PCC Car #529 at Summers' Market
4752 University Avenue • 1949

This spectacular streetcar photo posted on Gary Mitrovich’s East San Diego Facebook page sent me down a rabbit hole — and it was a fun trip.  Spaulding-McCain Lincoln-Mercury, advertised on the front of this streetcar, had its Grand Opening on March 23, 1949.  Rail service on the San Diego Electric Railway came to an end on April 24, 1949. That seems to imply that this photo was taken in the Spring of 1949.  It also implies that some far-sighted photographer was trying to get shots of the streetcars before they disappeared.  Summers' Market occupied a portion of the first floor of the Silverado Ballroom on the left.

Spaulding-McCain was located at 1444 University Avenue and went through several owners.  It was Pascal Dilday Lincoln-Mercury-Comet when it closed in 1966.

This Google street view from 2017 shows the Silverado Ballroom building in detail.  Lotus Garden is on the ground floor these days.  If you mourn the demise of so many local Chinese restaurants, you'll salivate over their menu.  Click HERE to check it out. Hey, maybe they deliver!

Car #529 is a vintage PCC streetcar, developed by the President’s Conference Committee in the 1930s.  The San Diego Electric Railway ordered 25 PCC cars in time for the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition. Car #529 has been restored and can be ridden on designated holidays.