Old Town

Original settlement area and state historical park in San Diego, California, USA, 5 km/3 mi northwest of New Town (the modern downtown). The Spanish established a settlement from the 1770s at the foot of Presidio Hill on the San Diego River, just southeast of Mission Bay. Numerous 19th-century houses survive in the 5.3-ha/13-ac park. The centre of San Diego until the 1870s, Old Town is now a major tourist attraction.

Old Town

Residential and commercial district on the Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois, USA. Once a wealthy residential area second only to Chicago's Gold Coast, it became an avant-garde community of artists and hippies in the 1950s and 1960s. Gentrification followed, turning the district into an expensive enclave of young professionals by the 1980s. Second City Theatre improvization originated in Old Town.

Old Town

Town in Penobscot County, eastern-central Maine, USA, on the Penobscot River, 18 km/11 mi northeast of Bangor; population (1990) 8,300. A market gardening and timber processing centre, it produces wood pulp and timber products, and specializes in the manufacture of canoes. The American Indian Penobscot reservation is located on Indian Island, in the river to the north of the town centre.

Old Town

Historic district in Portland, Oregon, USA, on the west bank of the Willamette River, separating the northwest and southwest sections of the city. Part of the 19th-century core of the city, a stretch of its surviving buildings have been restored for commercial use. Features include the Saturday Market; the 24-Hour Church of Elvis, dedicated to the rock-and-roll singer Elvis Presley; and the New Market Theatre.