La Jolla History
La Jolla has transformed over the years from a sleepy little village to a place of luxury and cultural. The town is now predominately designer homes of international renowned people who love living here. Ocean waves crash up on the beach and Mount Soledad provides a sense of isolation from the rush of San Diego. Just a few high rises silhouette the coastline, with laws in place to assure no more will be built in the future. La Jolla truly is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Just walk along the shore or down a quiet residential street and you too will feel the sense of eternity provided by it’s past.
In 1886, Frank T. Botsford came to La Jolla and declared it "magnificent". Two months later he bought the over 400 acres of pueblo lands already known as "La Jolla Park". Even then no-one knew where the name originated - whether it means "the jewel" from the Spanish word La Joya or from "Woholle" the indian term for "hole in the mountains". Who named it and why is lost in history.
Frank T. Botsford subdivided and auctioned $62,000 worth of lots planned for homes on April 30, 1887. There were land booms and busts, but La Jolla continued to grow from 350 residences in 1900 to over 30,000 today.
From 1900 to 1920, tourism became the economic base of La Jolla. With the end of World War I, La Jolla was caught up in the heady 20's and the population grew to 4000. During this era, the beach cottage look was replaced by the elegant California Spanish style. In 1926, present day La Jolla Shores was subdivided and the La Jolla Beach & Yacht Club was born. In 1927, a Spanish ranch-house style building, designed by Hollywood architect Robert Stacy-Judd, was erected. It was the first building in the United States to utilize the Maya/Aztec form of architecture. A yacht basin was planned as an "inner harbor" but the idea was abandoned. The old yacht harbor site is a duck pond today. In 1935, the yacht club property was acquired by Frederick Kellogg, a retired newspaper publisher from Altadena, California. Kellogg re-named the club the "La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club" and brought the game to La Jolla.
The stock market crash of 1929 brought failure to the La Jolla Shores development and only a few houses were seen there until after World War II. In 1943, some 7700 people called La Jolla home, but many service people had seen the "village" and came back to live. Large subdivisions developed on the mountain slopes and the old horse trails were covered over. By 1960, the population had risen to 17,000 people ... and growing.
The University of California, San Diego came in the mid-sixties adjoining Scripps Institution of Oceanography, which as a part of the University system, and here since 1905. The university brought the finest scientific brainpower from around the country and added wonderfully bright people to the La Jolla mix. Still the center of culture and learning UC San Diego was the last major project in La Jolla.
From sleepy beach town to one of the most sophisticated addresses in a America – La Jolla’s short history has produced a world class village by the sea.
|
