Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Taken: 1960
Caption: George Derby House, 4017 Harney Street, San Diego, San Diego County, CA
Additional Description: Significance: This house was the home of Lt. George Horatio Derby, 1835-55, when, writing (during his leisure time) for the San Diego Herald under the pen names of John P. Squibb and John Pheonix, he introduced a form of Western humor which caused him to be recognized as the "father of the mid-19th century school of far Western humor and America's first wit," which greatly influenced writers such as Mark Twain and Lewis Grayland Clark...

Note that this image of the home (courtesy of the Historic American Building Survey) is at the 3877 Harney (the original) location.
Submitted: June 19, 2015.
Database Locator Identification Number: p311858
File Size: 0.289 Megabytes

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