Old Mission Dam

Old Mission Dam
Old Mission Dam in 2008
LocationMission Trails Regional Park, San Diego, California
Coordinates32°50′24″N 117°2′32″W / 32.84000°N 117.04222°W / 32.84000; -117.04222
Area0.3 acres (0.12 ha)
Built1803 (1803)
NRHP reference No.66000225
CHISL No.52
SDHL No.2
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966
Designated NHLMay 21, 1963
Designated CHISLDecember 6, 1932
Designated SDHLFebruary 1, 1968

Old Mission Dam is a historic water impoundment structure in Mission Trails Regional Park in San Diego, California. It was built in 1803 to impound the San Diego River to provide water for irrigation of the fields associated with Mission San Diego de Alcalá, the first Spanish mission in what is now the US state of California. It was the first major colonial-era irrigation project on the Pacific coast of the United States. The surviving remnant of the dam was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1963.