William Heath "Kanaka Bill" Davis Jr.

The Founder of "New Town" San Diego

by Dr. Gil Ontai • Gaslamp Quarter Historical Foundation Mar. 12, 2026

William Heath Davis, Jr., known as “Kanaka Bill,” was a Native Hawaiian born in 1822 in Honolulu in the Kingdom of Hawaii. His father, a Boston sea captain, was awarded a sandalwood trading contract from Kamehameha I. Through his mother’s side, Davis was a descendant of High Chief Kalanihoʻolulumokuikekai, linking him to the prominent Mahi family line whose members fought on both sides during the unification of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Davis grew up in the Kona District of Honolulu, which served as the early town center of the islands, and Hawaiian was his first spoken and written language. He later attended the O’ahu Charity School, where he took general education courses in English. In 1838, at age 17, Davis left Hawai‘i to learn the shipping trade with his uncle, Nathan Spear, in Yerba Buena, a small Mexican seaport village on California’s bay that is now known as San Francisco. By 1839, he had developed a reputation among locals as an adventurer, often exploring the wilderness of the Sacramento Valley.

Because of his familiarity with the region, Davis was selected as a wilderness guide for Swiss entrepreneur John Sutter and his crew of Native Hawaiian and American workers. They traveled upriver to establish a settlement in what is now Sacramento. A decade later, gold would be discovered in California, sparking the California Gold Rush of 1849.

During the 1840s, Davis left his uncle’s employment as a storekeeper and started his own shipping business, working as a supercargo - a merchant responsible for managing and selling a ship’s cargo. Rather than discovering gold himself, Davis profited from selling supplies and land to those who came seeking fortune. His ventures made him extremely wealthy; by the age of 28, he was one of the richest men in California. At one point, he shipped more than $450,000 worth of gold dust (in today’s value) to the Philadelphia Mint.

Davis married Maria de Jesus Estudillo, who came from a prominent Californio family. Her uncle, Jose Antonio Estudillo, was a well-known ranchero and owner of the historic Casa de Estudillo in San Diego. During frequent family visits and through his shipping business there, Davis became convinced that San Diego’s future lay along the waterfront.

Believing the city should be closer to maritime trade routes, Davis and his partners developed a bayside settlement they called “New Town.” Because the land near the bay lacked timber, Davis purchased prefabricated houses in Portland, Maine, and had them shipped around Cape Horn aboard the ship Cybelle. New Town included a wharf, a store, a park, military barracks, and ten houses. The park, known today as Pantoja Park, still exists on G Street.

Unfortunately, the settlement lacked a reliable source of fresh water, and few people chose to move there. After a devastating fire in San Francisco destroyed much of Davis’s fortune, he abandoned his dream of building a major city along San Diego Bay. Nevertheless, his original subdivision of city blocks and street grid helped shape the foundation of modern downtown San Diego. The Davis-Horton House, now a museum - the last remaining wooden house from the 1800s in the area - still stands as a testament to his vision.

Today, streets bearing Davis’s name exist in both San Francisco and San Leandro. He is remembered for envisioning “New Town San Diego” and for his contributions as a writer who chronicled early California and Hawaiian history, describing notable people, places, and events of his time. Davis never returned to Hawai‘i, choosing instead to remain in California with his Hawaiian, Mexican, and American family. He died at age 87 and was buried alongside his wife, Maria, at St. Mary's Cemetery, Oakland, California.

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To learn more about William Heath Davis Jr., consider taking a self-guided tour of the Gaslamp Museum at the Davis-Horton House, the last remaining structure from Davis's "New Town."