The La Playa Trail was a historic bayside trail in

San Diego 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 List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, connecting the settled inland areas to the commercial anchorage at Old La Playa on San Diego Bay. (La Playa means "the beach" in Spanish.) The La Playa Trail has been recognized as the oldest commercial trail in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

. The trail was used during the

Pre-Hispanic In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

(Native American),

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, Mexican and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

periods of San Diego history. Much of the length of the original trail corresponds to the current Rosecrans Street in the San Diego neighborhood of

Point Loma Point Loma (Spanish: ''Punta de la Loma'', meaning "Hill Point"; Kumeyaay: ''Amat Kunyily'', meaning "Black Earth") is a seaside community within the city of San Diego, California. Geographically it is a hilly peninsula that is bordered on the w ...

(originally called ''La Punta de la Loma de San Diego'' meaning Hill Point of San Diego, later partially anglicized to Point Loma). There are eight registered National Historic Districts and 70 identified historic sites along the trail, according to the La Playa Trail Association, which was formed in 2005 to recognize the historic nature of the trail and to honor the many different peoples who traveled along it. The trail was already established by the time the

settlers arrived in 1769; the first inhabitants of the area, including the Kumeyaay tribe, used it to access the beaches of San Diego Bay. It was improved and extended during the Spanish colonization of the region, reaching

Old Town San Diego Old Town is a neighborhood of San Diego, California. It contains and is bounded by Interstate 8 in California, Interstate 8 on the north, Interstate 5 in California, Interstate 5 on the west, Mission Hills, San Diego, Mission Hills on the east ...

and

Mission San Diego de Alcalá Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá ( es, Misión San Diego de Alcalá) was the second Franciscan founded mission in The Californias (after San Fernando de Velicata), a province of New Spain. Located in present-day San Diego, California, it ...

Mission Valley Mission Valley is a wide river valley trending east–west in San Diego, California, United States, through which the San Diego River flows to the Pacific Ocean. For planning purposes the city of San Diego divides it into two neighborhoods: Miss ...

by the 1770s.Hoover, Mildred Brooke. Douglas Kyle, rev
Historic Spots in California
5th ed. 2002. p. 339. Cargo which had been unloaded by ship at Ballast Point in Old La Playa was transported along the trail several miles inland to Old Town. The La Playa Trail remained the primary transportation route for imports and exports from the time of San Diego's establishment in 1769 until the development of a better port in the 1860s at what is now Downtown San Diego. After most port activities moved to the downtown location, the southern portion of the trail retained its commercial character and became known as Rosecrans Boulevard (now Rosecrans Street). In 1934, six commemorative terra cotta plaques were placed along the length of the trail by the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and other groups, based on a relief designed by sculptor Rose M. Hanks. The original six were located at

Mission San Diego de Alcala Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

; at the foot of Presidio Hill in

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

; near the intersection of Rosecrans St. and Midway Blvd. in the Midway area; at the corner of Rosecrans and Lytton streets in

Loma Portal Loma Portal (from Latin ''porta'' "gate") is a neighborhood in the community of Point Loma in San Diego, California. It is a hilly area northwest of Rosecrans Street and northeast of Nimitz Boulevard, overlooking San Diego Bay. Features Loma Port ...

, across from the Naval Training Center San Diego golf course; at the corner of Rosecrans and Byron streets in Roseville; and at the site of the fuel depot at

Naval Base Point Loma Naval Base Point Loma (NBPL) is located in Point Loma, a neighborhood of San Diego, California. It was established on 1 October 1998 when Navy facilities in the Point Loma area of San Diego were consolidated under Commander, Navy Region Southwe ...

. By the early 2000s, only four plaques survived. The marker in the Roseville area, which was dedicated in 1934 but then lost when the street was widened, was recreated and rededicated in 2010. The marker in the Midway area, formerly on the center median of Rosecrans Street near Midway Drive, was refurbished in 2005 and relocated to a more accessible sidewalk location in 2010. A portion of the trail (as Rosecrans Boulevard) was expanded into a four-lane

divided highway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

in 1940.Scott, Byron N
"Old La Playa Trail Becomes Modern 4-Lane Divided Highway"
California Highways and Public Works. Vol. 18, no.7. July 1940. p. 10. Rosecrans was identified as part of

California State Route 209 State Route 209 (SR 209) was a state highway in the U.S. state of California, connecting Cabrillo National Monument with the interchange of Interstate 5 (I-5) and I-8 in San Diego, passing through the neighborhoods of Point Loma. The major ...

from 1964 to 2003. The southern terminus of the trail is now located within

References

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External links

Website of the La Playa Trail Association
Historic trails and roads in California History of San Diego Point Loma, San Diego Roads in San Diego County, California