La Jolla is a neighborhood within the city of San Diego, so the answer is yes and no. When southern California was still part of Mexico, La Jolla was relatively empty and featured only a few pueblo lots. After California was ratified as a US state in 1850, the area was included as part of the chartered city of San Diego but remained fairly unpopulated for decades as settlers flocked to central San Diego. In fact, La Jolla had no permanent residents at all until 1879, when brothers Daniel and Samuel Sizer bought matching plots there. The Sizer brothers spent a grand total of $200 to purchase their twin 80-acre plots – those exact same plots are now worth about $2 million.
La Jolla finally began to grow into a proper community in the 1890s, after the railroad was extended to the area. These early residents were mostly artists, who created the unique artistic culture that still defines La Jolla to this day. It was around the same time that Ellen Browning Scripps settled in the neighborhood. Co-founder and part-owner of what was then the country’s largest newspaper company, Scripps was extremely wealthy and immediately began pouring money into the local community.
Today, there are countless buildings, streets, and institutions in San Diego that bear the Scripps name, including the world-famous Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, but her philanthropy was especially focused on La Jolla.
In the 20th century, La Jolla found new life as a seaside destination, drawing tourists from all over the West Coast. Several notable people moved to La Jolla after falling in love with its scenic beauty, including Dr. Seuss, hardboiled novelist Raymond Chandler, and Nobel Prize-winning scientist Francis Crick.
To make the most of your trip to La Jolla, check out our La Jolla Cove Self-Guided Driving Tour, or you can sign up for Action+ and gain access to over 100 tours for a single yearly price.
