AmericaJR’s Jason Rzucidlo recently visited the San Diego History Center within the Balboa Park museum complex. The museum’s current exhibit is “The Lore Behind The Roar: 100 Years of the San Diego Zoo.” In collaboration with the San Diego Zoo, this vibrant family-friendly exhibition celebrates the Zoo’s centennial, telling the amazing story from its humble origins to its evolution as a world-famous zoo and conservation leader. Another exhibit on display is called “The Border: A Line That Divides.” This photographic exhibition explores the evolution of the San Ysidro border crossing. Two border towns—Tijuana and San Diego—bestride the world’s busiest land-border. The San Ysidro Port of Entry has grown in size, scope and traffic since the 1848 treaty establishing the 1,954-mile border.
Welcome to the San Diego History Center
Special Exhibit: The Border – A Line That Divides
A family sits on the southern side of the U.S.-Mexico border at the San Ysidro crossing, 2015.
Heavy recreational activity on the Mexican side in contrast to the north side of the fence which is a nature reserve, 2015
Many Americans went south of the border during Prohibition in search of gambling and alcohol, 1926.
Photographs from the Border
Immigration on a Global Scale map
A closer view of the map
200 Years of Immigration to the U.S.
10.3 million immigrants from 1999-2009
The border fence at Playa de Tijuana with the words “Welcome to the New Berlin Wall”, 1993
The monument at the U.S.-Mexico border at Playa de Tijuana, 1993
Their current exhibit is “Lore Behind The Roar”
Orangutan Sculpture by Brian Gibson
The Early Zoo: Wegeford’s Folly
Live kiwi was a present from the city of Auckland, New Zealand
Dr. Harry Wegeford, Founder of the San Diego Zoo
Early photo of the Wild Animal Park in Escondido, CA
The SD Zoo has 660 animal species
Live web cam of a panda bear
Historical photo of a family at the Zoo
President Bill Clinton and his family at the Wild Animal Park in 1995.