From Red-Light to Gaslamp - View this location on map 'Look up. Those modern storefronts in the Gaslamp Quarter are actually part of some of San Diego's most historic architecture: multistory Victorian commercial buildings from the 1870's and 80's, put up by developers from San Francisco after the start of the Gold Rush. The neighborhood subsequently endured more than a century of booms and busts - including grim periods when it was called Rabbitville, Flea Town and Stingaree - and was a red-light district from the late 1880's through the early 1970's. But the neighborhood somehow avoided the urban redevelopment blight of the mid-20th century, and today, nearly 100 buildings have been meticulously restored. Pick up an architectural walking-tour map ($2) at the Gaslamp Quarter Historical Foundation in the William Heath Davis House (619-233-4692), the area's oldest building (it was built in Portland, Me., shipped around Cape Horn and reassembled in 1850). Or join the two-hour guided tour that begins there every Saturday at 11 a.m. ($10).'' New York Times 410 Island Avenue, San Diego, CA Historical, Cultural

---