10/22/2026
Before Sunrise
By the early twentieth century, word had reached fishing towns across Sicily and Southern Italy — there was work along the California coast.
Some immigrants arrived by steamship, then continued south by rail toward San Diego, drawn by rumors of an expanding Pacific fishing industry. Others came after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake displaced Italian communities farther north.
As downtown San Diego grew through the Pickwick years — hotels, theaters, rail depots, arriving tourists — another community was building something of its own along the waterfront.
Before sunrise, Italian fishermen moved through dark streets carrying rope, nets, and lanterns toward boats waiting in the harbor below.
Over time, the growing tuna industry transformed their neighborhood into what San Diego now calls Little Italy.
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