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The written (as opposed to oral) history of the San Diego, California, region began in the present state of California, when Europeans first began inhabiting the San Diego Bay region.
The San Diego History Center tells the diverse story of our region – past, present and future – educating and enriching our community, preserving our history and fostering civic pride.
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San Diego, port and city, seat (1850) of San Diego county, southern California, U.S. It lies along the Pacific Ocean at San Diego Bay, just north of the international border with Mexico and some 120 miles (195 km) southeast of Los Angeles. The city consists of two portions of unequal size: the much larger part extends north and east of San Diego Bay, and the smaller one stretches southeastward from the bay to the Mexican border. The city site is characterized by varied topography of broad mesas, canyons, and wide valleys. The landscape becomes hillier to the north (notably in the La Jolla section) and eastward toward a line of mountains along the edge of the main built-up area. The region has a mild, sunny climate year-round; the little precipitation it receives comes mainly during the winter.
Nearly landlocked San Diego Bay, one of the world’s finest natural deepwater harbours, encompasses 22 square miles (57 square km). It is sheltered by two overlapping peninsulas—Point Loma to the north and west and Silver Strand to the south and west—and is connected to the Pacific in the northwest by a narrow channel between them. The bay is the focus of international shipping and one of the country’s most extensive complexes of military bases.
Diegueño, Luiseño, Cahuilla, and Cupeño peoples were among the inhabitants of the region when Europeans arrived in the 16th century. Sighted in 1542 and named San Miguel by Spanish explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, the area was renamed for the Spanish monk San Diego de Alcalá de Henares in 1602 by Sebastián Vizcaíno. Gaspar de Portolá founded a presidio (military post) there on July 16, 1769, and, on the same day, Father Junípero Serra dedicated the first of the California missions (restored 1931). Settlement was confined inside the presidio walls until the 1820s, when residents began to build the area known as Old Town. Control of the mission was assumed by Mexico in 1834, and the site was redesignated a pueblo (town). After the United States acquired California in 1846, the community was incorporated (1850), but it lost its charter two years later. The new city of San Diego was laid out 3 miles (5 km) south of Old Town by businessman Alonzo E. Horton in 1867, and its growth was ensured by the promotion of its salubrious climate and the arrival of the Santa Fe Railway in 1885.
Growth was rapid after 1900, the population jumping from fewer than 20,000 that year to more than 200,000 by 1940. The city’s traditional economic base of agriculture (citrus) and fishing was expanded to include manufacturing (notably aircraft) and, after the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, shipping. The Panama-California Exposition (1915–16) celebrated the enormous economic boon the new waterway gave the city.
Also of great importance was the increasing military presence, especially of the U.S. Navy. Major installations established there included Naval Base Point Loma (1898; originally a U.S. Army fort), the Marine Corps Recruit Depot (1911), Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (originally the Army’s Camp Kearney) and Naval Air Station North Island (both 1917), Naval Base San Diego (1919), and Naval Amphibious Base Coronado (1943); in addition, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton (1942) was set up a short distance northwest, near Oceanside.
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World War II ushered in even more rapid growth, which only increased after the war. San Diego’s land area and population each nearly quadrupled between 1950 and 2000. Industry expanded to include electronics, aerospace technology, and shipbuilding. In addition, the area’s equable climate, which had been a significant factor in attracting manufacturing and the military, drew growing numbers of retirees and tourists.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
San Diego, City (pop., 2020: 1,386,932) and port, southern California, U.S. It is located on San Diego Bay, the site of major naval and military bases. Sighted by the Spanish in 1542 and named San Miguel, the area was renamed San Diego in 1602.
Dec 15, 2022 · San Diego is often called the "birthplace of California" since it was the first site visited and colonized by Europeans in the country's west coast.
May 16, 2024 · Why is it called San Diego? San Diego’s name can be traced back to the 16th century when Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno bestowed it upon the area in 1602. He named the bay and the surrounding area “San Diego de Alcalá” in honor of Saint Didacus of Alcalá.
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May 31, 2022 · *SAN DIEGO Named after San Diego Bay, which had been rechristened by Vizcaino in 1602, in honor of the Franciscan, San Diego de Alcala de Henares, whose name was borne by his flagship. What was San Diego originally called? San Miguel. Discovered in 1542 by European explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, San Diego was originally named San Miguel.
