Pala is a small, mostly Native American community and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

located within the Pala Indian Reservation in

San Diego County, California San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county (United States), county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its Mexico-United States border, border with Mexico. As of the 2020 United States Cen ...

. For centuries a traditional gathering place of native peoples. The

Mission San Antonio de Pala The San Antonio de Pala Asistencia, or the Pala Mission, was founded on June 13, 1816, as an Asistencias, asistencia or "sub-mission" to Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, some twenty miles inland upstream from the latter mission on the San Luis Re ...

or Pala Mission was established in Pala by early 19th century as an asistencia or sub-missio

The community is north of Escondido, California, Escondido in the San Diego-Carlsbad metro area. In the National Geographic Names database, it is officially catalogued as feature number 1661174. The community is in ZIP Code 92059, and inside

area code 760 Area codes 760 and 442 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the U.S. state of California. These area codes serve an overlay complex that comprises much of the southeastern and southernmost portions of Califor ...

. The communities name may be derived from the Native American

Cupeño The Cupeño (or Kuupangaxwichem) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe of Southern California. They traditionally lived about inland and north of the modern day Mexico–United States border in the Peninsular Rang ...

Luiseño The Luiseño or Payómkawichum are an Indigenous people of California who, at the time of the first contacts with the Spanish in the 16th century, inhabited the coastal area of southern California, ranging from the present-day southern part of ...

language term ''pale'', meaning "water." Another possible origin of the name is the Spanish word ''pala'', which means "shovel." The community is in the Pacific time zone. Pala is at an altitude of 404 feet, located at (latitude 33.365N, longitude 117.075W).

Mineral resources

After United States annexation of California following its victory in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

, Pala became known for its mineral resources, including

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and

tourmaline Tourmaline ( ) is a crystalline silicate mineral, silicate mineral group in which boron is chemical compound, compounded with chemical element, elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium. This gemstone comes in a ...

. Numerous gem mines were established in 1890s, of which more than twenty are listed in the Mindat database. Gem mines in the Pala District still produce

, with the pink variety as the regional specialty. China's

Empress Dowager Cixi Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908) was a Manchu noblewoman of the Yehe Nara clan who effectively but periodically controlled the Chinese government in the late Qing dynasty as empress dowager and regent for almost 50 ...

(1860-1908) was said to have valued the pink tourmaline of Pala to be used for carving buttons and other fashion accessories which fueled a boom for pink tourmaline lasting from about 1901–1911. Local Pala area miner and gem cutter Fred Rynerson noted the best years for San Diego Tourmaline Mining Company were from 1903 to 1910, and the China trade customers were only interested in pink tourmaline

cabochon A cabochon (; ) is a gemstone that has been shaped and polished, as opposed to faceted. The resulting form is usually a convex (rounded) obverse with a flat reverse. Cabochon was the default method of preparing gemstones before gemstone cuttin ...

material suitable for shaping vice gem quality for faceting. The first discovery of Morganite has been attributed to both Pala and as Madagascar. Morganite also termed rose beryl was named by Dr. George F. Kunz at a meeting in December 1910 at the New York Academy of Sciences and put on display at American Museum of Natural History. Dr. Kunz appeared to be in possession of samples from both Madagascar and California at time of naming with the sample displayed coming from Madagascar. In contemporary accounts Dr. Kunz states Morganite was “principally found off Madagascar” implying that in 1910 it was known to exist in more than one place. In 1902 the purple-colored gemstone

kunzite Spodumene is a pyroxene mineral consisting of lithium aluminium Silicate minerals#Inosilicates, inosilicate, lithium, Lialuminum, Al(silicon, Sioxygen, O3)2, and is a commercially important source of lithium. It occurs as colorless to yellowish, ...

discovered near Pala by Dr. George F. Kunz and by 1903 was named in his honor while being displayed at Tiffany and Co. and American Museum of Natural History, New York. Dr. Kunz's 1932 obituary describes him as “Americas greatest expert on gems” The 1915 San Diego

Panama–California Exposition The Panama–California Exposition was a World's fair, world exposition held in San Diego, California, between January 1, 1915, and January 1, 1917. The exposition celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal, and was meant to tout San Diego as t ...

featured a reproduction of the Pala Chief Mine termed “The Gem Mine”. In order to match the original mine, there were timbers and red pay streak mud brought from Pala Mountain to San Diego's Balboa Park where it was used in a display of tunnels with replicated gem pockets of tourmaline, beryl, and kunzite as found at the Pala Chief mine.

Demographics

Pala first appeared as a

census designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in the 2020 U.S. Census.

2020 Census

Attractions

* Mission San Antonio De Pal

* Pala Casino Spa and Resor

* Fox Racewa

� * Wilderness Gardens County Preserv

� * Pala Shooting Range

* Oceanview Min

References

Unincorporated communities in San Diego County, California Unincorporated communities in California {{SanDiegoCountyCA-geo-stub

Mineral resources

Demographics

2020 Census

Attractions

See also

References