Kimball’s legacy is alive and well more than 150 years later as the founding father of National City.
In the 1860s, Frank Kimball and his family rolled into Rancho de la Nacion along the southern end of San Diego Bay and decided to call it home. He built a house, bought land, and started businesses. Kimball’s legacy is alive and well more than 150 years later as the founding father of National City.
“National City’s a beautiful place. It’s got beautiful people,” smiled Genevieve Torres from the porch of Frank Kimball’s historic house.
Torres is the Vice President of the National City Historical Society, which is headquartered in the house.
“I think that it’s very important that Frank Kimball should always go along with the name National City,” Torres explained. “National City first started out as Rancho de la Nacion and I believe it was in the 1860s when Mr. Frank Kimball came with his wife and his brothers and they created what is now National City.”
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Kimball spearheaded incorporating National City in 1887. He built Brick Row that same year. The ten townhomes were used to house railroad executives Kimball was trying to entice to do business in the South Bay. They are still used by families today.
I think that it’s very important that Frank Kimball should always go along with the name National City,
Genevieve Torres, Vice President of the National City Historical Society
Across National City sits another relic from National City’s early years. Granger Music Hall was built by Ralph Granger in 1898 and eventually moved in 1969. It hosted countless private concerts and events during its lifetime.
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Granger Music Hall has been on the National Register of Historic Places since the 1970s, but it’s fallen into disrepair in recent years.
“This feels very sad, looking at the building in this condition,” sighed Nancy Estolano while standing outside the hall’s gates.
Estolano said Granger Music Hall last hosted an event in 2008. It’s been shuttered since. The City of National City now owns the building. National City Mayor Ron Morrison said the city is still trying to find the $7 million it will take to move the hall to nearby El Toyon Park. Plans to move the hall to Pepper Park were scratched after a deal with the Port of San Diego could never be reached.
“We thought it would be closed for two years during the move, but those two years have become 15 years,” said a disappointed Estolano.
Torres hopes Granger Music Hall can be saved. She said it’s an important part of National City’s history that needs to be preserved alongside the house built by the city’s founder, Frank Kimball.
“I think it’s very important for our children,” she said.
Today, National City is the second oldest city in San Diego County, but it has the 12th largest population and the 13th largest land size. It was home to the first San Diego County Fair in 1880. The city's central park is named for its founder.
