Point Loma, San Diego, California
Encyclopedia
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Geographically it is a hilly peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
that is bordered on the west and south by the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
, the east by the San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port adjacent to San Diego, California. It is 12 mi/19 km long, 1 mi/1.6 km–3 mi/4.8 km wide...
and Old Town
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, located in the Old Town neighborhood of San Diego, California, is a state protected historical park in San Diego. It commemorates the early days of the town of San Diego and includes many historic buildings from the period 1820 to 1870. The park was...
and the north by the San Diego River
San Diego River
The San Diego River is a river in San Diego County, California. It originates in the Cuyamaca Mountains northwest of the town of Julian, then flows to the southwest until it reaches the El Capitan Reservoir, the largest reservoir in the river's watershed at . Below El Capitan Dam, the river runs...
. Along with the Coronado
Coronado, California
Coronado, also known as Coronado Island, is an affluent resort city located in San Diego County, California, 5.2 miles from downtown San Diego. Its population was 24,697 at the 2010 census, up from 24,100 at the 2000 census. U.S. News and World Report lists Coronado as one of the most expensive...
peninsula, Point Loma separates San Diego Bay from the Pacific Ocean.
Point Loma has an estimated population of 45,887 (including Ocean Beach), according to the 2000 Census. The 2008 population of the 92106 and 92107 ZIP codes is estimated at 48,285.
Point Loma is historically important as the landing place of the first European expedition to come ashore in present-day California. The peninsula has been described as "where California began". Today Point Loma houses two major military bases, a national cemetery, a national monument, and a university, in addition to residential and commercial areas.
History
Loma is the SpanishSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
word for hill. The original name of the peninsula was La Punta de la Loma de San Diego, translated as Hill Point of San Diego. This was later anglicized to Point Loma.
There were no permanent Indian
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai, Kamia, or formerly Diegueño, are Native American people of the extreme southwestern United States and northwest Mexico. They live in the states of California in the US and Baja California in Mexico. In Spanish, the name is commonly spelled...
settlements on Point Loma because of a lack of fresh water. Kumeyaay Indians did visit Ocean Beach periodically to harvest mussels, clams, abalone and lobsters.
Point Loma was first discovered by Europeans on September 28, 1542 when Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
navigator Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was a Portuguese explorer noted for his exploration of the west coast of North America on behalf of Spain. Cabrillo was the first European explorer to navigate the coast of present day California in the United States...
(João Rodrigues Cabrilho in Portuguese) departed from Mexico and led an expedition for the Spanish
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
crown to explore the west coast of what is now the United States. Cabrillo described San Diego Bay as “a very good enclosed port.” Historians believe he docked his flagship on Point Loma’s east shore, probably at Ballast Point
Ballast Point Light
Ballast Point Light was a lighthouse in California, situated on Ballast Point, a tiny peninsula extending into San Diego Bay from Point Loma, San Diego, California. The lighthouse was torn down in 1960; the site is now on the grounds of Naval Base Point Loma. Ballast Point was the last lighthouse...
. This was the first landing by a European in present-day California, so that Point Loma has been described as “where California began”.
More than 200 years were to pass before a permanent European settlement was established in San Diego in 1769. Mission San Diego
Mission San Diego de Alcalá
Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá, in San Diego, California, was the first Franciscan mission in the Las Californias Province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It was founded in 1769 by Spanish friar Junípero Serra in an area long inhabited by the Kumeyaay Indians...
itself was in the San Diego River
San Diego River
The San Diego River is a river in San Diego County, California. It originates in the Cuyamaca Mountains northwest of the town of Julian, then flows to the southwest until it reaches the El Capitan Reservoir, the largest reservoir in the river's watershed at . Below El Capitan Dam, the river runs...
valley, but its port was a bayside beach in Point Loma called La Playa (Spanish for beach). Modern day Rosecrans Street follows the route of the historic La Playa Trail, the oldest European trail on the West Coast
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
. It led from the Mission and Presidio to La Playa, where ships anchored and unloaded their cargoes via small boats. The beach at La Playa continued to serve as San Diego’s “port” until the establishment of New Town (current downtown) in the 1870s. In his book Two Years Before the Mast
Two Years Before the Mast
Two Years Before the Mast is a book by the American author Richard Henry Dana, Jr., published in 1840, having been written after a two-year sea voyage starting in 1834. A film adaptation under the same name was released in 1946.- Background :...
, Richard Henry Dana, Jr.
Richard Henry Dana, Jr.
Richard Henry Dana Jr. was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts, a descendant of an eminent colonial family who gained renown as the author of the American classic, the memoir Two Years Before the Mast...
describes how sailors in the 1830s camped on the beach at La Playa and hunted for wood and jackrabbits in the hills of Point Loma.
Ballast Point got its name from the practice of ships discarding their ballast
Sailing ballast
Ballast is used in sailboats to provide moment to resist the lateral forces on the sail. Insufficiently ballasted boats will tend to tip, or heel, excessively in high winds. Too much heel may result in the boat capsizing. If a sailing vessel should need to voyage without cargo then ballast of...
there on arriving in San Diego Bay and taking on ballast as they left for the open ocean. Fort Guijarros
Fort Guijarros
Fort Guijarros was a Spanish fort in what is now San Diego, California, USA. The name means "Fort Cobblestones" in English. It was built in 1797 on Ballast Point as the first defensive fortifications for San Diego Bay...
was constructed at Ballast Point in 1797. Ballast Point and La Playa are now on the grounds of Naval Base Point Loma
Naval Base Point Loma
Located in Point Loma, a neighborhood of San Diego, California, Naval Base Point Loma was established on 1 October 1998 when Navy facilities in the Point Loma area of San Diego were consolidated under Commander, Navy Region Southwest...
.
In 1900 Katherine Tingley
Katherine Tingley
Katherine Augusta Westcott Tingley was a social worker and prominent Theosophist. She was the founder of the Theosophical Society Pasadena. She founded and led the Theosophical community Lomaland in San Diego, California.Tingley grew up in Newbury, Massachusetts. She married Philo B. Tingley in...
moved the headquarters of the Theosophical Society
Theosophical Society Pasadena
The Theosophical Society is a successor organization to the original Theosophical Society founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and others in 1875....
to "Lomaland
Lomaland
Lomaland was a Theosophical commune located in Point Loma in San Diego), California from 1900 to 1942. Theosophical Society leader Katherine Tingley founded it in 1900 as a school, cultural center, and residential facility for her followers. The American headquarters of the Theosophical Society...
”, a hilltop campus in Point Loma overlooking the ocean. The facility with its unusual architecture and even more unusual lifestyles became an important source of music and culture for residents of San Diego between 1900 and 1920. The Society also experimented widely with planting trees and crops, giving that formerly barren part of Point Loma its current heavily wooded character. They are credited with introducing the avocado
Avocado
The avocado is a tree native to Central Mexico, classified in the flowering plant family Lauraceae along with cinnamon, camphor and bay laurel...
to California.
During the 1920s there was a dirt airstrip known as Dutch Flats in what is now the Midway neighborhood of Point Loma. That is where Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
first tested and flew his airplane, The Spirit of St. Louis, which had been built in San Diego by the Ryan Aeronautical Company
Ryan Aeronautical Company
The Ryan Aeronautical Company was founded by T. Claude Ryan in San Diego, California in 1934. Part of Teledyne after 1969, Northrop Grumman purchased Teledyne Ryan in 1999...
. A U.S. Post Office now located on the site contains several historic plaques commemorating Dutch Flats and Lindbergh.
Landmarks
Marine layer
A marine layer is an air mass which develops over the surface of a large body of water such as the ocean or large lake in the presence of a temperature inversion. The inversion itself is usually initiated by the cooling effect of the water on the surface layer of an otherwise warm air mass...
often obscured the beam for ocean-going vessels.
On March 23, 1891, the lighthouse ceased to be used for its original purpose, as a new lighthouse
Point Loma Light (new)
New Point Loma Lighthouse is a lighthouse on Point Loma in California,United States, near San Diego, California. It was built in 1891 to replace the Old Point Loma Lighthouse, that was ineffective due to elevation .thumb|left|Undated [[USCG]] photo...
was built nearer sea level on the same southern point. The Old Point Loma Lighthouse is now partially open to the public and has been refurbished to its historic 1880’s interior. It is located within the Cabrillo National Monument
Cabrillo National Monument
Cabrillo National Monument is located at the southern tip of the Point Loma Peninsula in San Diego, California. It commemorates the landing of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo at San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542. This event marked the first time that a European expedition had set foot on what later...
, named after Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was a Portuguese explorer noted for his exploration of the west coast of North America on behalf of Spain. Cabrillo was the first European explorer to navigate the coast of present day California in the United States...
, the first European
European ethnic groups
The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....
explorer to see San Diego Bay.
Geology
Point Loma Formation
The Point Loma Formation is a sedimentary geological formation in Southern California. The strata date back to the Late Cretaceous. The formation is named after Point Loma, California.-Description:...
. They contain fossils, including dinosaur fossils, from the Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...
period, about 75 million years ago. The formation represents one of the few sites containing dinosaur fossils in the state of California. Overlying the Point Loma Formation is another Late Cretaceous deposit called the Cabrillo Formation, which crops out in various areas of Point Loma.
The top of the peninsula is fairly flat, has an elevation of about 400 feet (120m), and is capped by much younger sandstone and conglomerate deposits from the Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
era, 1 million years or less in age. These flat-lying beds lie directly on top of the gently dipping Point Loma and Cabrillo formations. The gap in the sedimentary record, called an Angular unconformity, represents about 70 million years of non-deposition and/or erosion.
The cliffs on the ocean side of the peninsula are sheer and are undergoing constant erosion due to wave action. On the east side the land slopes into San Diego Bay more gradually, so that homes and developments go right to the water’s edge. At the northern end of the peninsula the cliffs and hills become lower, disappearing entirely in Ocean Beach and the Midway area, where the San Diego River flows.
Much of the Midway area is former marshland which has been filled in for development. In fact, the San Diego River used to flow through the Midway area into San Diego Bay, isolating Point Loma from San Diego. Because of fears that San Diego Bay might silt up, the river was diverted to its present course north of Point Loma by a levee built in 1877.
Parts of Liberty Station and Point Loma Village are also fill land, reclaimed from sand spits and wetlands surrounding the Bay. The only remnant of the formerly extensive wetlands in Point Loma, aside from the riverbed itself, is a city-owned nature preserve called Famosa Slough, which branches off from the river near its mouth.
Neighborhoods
There are several distinct neighborhoods in the Point Loma peninsula. The commercial and retail heart of the peninsula is called Point Loma Village. Its retail establishments serve local residents as well as yachting and sport fishing interests. The streets in Point Loma Village are lined with hundreds of jacarandaJacaranda
Jacaranda is a genus of 49 species of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of South America , Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. It is also found in Asia, especially in Nepal...
trees as a result of community beautification efforts.
Connected to Point Loma Village by a causeway is Shelter Island, which is actually not an island but a former sandbank in San Diego Bay. Shelter Island was developed in the 1950s after it was built up into dry land using material dredged from the bay. It is under the control of the Port of San Diego
Port of San Diego
The Port of San Diego is a self-supporting public benefit corporation established in 1962 by an act of the California State Legislature. In 2007, The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics ranked the Port of San Diego as one of America's top 30 U.S. containership ports bringing in nearly of...
and contains hotels, restaurants, marinas, and public parkland.
The newest commercial and retail area is found at Liberty Station
Liberty Station
Liberty Station is a project that involves the conversion of San Diego, California's former Naval Training Center into a mixed-use community that includes several distinct districts...
, site of the former Naval Training Center San Diego
Naval Training Center San Diego
Naval Training Center San Diego is a former United States Navy base located at the north end of San Diego Bay. The Naval Training Center site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and many of the individual structures are designated as historic by the city of San Diego.The base...
, which also has residential and educational sections.
The Midway district at the northern end of the peninsula, adjacent to the San Diego River
San Diego River
The San Diego River is a river in San Diego County, California. It originates in the Cuyamaca Mountains northwest of the town of Julian, then flows to the southwest until it reaches the El Capitan Reservoir, the largest reservoir in the river's watershed at . Below El Capitan Dam, the river runs...
and the I-5
Interstate 5 in California
Interstate 5 is a major north–south route of the Interstate Highway System in the U.S. state of California. It begins at the Mexico – United States border at the San Ysidro crossing, goes north across the length of California and crosses into Oregon south of the Medford-Ashland metropolitan...
and I-8 freeways, is primarily commercial and industrial with a few small residential developments.
Most neighborhoods in Point Loma consist primarily of single family homes. The bayside residential area is called La Playa and lies somewhat north of the original La Playa, the beach where commercial and military ships anchored during the early days of the city. La Playa includes some of the most expensive homes in San Diego. Some bayfront homes have private piers for small boats.
The hills above La Playa are known as the Wooded Area on the bay side of Catalina Boulevard (so called because of the many mature trees in the area), and the College Area on the ocean side (because of the proximity of Point Loma Nazarene College). The Sunset Cliffs neighborhood is on the west side, above ocean bluffs, and is known for its views of the Pacific Ocean.
Roseville, named for San Diego pioneer Louis Rose
Louis Rose
Louis Rose was a pioneer developer of San Diego, California. The neighborhood of Roseville in Point Loma is named for him, as are Rose Creek and Rose Canyon.-History:...
,, encompasses the oldest settled part of the peninsula. Many Portuguese fishermen and fishing boat owners settled here more than 100 years ago. Some people refer to the area as “Tunaville” because of its association with the tuna-fishing fleet. The hilly area above Roseville is known as Fleetridge, named for its developer David Fleet, a son of Reuben H. Fleet
Reuben H. Fleet
Reuben Hollis Fleet was an American aviation pioneer, industrialist and army officer. Fleet founded and led several corporations, most notably Consolidated Aircraft.-Birth and early career:...
.
The bayside hills between Rosecrans Street and Chatsworth Boulevard north of Nimitz Boulevard are known as Loma Portal. A distinctive feature of this neighborhood is the location of street lights in the middle of several street intersections instead of on the sidewalk. Loma Portal lies directly in the takeoff pattern for planes from Lindbergh Field, making it the home of the “Point Loma Pause” where all conversation ceases temporarily due to airplane noise. The east-west streets in Roseville and Loma Portal are known as the "alphabetical author streets". The streets are named for authors in alphabetical order from Addison to Zola, with a second partial cycle from Alcott to Lytton.
The northwest corner of the peninsula, where the San Diego River flows into the ocean, is a separate community known as Ocean Beach.
The southern one-third of the Peninsula is entirely federal
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
land, including Naval Base Point Loma
Naval Base Point Loma
Located in Point Loma, a neighborhood of San Diego, California, Naval Base Point Loma was established on 1 October 1998 when Navy facilities in the Point Loma area of San Diego were consolidated under Commander, Navy Region Southwest...
, Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery
Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery
Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery is situated in the city of San Diego, California, on the Fort Rosecrans Military Reservation. The cemetery is located approximately 10 miles west of downtown San Diego, overlooking the bay and the city...
, and Cabrillo National Monument
Cabrillo National Monument
Cabrillo National Monument is located at the southern tip of the Point Loma Peninsula in San Diego, California. It commemorates the landing of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo at San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542. This event marked the first time that a European expedition had set foot on what later...
.
Fauna
There are several species of wildlifeWildlife
Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
. Mammals include raccoon
Raccoon
Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...
s, skunk
Skunk
Skunks are mammals best known for their ability to secrete a liquid with a strong, foul odor. General appearance varies from species to species, from black-and-white to brown or cream colored. Skunks belong to the family Mephitidae and to the order Carnivora...
s, possums, bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s, rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
s, California ground squirrels, and gray fox
Gray Fox
The gray fox is a mammal of the order Carnivora ranging throughout most of the southern half of North America from southern Canada to the northern part of South America...
es. Birds include the great blue heron
Great Blue Heron
The Great Blue Heron is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America as well as the West Indies and the Galápagos Islands. It is a rare vagrant to Europe, with records from Spain, the Azores and England...
, and feral
Feral
A feral organism is one that has changed from being domesticated to being wild or untamed. In the case of plants it is a movement from cultivated to uncultivated or controlled to volunteer. The introduction of feral animals or plants to their non-native regions, like any introduced species, may...
green parrot
Parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
s of the species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
Amazona viridigenalis.
Economy
The main economic engines of Point Loma are military facilities, neighborhood-serving retail, and marine recreation, particularly yachtingYachting
Yachting refers to recreational sailing or boating, the specific act of sailing or using other water vessels for sporting purposes.-Competitive sailing:...
and deep-sea fishing
Recreational fishing
Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing, is fishing for pleasure or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is fishing for profit, or subsistence fishing, which is fishing for survival....
.
Tourism
Marine activities are mostly located on the Bay side of the peninsula, where there are three yacht clubs, including the San Diego Yacht ClubSan Diego Yacht Club
San Diego Yacht Club is a yacht club located in San Diego Bay. Its address is 1011 Anchorage Lane, San Diego, CA 92106. It is located in Point Loma across from a spit of land known as Shelter Island.- Facilities :...
which was home to the America’s Cup from 1988 to 1995. There are several small-boat marinas and a commercial sport fishing dock on the Bay side. There are other businesses related to yachting and fishing, such as marine supply stores, yacht brokerages, boat repair yards, and hotels and motels catering to fishing enthusiasts. Some restaurants and hotels have docks for customers who arrive by boat.
Tourists visit the cliffs on the western side of the peninsula for views of the ocean and the sunset - hence the name, Sunset Cliffs. There are surfing
Surfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
spots below the cliffs, such as Luscomb’s, Garbage Beach and New Break. A woman died in a fall from the cliffs in December 2008, and other falls have resulted in injuries
The Point Loma area has a number of hotels, restaurants, and local businesses. Located in the Voltaire business district, near Ocean Beach, is the Point Loma Youth Hostel, frequented by travelers from around the world. The San Diego Sports Arena and the SOMA
Soma San Diego
SOMA is a popular all-ages concert venue in the Midway District area of San Diego, California, right next to the San Diego Sports Arena. Over the years it has become one of the more popular concert venues in the city. Claiming to be one of the best all ages venue in the "SoCal" music scene, Soma...
concert venue are located in the Midway neighborhood of Point Loma.
Military
Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center San Diego
Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific is the U.S. Navy's research, development, test and evaluation, engineering and fleet support center for command, control and communication systems and ocean surveillance. SSC Pacific provides information resources to support the joint warfighter in...
program, the US Marine Corp's Recruit Training Depot
Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego
Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego is a United States Marine Corps military installation in San Diego, California. It lies between San Diego Bay and Interstate 5, adjacent to San Diego International Airport and the former Naval Training Center San Diego...
(MCRD San Diego), Naval Base Point Loma
Naval Base Point Loma
Located in Point Loma, a neighborhood of San Diego, California, Naval Base Point Loma was established on 1 October 1998 when Navy facilities in the Point Loma area of San Diego were consolidated under Commander, Navy Region Southwest...
, and the former US Navy Recruit Training Command /Naval Training Center, or RTC/NTC San Diego,
Naval Base Point Loma, at the southern end of Rosecrans Street in the La Playa area, is the home of Submarine Squadron 11
Submarine Squadron 11
Submarine Squadron 11 is a squadron of submarines based at Point Loma Submarine Base, San Diego, California, United States.- History :...
, with several nuclear fast-attack submarines, and the Naval Mine and Anti-Submarine Warfare Command, including eight Avenger class mine countermeasures ships. The naval base also houses extensive electronic and communications operations serving the Pacific Fleet
United States Pacific Fleet
The United States Pacific Fleet is a Pacific Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources under the operational control of the United States Pacific Command. Its home port is at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii. It is commanded by Admiral Patrick M...
. At the southern end of the peninsula is historic Fort Rosecrans, site of the U.S. Army’s Coast Artillery Corps during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Fort Rosecrans also includes the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery
Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery
Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery is situated in the city of San Diego, California, on the Fort Rosecrans Military Reservation. The cemetery is located approximately 10 miles west of downtown San Diego, overlooking the bay and the city...
and the USS Bennington Monument
USS Bennington Monument
The USS Bennington Monument is a granite obelisk in the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego, California, USA. It serves as a memorial to the crew of the USS Bennington , a gunboat of the United States Navy, whose boiler exploded on the morning of 21 July, 1905, in San Diego Bay...
.
The Naval Training Center San Diego
Naval Training Center San Diego
Naval Training Center San Diego is a former United States Navy base located at the north end of San Diego Bay. The Naval Training Center site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and many of the individual structures are designated as historic by the city of San Diego.The base...
served as a basic training facility for new Navy recruits for more than 70 years, as well as hosting many specialty schools providing advanced career training for sailors. In April 1997 the base was closed and these schools were moved to Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois. The former site of the base is now Liberty Station
Liberty Station
Liberty Station is a project that involves the conversion of San Diego, California's former Naval Training Center into a mixed-use community that includes several distinct districts...
, a 361 acres (1.5 km²) mixed-use redevelopment project that includes residential, office, retail, educational, and civic, arts and cultural districts. Liberty Station was developed by the City of San Diego and The Corky McMillin companies. It also includes a 9-hole golf course, a 46 acres (186,155.6 m²) waterfront park and a 100 acre (0.404686 km²) historic district on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Annual events
The Day at the Docks festival each April highlights Point Loma’s sport fishing industry.The Festa do Espirito Santo
Pentecost
Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...
, or Feast of the Holy Spirit, is a religious festival put on by Point Loma’s large Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
community. It has been staged annually since 1910 and is San Diego’s oldest ethnic tradition.
The Cabrillo Festival each October is a weekend-long commemoration of the landing of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was a Portuguese explorer noted for his exploration of the west coast of North America on behalf of Spain. Cabrillo was the first European explorer to navigate the coast of present day California in the United States...
in Point Loma in 1542.
From June through September, nationally known musicians and comedians perform at an outdoor concert venue on Shelter Island.
A free outdoor concert series features local musicians on five Friday evenings in a local park each summer.
Point Loma is noted for neighborhood Christmas decorations. Several blocks of Garrison Street near Chatsworth are particularly well known for elaborate decorations. There is also a neighborhood-wide lighting of luminarias
Luminárias
Luminárias is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais. The city belongs to the mesoregion of Campo das Vertentes and to the microregion of Lavras.-See also:* List of municipalities in Minas Gerais...
on Christmas Eve in the Plumosa Park area. On two Sundays in December there is a Parade of Lights, with brightly decorated boats sailing on the Bay to be viewed from the shoreline.
Civic Organizations
Civic organizations include the Point Loma Association, a nonprofit group dedicated to beautification and civic improvement, and the Peninsula Chamber of Commerce.Service clubs include Rotary
Rotary International
Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...
, Kiwanis
Kiwanis
Kiwanis International is an international, coeducational service club founded in 1915. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Current membership is 240,000 members in 7,700 clubs in 80 nations...
, Optimists
Optimist International
Optimist International is an international service club organization with 3,200 clubs and almost 100,000 members in more than 35 nations throughout the world. The international headquarters is located in St...
, the Point Loma Assembly, and the Thursday Club.
Parks and Libraries
Point Loma contains a few small neighborhood parks and the Cabrillo Recreation Center. There is large waterfront park at Liberty StationLiberty Station
Liberty Station is a project that involves the conversion of San Diego, California's former Naval Training Center into a mixed-use community that includes several distinct districts...
, which also contains a nine-hole golf course. Most of the ocean frontage of the peninsula is a public shoreline park called Sunset Cliffs Natural Park. The Point Loma Native Plant Garden features plants and flowers native to the San Diego area. Cabrillo National Monument
Cabrillo National Monument
Cabrillo National Monument is located at the southern tip of the Point Loma Peninsula in San Diego, California. It commemorates the landing of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo at San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542. This event marked the first time that a European expedition had set foot on what later...
is a federal historic park at the southern end of the peninsula.
The James Edgar and Jean Jessop Hervey Public Library opened in 2003, replacing a much smaller public library.
Education
Point Loma’s public schools are part of the San Diego Unified School DistrictSan Diego City Schools
San Diego Unified School District is the school district of San Diego, California. It was founded in 1854...
. Neighborhood public schools include Point Loma High School
Point Loma High School
Point Loma High School is a public high school in the San Diego Unified School District in San Diego, California. It is located in the Loma Portal neighborhood of Point Loma. The school serves the neighborhoods of Point Loma and Ocean Beach. In addition, students who live in Mission Hills may...
, two middle schools, and seven elementary schools. There is also a public charter school
Charter school
Charter schools are primary or secondary schools that receive public money but are not subject to some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth in each school's charter...
campus encompassing five high schools, two middle schools, and one elementary school, collectively known as High Tech High
Gary and Jerri-Ann Jacobs High Tech High Charter School
Gary and Jerri-Ann Jacobs High Tech High Charter School, often referred to as High Tech High , is a public charter high school in :San Diego, California...
.
Point Loma educational facilities also include three religious elementary/middle schools and one private elementary school, Warren Walker School.
Post-secondary education is offered at Point Loma Nazarene University
Point Loma Nazarene University
Point Loma Nazarene University is a Christian liberal arts college. Its main campus is located on the Point Loma oceanfront in San Diego, California. It was founded in 1902 as a Bible college by the Church of the Nazarene.-History:...
, a Christian liberal arts college whose ocean-view campus was once the home of the Theosophical Society
Theosophical Society Pasadena
The Theosophical Society is a successor organization to the original Theosophical Society founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and others in 1875....
. The Peninsula also has a branch campus of the San Diego Community College District
San Diego Community College District
The San Diego Community College District is a public community college division in the city of San Diego, California. The district is one of the five community college districts in San Diego County; part of the greater California Community College system...
.
Infrastructure
Interstate 8
Interstate 8 is an Interstate Highway in the southwestern United States. It runs from the southern edge of Mission Bay at Sunset Cliffs Blvd, in San Diego, California, almost at the Pacific Ocean, to the junction with Interstate 10, just southeast of Casa Grande, Arizona...
freeway follows the northern edge of the Point Loma peninsula, paralleling the San Diego River
San Diego River
The San Diego River is a river in San Diego County, California. It originates in the Cuyamaca Mountains northwest of the town of Julian, then flows to the southwest until it reaches the El Capitan Reservoir, the largest reservoir in the river's watershed at . Below El Capitan Dam, the river runs...
, and terminates a few blocks from the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
.
Rosecrans Street is the north/south avenue that serves the bay side of Point Loma, while Sunset Cliffs Boulevard is the north/south avenue on the ocean side; the two streets run parallel to each other and to Catalina Boulevard on the crest of the hill. The former California State Route 209
California State Route 209
State Route 209 was a state highway in the U.S. state of California, connecting Point Loma with the interchange of I-5 and I-8 in San Diego.-Route description:...
followed Rosecrans and Catalina to the southern end of the Point. Sports Arena Boulevard, West Point Loma Boulevard, Harbor Drive and Nimitz Boulevard are other major traffic pipelines in Point Loma.
Most streets in the coastal sections, both bay and ocean, are laid out in a grid pattern, with the oceanside blocks larger than the bayside. The grid breaks down in the hilly center, particularly west of Chatsworth Boulevard and east of Catalina and Nimitz Boulevard, where streets have more loopy, curvy patterns. Some streets are broken into several disconnected sections by intervening canyons or hills.
Notable people
- Belle BenchleyBelle BenchleyBelle Jennings Benchley, known as “The Zoo Lady,” was the director of the San Diego Zoo from 1927 to 1953, guiding its expansion from a small collection of animals to an innovative, world-class zoo.-Personal:...
, 1882–1973, director of the San Diego Zoo for 25 years; for most of that time she was the only female zoo director in the world - Dennis ConnerDennis ConnerDennis Conner is an American yachtsman, noted for winning the bronze medal at the 1976 Olympics, two Star World Championships, and four wins in the America's Cup.-America's Cup:...
, 1942 - , yacht racer - Richard Henry Dana, Jr.Richard Henry Dana, Jr.Richard Henry Dana Jr. was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts, a descendant of an eminent colonial family who gained renown as the author of the American classic, the memoir Two Years Before the Mast...
, 1815–1882, author - Reuben H. FleetReuben H. FleetReuben Hollis Fleet was an American aviation pioneer, industrialist and army officer. Fleet founded and led several corporations, most notably Consolidated Aircraft.-Birth and early career:...
, 1887–1975, founder of ConvairConvairConvair was an American aircraft manufacturing company which later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Vultee Aircraft and Consolidated Aircraft, and went on to produce a number of pioneering aircraft, such as the Convair B-36 bomber, and the F-102... - Frankie LaineFrankie LaineFrankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
, 1913–2007, singer - Justin HalpernJustin HalpernJustin Samuel Halpern is the American author of the Twitter feed Shit My Dad Says and the best-selling book of the same name. He was also the co-writer and co-executive producer of a CBS television situation comedy series based on the book.-Life and career:Halpern grew up in the Point Loma...
, 1980 - , author of the best selling book Sh*t My Dad SaysShit My Dad SaysShit My Dad Says is a Twitter feed started by Justin Halpern, who, at the time, was a semi-employed comedy writer. It consists of quotes made by Halpern's father, Sam, regarding various subjects. Halpern started the account on August 3, 2009, soon after moving from Los Angeles back to his... - Maureen O'ConnorMaureen O'Connor (California politician)Maureen Frances O'Connor is an American Democratic politician from California.Maureen O'Connor was born 1946 in San Diego, California. She was one of 13 children; her parents were former local boxer, "Kid Jerome", and Frances Mary O'Connor...
, 1946- , first female Mayor of San Diego - Robert O. PetersonRobert O. PetersonRobert Oscar Peterson was an American businessman and philanthropist. As the founder of the Jack in the Box restaurant chain, he popularized the drive-through fast food restaurant concept...
, 1916–1994, founder of Jack in the Box fast food chain - Louis RoseLouis RoseLouis Rose was a pioneer developer of San Diego, California. The neighborhood of Roseville in Point Loma is named for him, as are Rose Creek and Rose Canyon.-History:...
, 1807–1888, early developer, founder of Roseville - T. Claude RyanT. Claude RyanTubal Claude Ryan was an Irish-American aviator born in Parsons, Kansas. Ryan was best known for founding some airlines and four airplane factories.-Business career:...
, 1898-1982, aviation pioneer, founder of Ryan Aeronautical - Albert SpaldingAlbert SpaldingAlbert Goodwill Spalding was a professional baseball player, manager and co-founder of A.G. Spalding sporting goods company.-Biography:...
, 1850-1915, founder of the A. G. Spalding sports equipment companySpalding (sports equipment)Spalding is a sporting goods company founded by Albert Spalding in Chicago, Illinois, in 1876 and now headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The company specializes in the production of balls for many sports, but is most-known for its basketballs... - Katherine TingleyKatherine TingleyKatherine Augusta Westcott Tingley was a social worker and prominent Theosophist. She was the founder of the Theosophical Society Pasadena. She founded and led the Theosophical community Lomaland in San Diego, California.Tingley grew up in Newbury, Massachusetts. She married Philo B. Tingley in...
, 1847–1929, Theosophist, founder of LomalandLomalandLomaland was a Theosophical commune located in Point Loma in San Diego), California from 1900 to 1942. Theosophical Society leader Katherine Tingley founded it in 1900 as a school, cultural center, and residential facility for her followers. The American headquarters of the Theosophical Society... - Joseph WambaughJoseph WambaughJoseph Aloysius Wambaugh, Jr. is a bestselling American writer known for his fictional and non-fictional accounts of police work in the United States...
, 1937- , author
External links
- Peninsulachamber.com - local Chamber of Commerce
- PointLomaBlueBook.com - Local Community Directory & Guide
- Naval Base Point Loma History
- Point Loma Neighborhood Guide