Old Mission Dam
Built 1803. Added to the National Register in 1966, and a National Historic Landmark.
The record
| Property type | Structure |
| Address | N side of Mission St.-Gorge Rd., San Diego, CA |
| County | San Diego County |
| Listed | Oct 15, 1966 |
| Listed for | Engineering, Agriculture |
| Level of significance | National |
| Also known as | Padre Dam |
| Reference number | 66000225 |
| Built | 1803 · more from the 1800s |
| Designations | National Historic Landmark, California Historical Landmark, list of San Diego Historic Landmarks |
The nomination form, the document that argues why this place matters, is in the National Archives: Read the nomination ↗
Visiting
| Address | N side of Mission St.-Gorge Rd., San Diego, CA |
| Coordinates | 32.8397° N, 117.0431° W · Directions ↗ |
| Also in San Diego | 89 listed places in San Diego → |
Explore
Map
Nearby in San Diego County
Public land around it
| Cleveland National Forest ↗National Forest, U.S. Forest Service | About 2 miles away561,887 acres |
Wilderness Atlas publishes a centroid and an acreage for each unit, not a boundary line. Distance here is measured to a circle of the same area drawn around that centroid, so treat it as roughly right rather than surveyed.
Local history books for San Diego
We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.
- San Diego LowridersAlberto López Pulido & Rigoberto "Rigo" Reyes, 2017Find at Bookshop.org
Guidebooks to historic places in California
Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.
Reference
Questions people ask
When was Old Mission Dam listed on the National Register?
Oct 15, 1966. It is also a National Historic Landmark, the higher of the two designations.
Source: National Park Service
When was Old Mission Dam built?
1803.
Source: Wikidata
Where is Old Mission Dam?
N side of Mission St.-Gorge Rd., San Diego, San Diego County, California.
Source: National Park Service
Where is the nomination form for Old Mission Dam?
The National Archives holds the nomination form, the document that made the case for listing.
Source: National Archives
Is there a wildfire near Old Mission Dam right now?
1 active incident within 50 miles as of 2026-10-17, nearest Henderson, 41 miles away.
Source: Map
Sources
Name, location, type and dates come from the National Register office's spreadsheet of listed properties, because the Park Service's spatial data does not carry this listing. The map point comes from Wikidata. Construction date, architect, style, photograph and encyclopedia link come from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, matched on reference number 66000225. Nothing here is transcribed by hand. The nomination form and photographs ↗ at NPGallery are the original nomination as filed with the National Park Service, and the form is often the best description of the place.