Hardcover | Coffee Table Picture Book Known to its residents as “America’s Finest City,”  San Diego has a mild, inviting climate and stunning coastal scenery. <em>San Diego Then and Now</em> looks at how the city developed from a small village settled by early Franciscan missionaries and the Spanish military. It came under U.S. rule in 1846, but it was not until 1867 when San Francisco speculator and businessman Alonzo E. Horton acquired 960 acres of waterfront land and promoted it as “New Town” that San Diego really began to take off.</p><p>San Diego Then and Now pairs archival photographs with modern views of the same scene to illustrate the city’s growth since these humble beginnings.