, it is the "Egyptian" modern condominium building. Back in 1926, it was one of San Diego's original fancy-schmancy movie houses. You can still have a look at what remains and was incorporated (not very well) in the new Egyptian. The Egyptian Theater later became the Park Theater in 1988. Take a look at the northern and southern corners to see the exposed stucco. Step back on the sidewalk and look up toward the top of what looks like the original building and you'll clearly see the Egyptian elements on the facade.

1926 Egyptian Court Apartments - 3772 and 3783 Park Boulevard. This beautiful little complex still looks good today despite modications. The picture at the top right of this page shows the complex when it was fully adorned with the Egyptian theme.

Egyptian Court Apartments

Note: Kate Session's nephew was responsible for the original pond and garden of the Egyptian Court Apartments. Nearby, there once was an Egyptian Miniature Golf Course.

1926 Tinker & Robbins Gas Station - Park and Robinson, next to the Egyptian Court Apartments. This site was once the Tinker and Robbins Gas Station and featured Egyptian Revival garage stalls. If you could peel back the the paint at Town's Auto Repair now, you'd fine the basic design still remains. You can still see hints of the elements at the roofline.

1928 Pharaoh's Court Apartments - 3783--3789 Park Boulevard. The building was called the Pharaoh Court Apartments until 1939, then became the Park Court Apartments, and later, in 1966, the Park Egyptian Apartments.

1928 The Nile Apartments - 3791 Park Boulevard. The name changed back and forth from The Nile to The Gemmell Apartments and back again in 1932. It isn't really Egyptian but rather Italian Renaissance Revival with strong Egyptian accents.

1926 Phillips Building - Park and University Blvds. Remodeled in the 1950s and stripped of all of the Egyptian designs. Sad.

1925 Anderson House - 3348 Copley Avenue in Normal Heights If you look carefully, you can still see the Egyptian element at the roof line.

1926 McCarty House - 5954 Brooklyn Avenue in Encanto (between Iona Drive and 60th Street) The easiest route to get there is Imperial Avenue to Akins. Make a left up the hill and a left turn on Brooklyn. The house, though needing some work, still shows those telltale signs of Egyptian influence.

1925 Euclid & University Electric Street Car Substation. San Diego used to have electric street cars. That'll have to be another story for another time. However, an Egyptian Revival electrical substation was built at Euclid and University. In those days, the automobile had just begun to out-power the electric street car. (Some things never change.) After the substation was no longer in service, the building became the Egyptian Garage from 1926-1932. "Big City Liquor" has occupied the north section of this building since 1957. The property owner built some additions over time and conducted other businesses out of it. When we first spotted this building, we knew it had a 'story' to tell which brought this "tip" to your inbox, in the first place.

If you do venture out to Euclid and University, you'll have to stop at The Tower Bar. Can't miss it. It is the newly restored iconic tower at the intersection and it has a history unto itself!

Ay oh whey oh, ay oh whey oh Walk like an Egyptian.. Walk like an Egyptian...

Street View Map - Park Blvd.

The Tower Bar
4757 University Avenue
Map to Tower Bar