The Rose Creek Watershed is rich in both prehistoric and historic archaeological resources. Similar to the ecological zones that exist from the bay to the foothills, the prehistoric cultural record is also divided into zones. In an area with limited rainfall and seasonal creeks and streams, more permanent villages and camp sites are located near water. Culturally, there was also a trend over time for prehistoric people to establish larger, more permanent village sites near the coast and near stable water sources. These patterns are seen in the watershed. The large, Late Prehistoric village of La Rinconada de Jamo, observed by the Spanish in 1769, is located at the mouth of Rose Canyon, as it enters the bay. Moving up the watershed, smaller Archaic and Late Prehistoric camps are found within Rose Canyon, on the banks and terraces; it is likely that sites have been buried by sediments over time, and that many are deep beneath the existing ground surface. These camps were probably established to take advantage of the seasonal availability of plant and animal resources.    As the watershed becomes more arid farther into the foothills, camp site locations are scarce, and prehistoric use of the area was focused on stone tool raw material procurement, tool manufacturing, and plant processing, and hunting. This type of settlement pattern was an adaptation to the natural resources and environment of San Diego.

Historically, the watershed has been the location of travel and settlement. The Spanish traveled up Rose Canyon from the Presidio in 1769 as a route from San Diego to Monterey. Later, the railroad was built up the canyon as part of San Diego’s dream of development and growth. Pieces of the railroad trestle are still visible in Rose canyon; the Rose Canyon Recreation Council is working to preserve the historic structure.

Ranchers took advantage of the grasses and vegetation noted by the Spanish, and the rich mineral resources were used to make many of the bricks that built modern San Diego. These themes – travel, ranching and construction – are characteristic of San Diego’s historic settlement and growth.

Much of the following text on the development of San Diego comes from A Historical Chronology of the Development of the Land in San Diego County, California from 1542 to 2002 by Eugene F. Cook of the San Diego Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

In 1850, entrepreneur Louis Rose came to San Diego from Texas. He invested heavily in the La Playa area of Point Loma, with the expectation that the transcontinental railroad would terminate at the historic ship anchorage behind Ballast Point. The name Rose lives on in Roseville (Point Loma) and in Rose Canyon where he established a tannery.

In 1887, a large part of the La Jolla land area was bought by Frank Terrill Botsford and Gerald W. Heald. They subdivided it and schedule a public auction of the lots; homes began to be constructed soon thereafter. In 1894, the San Diego, Old Town and Pacific Beach Railway was extended to the La Jolla Park Hotel. The La Jolla Beach and Yacht Club at La Jolla Shores opened in the summer of 1927. There were land booms and busts, but La Jolla continued to grow from 350 in 1900 to over 30,000 today.

In 1943, now Marine Corps Air Station Miramar on Kearny Mesa had been acquired from the Army Air Corps by the Navy. In 1943 it was put into service for use by the Marines as an air supply and logistics center. By 1945 it had two 6000 foot runways and a 3000 foot runway. During the 1940s, both the Navy and the Marine Corps occupied Miramar. After World War II, all military facilities were combined and the base was re-designated Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. This lasted just 13 months, however, when the Marines moved to El Toro in 1947. Miramar was then re-designated a Naval Auxiliary Air Station. On Oct. 1, 1997, Miramar once again became a Marine Corps Air Station as the Marines landed back home after a 50-year absence. Additional information about the history of Miramar can be found in an historical overview of MCAS Miramar prepared as Appendix A of the base’s Integrated Cultural Resources Management Plan. ( Click here to download Historical Overview, Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, San Diego, California as a 9.7MB PDF file.)

Post-World War II also saw the beginnings of the suburban development of Clairemont, Highway 52 and later University City and the University of California San Diego (UCSD). Construction of the community of Clairemont was started in 1951 by Louis Burgener, a real estate broker, and Carlos Tavares, a civil engineer and contractor, who ran Concrete Ship Contractors during WWII. The development of Clairemont began with 400 homes. In 1953, the federal government awarded the Burgener-Tavares firm 5,700 government housing units and gave them one year to construct the units. The units were needed due to the Korean war; they were all to be built in Clairemont community. Construction of Clairemont was started at the south end of Morena Mesa and then extended north to San Clemente Canyon by 1956.

University City was subdivided in June 1960. The owner was the University City Corporation, consisting of Carlos Tavares, Irwin J. Kahn, C.W. Carlstrom and Lou Lessor. The first lots, the models and an elementary school site were located west of Regents Road at Pennant Way, Soderbloom Ave, Stresmann Street and Honors Drive. The 2500 acres had been acquired in 1959 from the Sawday cattle ranching operation. University City was a master planned community built to serve the needs of the then newly developing University of California campus.

Additional Resources

• The University City Community Association (UCCA) has compiled a collection of old photos and maps from the early days of the community in this photo gallery.
• For additional information about the history of Rose Canyon, the San Diego Archaeological Center curated an exhibit on Rose Canyon, which they have graciously made available for your review by clicking this link (1.6MB PDF file).