Ballast Point- Before it was Billion Dollar Beer

The vintage photo of the day is of Ballast Point from 1890. Before there was a naval base on North Island, prior to the deep dredging of the bay, before the removal of the Silvergate sand bars that became Shelter Island, long before Ballast Point was a brewery, this was Punto Guijarros.

 This is the spot where Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo set foot on western north America for the first time. The Spanish set up a fort at this spot with canons aimed across the bay at this narrow point to keep all other explorers away. In Spanish, guijarros means cobblestones, and this area was aptly named, as it was at one time completely covered with those ubiquitous cobbles we have all encountered as we attempt to punch through the Linda Vista geological formation and discover cobblestones. 

Cobblestones. Cobble, and more cobble, and sometimes cobble after that, sometimes 6 feet thick. If you dig in San Diego soils, a large metal digging bar can become one of your best tools. No other tool is as effective for digging out those round, tightly packed rocks. 

Where did all those cobbles on the point go? Good question. They were taken away to be used as ballast in ships. Hence, this point's English name, Ballast Point.