La Jolla

La Jolla is an affluent, hilly seaside community in San Diego County.  The highest home prices were reported in La Jolla in 2008 and 2009.  The average price of a standard size 4-bedroom home was reported in 2008 to be $1,842,000 and in 2009 to be $2,125,000.  La Jolla is 12 miles north of Downtown San Diego and 40 miles south of Orange County.  The average temperature is 70.5.  University of California at San Diego is located in La Jolla, as are Salk Institute, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Scripps Research Institute and the headquarters of National University.

The local Native Americans were called the Kumeyaay and they called the location mat kulaaxuuy or land of holes; which possibly referred to the sea level caves.  An alternative suggestion to the origin of the name that it is a corruption of the Spanish word "la joys", which means "the jewel."

During the Mexican period of San Diego history was pueblo land and contained about 80 lots.  When California became a state in 1850, La Jolla was incorporated as part of San Diego.  In 1870, Charles Dean acquired several of the pueblo lots and subdivided them into an area that became known as La Jolla Park.  Mr. Dean was not able to develop the land and left San Diego in 1881.  During the real estate boom of the 1880's, speculators, Frank Botsford and George Heald further developed the area.

In the 1890's, the San Diego, Pacific Beach and La Jolla Railway was built, with connected La Jolla to the rest of San Diego.  La Jolla became known as a resort area.  The railway attracted visitors to the beach and the railway built a bath house and a dance pavilion.  Visitors were housed in small cottages and bungalows above La Jolla Cove, as well as a temporary "tent city" erected every summer.  The Red Roost and the Red Rest; also known as the Neptune and Cove Tea Room were cottages built in 1894 and still exist and have been vacant since the 1980's.  The La Jolla Park Hotel opened in 1893.  the Hotel Cabrillo was built in 1908 by "Squire" James A. Wilson and later became the La Valencia Hotel.

In 1900, La Jolla had 100 buildings and 350 residents.  The first library was built in 1898.  A volunteer fire brigade was formed in 1907 and a regular fire house was built in 1914.

The Bishops's School opened in 1909.  La Jolla High School was established in 1922, and the La Jolla Beach and Yacht Club was built in 1927.