North City is a neighborhood in
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
bordered by
Solana Beach
Solana Beach (''Solana'', Spanish for "warm wind") is a coastal city in San Diego County, California. Its population was at 12,941 at the 2020 U.S. Census, up from 12,867 at the 2010 Census.
History
The area was first settled by the San Dieg ...
and
Rancho Santa Fe
Rancho Santa Fe is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California, United States, within the San Diego metropolitan area. The population was 3,156 at the 2020 census. The CDP is primarily residential with a few shopping block ...
to the north,
Del Mar Heights to the west, and
Carmel Valley to the south.
I-5
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...
forms the western boundary.
The name is almost never used by local residents as the area is already included in either Rancho Santa Fe or Carmel Valley. The name is almost exclusively used by the San Diego Police Department for zoning.
History
Native American
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...
history within the area has been documented to 7,000 years ago, which was adjacent to a Kumeyaay village west of
El Camino Real near the
San Dieguito River
The San Dieguito River is a major river in Southern California, United States. Its headwaters rise on the southern slope of the Volcan Mountains in San Diego County and the river flows generally southwest for ,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hyd ...
in North City at the time of European contact with the Spanish known as ''Ahwel-Awa'' or ''‘aqwilawa,''
meaning "twine house".
The
Portolá expedition
thumbnail, 250px, Point of San Francisco Bay Discovery
The Portolá expedition ( es, Expedición de Portolá) was a Spanish voyage of exploration in 1769–1770 that was the first recorded European land entry and exploration of the interior of t ...
in 1769, described it as "a large village... and many well built houses with grass roofs". The village was referred to by various names by the Spanish such as Sellegua or Jellegua, and was given Christian names under
Spanish rule such as ''San Jacome De la Marca, La Poza de Ozuna'', or ''San Dieguito'' (name for the region).
Ahwel-Awa was the ancestral home of the Kwitlp clan of the Ipai-Kumeyaay people who spoke the Ipai dialect, and were one of the first Kumeyaay clans to convert to Catholicism in 1770's under the leadership of Jamacuain "Benito" Culip, who was the kwaapay (leader) of the clan.
Under Mexican administration, the Kumeyaay village was removed to be land granted to Mexican settlers. The village was previously planned to be converted into the San Dieguito pueblo as a village dedicated to the Kumeyaay by
Alta California
Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...
governor
Jose Figueroa
Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods.
* Jose ben Abin
* Jose ben Akabya
*Jose the Galile ...
, but never materialized after his assassination. This resulted in the relocation of the Kwitlp clan inland towards what is now the
Mesa Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Indian reservation, under the Quilp surname.
After the Mexican–American War, the area has been largely used for agricultural and equestrian uses, which was a large producer of strawberries.
In the 1993, the City of San Diego designated the area as "NCFUA Subarea-II" as part of the larger North City Future Urbanizing Area plan which also included what is now
Pacific Highlands Ranch,
Torrey Highlands, and
Black Mountain Ranch. The area has remained under 'Future Urbanizing' status due to the lack of development potential.
[North City Future Urbanizing Area Framework Plan. https://www.sandiego.gov/sites/default/files/legacy//planning/community/profiles/ncfua/pdf/nfcu_final_102314.pdf]
In the 2000s the strawberry farmlands were converted to preservation land with efforts for environmental restoration as part of the
San Dieguito River Park
San Dieguito River Park is a greenway of in San Diego County, California, United States. The park, established in 1989, stretches for from the mouth of the San Dieguito Lagoon (a lagoon between Solana Beach and Del Mar) to the Volcan Mountain ...
. Several homes and a couple of churches have been constructed since then.
References
{{Neighborhoods of San Diego
Neighborhoods in San Diego