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The San Diego Chamber of Commerce
The Marstons: A California Family - Part 25
By Robin Lakin
July/August 2026
 The San Diego Chamber of Commerce initially met in David Felsenheld’s dry goods store in New Town’s first brick building, alongside competing businesses of Aaron Pauly and Joseph Nash. Felsenheld would later face additional competition from Charles Hamilton and George Marston’s 1873 partnership, Hamilton & Marston’s, and, beginning in 1878, the Marston Company. Courtesy San Diego Union |
Nine months prior to George W. Marston’s arrival in San Diego, an article appeared in the January 15, 1870 edition of the San Diego Weekly Bulletin touting the efficacy of the Chicago Chamber of Commerce. The group, it said, is “an illustration of what a community is able to effect, provided each one put his shoulder to the wheel…Now, it behooves the people of San Diego to profit by her experience, by imitating her example. As far as natural advantages are concerned, San Diego is far superior to Chicago.”
Following a tradition rooted in 18th century France, and organized in 1768 in New York City as an American institution, Alonzo Horton acted quickly, founding the West Coast’s first chamber of commerce on January 20, 1870. The San Diego Chamber of Commerce sought to guide city growth, solve the problem of a lack of fresh water, and establish commerce through railroad lines and harbor development to create a thriving metropolis that would later earn the moniker “America’s Finest City.”
Ephraim Morse, Joseph Nash, Daniel Choate, David Felsenheld, and George W. B. McDonald drew up the constitution and bylaws at Felsenheld’s dry goods store at the corner of F and Sixth Streets. The constitution’s preamble stated: “To take some practical steps to unite the business men of the city for the better promotion of the public interest; to aid in the development of our back-country, and make known its resources; to give reliable information of the commercial advantages of our harbor, and of our natural position as an overland railroad terminus on the Pacific Coast.”
In their first act, the elected officers Aaron Pauly (president), George McDonald (vice president), Joseph Nash (secretary), and Alonzo Horton (treasurer) appointed the Citizens' Railroad Committee of Forty to commence San Diego negotiations with the Texas and Pacific Railroad.
George Marston joined the chamber in 1873, upon purchasing John Nash’s store with Charles Hamilton and establishing Hamilton & Marston Dry Goods and Groceries. He served as the organization’s secretary at age 23.
 In 1869, Alonzo Horton constructed New Town’s first brick building, occupied by David Felsenheld’s mercantile, at the northwest corner of Sixth and F Streets. San Diego’s Chamber of Commerce, the first such organization on the West Coast, was organized here on January 20, 1870. Courtesy San Diego History Center (SDHC) |
 Elected secretary of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce in 1873 at age 23, George W. Marston went on to hold the offices of second vice president, first vice president, and president before the end of the 19th century, while building the Marston Company. Courtesy SDHC |
By 1878, Hamilton & Marston had split their business, and George Marston founded the Marston Company, a dry-goods store that by 1881 had developed into San Diego’s first department store, requiring a new, larger building for its growing operations.
As a new business owner, George served as second vice president in 1881 a vital year that saw the beginning of construction of the San Diego based Southern California Railroad, connecting National City to Colton, California.
Two years later, in 1883, George became first vice president under president Arnold Wentscher (whose not-yet-born daughter Elsa would one day marry George’s then two-year-old son Arthur). San Diegans considered harbor defense of utmost importance at this time, and the chamber vigorously campaigned for a military post. Congress approved the creation of Fort Rosecrans that year.
George was elected chamber president at its annual meeting on March 7, 1884, in the National Consolidated Bank parlor. During his term as president, the chamber was instrumental in bringing the Southern California Railroad (Santa Fe Railroad) to San Diego which created the 1880s economic and building boom as thousands of folks arrived in San Diego seeking land, opportunities, and a better climate.
George again served as second vice president in 1894, when the city boasted swift electric cars and a reliable sewage system. He became president again in 1899, when Fort Rosecrans was being installed on Point Loma. By then, the city’s population had risen to nearly 20,000—seven times the number in 1870 when the chamber was founded.
At the chamber and many other San Diego organizations, George W. Marston never hesitated to “put his shoulder to the wheel.” His dedication to the growth and improvement of his adopted city is immeasurable, and a testament to what a determined, progressive visionary such as he can do for one’s community.
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