A landing near this point was used on May 1, 1769, by men from the San Antonio and San Carlos to bring fresh water from the San Diego River close by to the anchorage in the bay. For almost a century the landing and the channel were used by freight and passenger boats between Old Town and points on the bay. Romance was added to the site when Josepha Carrillo and Henry Delano Fitch eloped for Chile from the landing on April 16, 1829. Silt from the river overflows limited use on the Old Landing later in the century, though high tides went to Rosecrans street until 1923. During construction of the Naval Training Station ("Center" after 1944) the site and channel were buried by nine feet of fill.

California Registered Historical Landmark No. 64

First registered December 6, 1932. Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the U.S. Navy and Squibob Chapter, E Clampus Vitus, January 20, 1996.