Montgomery Memorial

Montgomery Memorial is a California Historical Landmark in San Diego County.

11 miles South of San Diego · location approximate

Directions to the area ↗Start a road trip Historical trails

At Otay Mesa, in 1883, John Joseph Montgomery made the first heavier-than-air craft flight. This was 20 years before the Wrights. Montgomery made many glider flights before accepting a professorship at Santa Clara College where he continued his interest in aviation. (Formerly a state park.)

1971 register text, presented as a historical document. It uses the period's terms for Native people; the state's landmark listings still carry most of this wording, and the California Office of Historic Preservation maintains the program's current texts.

Many of these plaques have since been recast or their texts revised. The California Historical Landmarks program and its current texts are maintained by the California Office of Historic Preservation. California Office of Historic Preservation ↗

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1878 · (Map 14 - California, Arizona, Nevada). (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1879 · State Of California. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1888 · California And Nevada (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1904 · San Diego, California (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)
1930 · San Diego, California (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

San Diego, California, 1904, covering the location of Montgomery Memorial, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — San Diego, California, 1904, covering this location. USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection. The pin is ours and the location is approximate.

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From one family's 77-marker roster

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The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyExpected here. This page shows the older published text, and some signs were recast later. Telling us still helps.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

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Marker data: State of California, Department of Parks and Recreation, California Historical Landmarks (1971)

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