Visit Both Boundary Monuments #255, San Diego/Tijuana, US & Mexico

Add to My List Check Off

In 1848, the U.S.-Mexican War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The treaty stipulated that Mexico relinquish 1.2 million miles of its territory to the United States in return for $15 million. It also assigned a Joint U.S. and Mexican Boundary Commission to determine the exact location of the new boundary line. The Commission consisted of a large caravan of men, including a commissioner and a surveyor for both sides. The drawing of the boundary line took two years to complete – from 1849 to 1851. The Joint Commission erected 52 boundary monuments with #1 overlooking the Pacific Ocean in what today is Border Field State Park. Boundary Monument #255 is located at the San Ysidro Port of Entry on the San Diego/Tijuana border. When it was eracted, Tia Juana was a city that existed both on the U.S. and Mexican side. There were no fences or borders, only two custom houses erected by both governments in the 1870’s. After a devastating flood destroyed the town of Tia Juana in 1891, most residents then moved 300 feet above sea level to the city’s current location on exclusively the Mexican side. Boundary monument #255 washed away during that flood and a new one about 1,000 feet away on higher ground. In 1979 an agricultural worker found the midsection of the original boundary monument #255. At first, it caused quite a little flap as the Baja California newspaper El Heraldo said that since the marker was found in San Ysidro, it meant that this district of San Diego was actually part of Mexico. It was, of course, a joke. The marker was put into a warehouse in Old Town. The San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce, however, insisted that it should return to San Ysidro. Local historian Joyce Hettich headed the selection site, although we are unclear what location she recommended. Whatever she said, a picture in an out-of-print book San Diego & Arizona: The Impossible Railroad shows the boundary monument sitting in front of the newly built San Ysidro Trolley of 1981. At some point, this “first” boundary monument was moved across the street where it remains today. You can see it beneath the Highway I-5 pedestrian bridge.

Write a Review

No Ratings Yet

Flag as inappropriate ›