Pala Mesa is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the f ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, United States. The community is at the junction of

Interstate 15 Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexican border in San Diego County and stretches north to Alberta, Cana ...

and

California State Route 76 State Route 76 (SR 76) is a state highway long in the U.S. state of California. It is a much used east–west route in the North County region of San Diego County that begins in Oceanside near Interstate 5 (I-5) and continues east. Th ...

, south of

Temecula Temecula (; es, Temécula, ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 census and was incorporated on December 1, 1989. The city is a ...

. It sits adjacent to the town of Fallbrook.

History

Pala Mesa was founded in 1955 as a development for ranch sites ranging from . It was advertised in association with nearby Fallbrook. Construction on the Pala Mesa Golf Course, which sits in the northwestern corner of the Pala Mesa area adjacent to the former

U.S. Route 395 U.S. Route 395 (US 395) is a U.S. Route in the western United States. The southern terminus of the route is in the Mojave Desert at Interstate 15 near Hesperia. The northern terminus is at the Canada–US border near Laurier, where the road ...

and the current

, began construction in March 1961. The course opened in 1963. Pala Mesa Village, a neighborhood of smaller homes near the I-15 and SR-76 interchange, was approved for construction in July 1963. The County Planning Commission attempted to block the construction of the neighborhood because some of the lots were smaller than , the minimum size for a lot per the local ordinance. The

San Diego County Board of Supervisors The San Diego County Board of Supervisors is the legislative branch of the county government of San Diego County, California. Though officially nonpartisan, three Democrats and two Republicans currently comprise the Board of Supervisors, with ...

rejected the notion. The developers began selling homes in the community in October 1965 and the

adobe brick A mudbrick or mud-brick is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE, though since 4000 BCE, bricks have also bee ...

homes were advertised as "America's first adobe community." In July 1964, professional golfer

Shirley Englehorn Shirley Ruth Englehorn (December 12, 1940 – October 2, 2022) was an American professional golfer. Nicknamed "Dimples", she won 11 tournaments during her LPGA Tour career, including one major, the 1970 LPGA Championship. Early life and amateu ...

golfed at the Pala Mesa Golf Course and set a new record for the course with a four-under-par. The course became the home of the

Palomar College Palomar College is a public community college in San Diego County, California. The main campus is in San Marcos and three centers and four education sites are located elsewhere throughout north San Diego County. The largest of these by student ...

men's golf team in 1965.

References

{{Authority control Unincorporated communities in California Unincorporated communities in San Diego County, California