came to beboa park is a result of the panama canal, which opened in 1915. san diego had the reputation of being a wild west town. it had a small population. there were 30,000 people who lived here. and there was an awful lot of ice here. san diego wanted to change its reputation. it wanted to recognize the fact it was an up-and-coming city, and that was the dream of some of the founding fathers and mothers here. that it could become a metropolis it staged appropriately and it had industry brought to it. one of the people responsible for our exposition here in san diego is aubrey davidson. aubrey davidson was the president of the chamber of commerce in 1908. it was announced that the united states was taking over the panama canal project and it would be completed in 1915. he saw that as an opportunity for san diego to come forward and introduce itself to the world. , there was the exposition and they announce that to the folks in town. for a few years, they did the financing to build the exposition and it opened on december 31, 1914 at midnight. there was a