Presidio of San Diego 3.59

El Presidio Reál de San Diego is a historic fort in San Diego, California. It was established on May 14, 1769, by Gaspar de Portolá, leader of the first European land exploration of Alta California - at that time an unexplored northwestern frontier area of New Spain. The presidio was the first permanent European settlement on the Pacific Coast of the present-day United States. As the first of the presidios and Spanish missions in California, it was the base of operations for the Spanish colonization of California. The associated Mission San Diego de Alcalá later moved a few miles away.Essentially abandoned by 1835, the site of the original Presidio lies on a hill within present-day Presidio Park, although no historic structures remain. The San Diego Presidio was registered as a California Historical Landmark in 1932, then declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960.HistoryPrior to occupation by the Spanish, the site of the Presidio was home to the Kumeyaay people (called the Diegueños by the Spaniards).