William Heath "Kanaka" Davis, Jr. (1822 – 1909) was a merchant and trader in

Alta California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...

who helped to establish "New Town" (now

Downtown San Diego Downtown San Diego is the city center of San Diego, California, the eighth largest city in the United States. In 2010, the Centre City area had a population of more than 28,000. Downtown San Diego serves as the cultural and financial center and ...

) in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

Life

Davis was born in 1822 in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the isla ...

in the

Kingdom of Hawaii The Hawaiian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Hawaiʻi ( Hawaiian: ''Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina''), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands. The country was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great, of the independent islan ...

to Captain William Heath Davis, Sr., a Boston ship captain and pioneer of the Hawaii

sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus '' Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for ...

trade, and Hannah Holmes Davis (1800-1847), a daughter of Oliver Holmes, Governors of Oahu. His nickname "Kanaka" refers to Davis's Hawaiian birth and blood; he was one-quarter Hawaiian from his maternal grandmother Mahi Kalanihooulumokuikekai, a high chiefess from the Koolau district of Oahu. His elder brother

Robert Grimes Davis Robert Grimes Davis (May 10, 1819 – March 4, 1872) was an early lawyer and judge of the Kingdom of Hawaii who served many different posts for Hawaii and the Republic of Peru. He was also known as ''Lopaka'', the Hawaiian version of Robert. L ...

was a Hawaiian judge and politician."William Heath Davis"
San Diego History Center online resources Davis first visited California as a boy in 1831, then again in 1833 and 1838. The last time, he joined his uncle as a store clerk in

Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bot ...

and Yerba Buena (now

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

). He started a business in San Francisco and became a prominent merchant and ship owner. In 1847 Davis married María de Jesus, daughter of

José Joaquin Estudillo José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...

, grantee of

Rancho San Leandro Rancho San Leandro was a Mexican land grant in present-day Alameda County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan Alvarado to José Joaquín Estudillo. The grant extended along the east San Francisco Bay from San Leandro Creek south to San L ...

, and granddaughter of José María Estudillo. The Davises had at least one daughter, Anna Maria, born c. 1849. About the same time he moved to San Diego, which became part of the United States in 1850 via the admission of California to the union. Davis was the original founder of New Town San Diego, an attempt to build a new community closer to

San Diego Bay San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port located in San Diego County, California near the U.S.–Mexico border. The bay, which is long and wide, is the third largest of the three large, protected natural bays on California's of ...

than the original Old Town San Diego, which was located below the

Presidio of San Diego El Presidio Real de San Diego (Royal Presidio of San Diego) is a historic fort in San Diego, California. It was established on May 14, 1769, by Gaspar de Portolá, leader of the first European land exploration of Alta California—at that time a ...

more than a mile from navigable water. The idea for New Town had originated with Lt.

Andrew B. Gray Andrew Belcher Gray (July 6, 1820 – April 16, 1862) was an American Surveying, surveyor. Born in Norfolk, Virginia, he studied engineering and surveying under Andrew Talcott, and surveyed the Mississippi Delta with him in 1839, before joining t ...

, an American surveyor with the boundary commission which laid out the borders and boundaries of the new state of California. Gray's party camped near what is now H Street and he realized that this location near the natural harbor would be a much better location for a city."Abortive Attempt to Establish New San Diego", Smythe's ''History of San Diego'' part 2, chapter 14
/ref> Davis agreed and recruited José Antonio Aguirre, Miguel Pedrorena, and William C. Ferrell as additional partners in the venture. The partners bought 160 acres of land and laid out streets, a large wharf, and a warehouse. The local residents referred to the project as New Town, Graytown (after Lt. Gray), and "Davis's Folly". The venture did not do well due to a lack of fresh water and hostility from the established settlements at Old Town and La Playa, although the U.S. Army maintained a facility in the area for a time, eventually abandoning it during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

. Later, in 1867, the idea was revived by

Alonzo Horton Alonzo Eratus Horton (October 24, 1813 – January 7, 1909) was an American real estate developer in the nineteenth century. The Horton Plaza mall in downtown San Diego is named for him. Early life Horton was born 1813 in Union, Connecticut ...

, who built a new subdivision just to the east of Davis's plot, which became a success. The area is now

, while the site of the original settlement is still referred to as

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

. Davis later wrote a memoir which was of great value to historians in understanding the early years of California and San Diego. Davis eventually settled in San Leandro in financial straits. He died in

Hayward, California Hayward () is a city located in Alameda County, California in the East Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of 162,954 as of 2020, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the Bay Area and the third largest in Alameda Cou ...

on April 19, 1909.

Legacy

The oldest building in New Town is the William Heath Davis House, a pre-fab "saltbox"-style home shipped from the east coast and built in 1850. It wasn't Davis's house, but of the same style and age of the Davis home that was on State and F Streets. The house is open to the public today as a museum at 410 Island Ave.Gaslamp Museum at the Davis-Horton House
/ref> William Heath Davis House 0595

The original plaza for New Town is now today's Horton Plaza, but New Town Plaza, which still exists and is bounded by F, G, Columbia, and India Streets.

Notes

External links

William Heath Davis papers, MSS 4026
at

L. Tom Perry Special Collections The L. Tom Perry Special Collections is the special collections department of Brigham Young University (BYU)'s Harold B. Lee Library in Provo, Utah. Founded in 1957 with 1,000 books and 50 manuscript collections, as of 2016 the Library's special ...

Harold B. Lee Library The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Gran ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

William Heath Davis correspondence, MSS SC 1344
at

Life

Legacy

Notes

External links

Further reading