Tent City: A Home Away from Home
The Mission Beach Tent City was one of the most popular areas in the
community. It started with J. M. Asher who built the Tent City among other
things. The Tent City in Mission Beach was originally inspired by the one on
Coronado. In the master plan, it was supposed to be in the northern part of
the community. This place is now called "Old Mission Beach". It was meant to
be a place where people could spend the summer right on the beach. However,
people liked the idea of living at the beach so much, that they stayed there
- permanently. 2201
When people first arrived at Mission Beach, they fell in love
with the sun and the sand. Of course, who wouldn't? It was sunny
and warm almost year round. But, there wasn't any real place for these
people to live. Unlike today, the area didn't have summer rentals of
apartments and condos. The beach was always full of people and it would be
nice if they simply lived there. The picture to the left shows how popular
the beach was, especially on a hot summer day. 2202
J. M. Asher saw this. So, being the keen developer he was, he
brought a solution area. Asher sold lots in the northern part of the
Mission Beach plan. This area became known as the "tent city". For the first
time, people could be a piece of land, right on the beach and live there.
This is so important because it was what attracted a lot of people to the
area at first. For getting this started, and other things, Asher was named
the "Father of Mission Beach." The picture to the right shows how busy a
summer day can be and how convenient it would be to simply live at the
beach. 2203
In addition to there being tent structures, there was also a
private pool built on the north side of Mission Beach. This pool
wasn't like the larger "Plunge" but rather just a simple one for the
residents. The other special thing was the this pool was only for women. Men
and boys over 10 years of age were not permitted to use it. It was a popular
place for the residents around there. They didn't have to go all the way
down to the big pool and didn't have to share it with all everyone. The
picture to the right shows what this pool looked like. 2204
The end of the tent city came in 1922. The city of San Diego developed
strict new health codes. Among these, was that there could not be any
non-permanent structures at the beach. So, this brought the end of the
historic era of living right on Mission Beach. 2205
People, however, don't just pick up and leave after living in
such a great place for a while. Because the land was sold to the
residents, there was another alternative rather than leaving. Residents took
their properties and constructed real homes on them. So after the "tent
city", a real city started to take shape. In fact, some of the oldest
structures in Mission Beach are located in this area. The picture to the
left show some of these houses built right on the beach. Although there can
not be another tent city, these houses sure come close. 2206
