Escondido Community

About the Community of Escondido

Escondido is a city located in San Diego County’s North County region, 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Downtown San Diego, California. The city occupies a shallow valley ringed by rocky hills. Incorporated in 1888, it is one of the oldest cities in San Diego County. The city had a population of 143,911 at the 2010 census. Its municipal government set itself an operating budget limit of $426,289,048 for the fiscal year 2010-2011.[6] The city is known as Eskondiid in Diegueño.

United States

The city was home to a largely Spanish-speaking population in the first census, taken in 1850 when California became a state. After statehood, non-Hispanic settlers came to Southern California in increasing numbers. The decade of the 1880s is known as the “Southern California Land Boom” because so many people moved to the state.

In 1853, pro-Southern Copperheads proposed dividing the state of California to create a new Territory of Colorado (at this time the territory that would become the state of Colorado was named “Jefferson”). San Diego Judge Oliver S. Witherby suggested placing the capitol of the new territory in Rancho Rincon del Diablo. He envisioned a railroad connecting San Diego to Fort Yuma through an area about two miles (3 km) south of the current Escondido site, heading east through San Pasqual. With a series of deeds in 1855 and 1856, the rancho was transferred from the heirs of Juan Bautista Alvarado to Witherby. He planned to profit from the town that he believed would be established from the dividing point on the railroad below the eastern hills. The proposal for splitting the state and creating the new territory passed in the California legislature, but died in Congress in the run-up to the Civil War. It was effectively killed in 1861 when Congress organized the Territory of Colorado in the area previously occupied by the Jefferson Territory. With Witherby’s vision of owning a bustling state capitol unrealized, he set up a mining operation on the rancho instead.

In 1868, Witherby sold the rancho for $8000 to Edward McGeary and John, Josiah, and Matthew Wolfskill. McGeary owned half the rancho, while the three Wolfskill brothers each owned an equal share of the other half. John Wolfskill farmed sheep, horses, and cattle on the rancho for a number of years. Wolfskill had frequent conflicts with the Couts family, owners of the neighboring Guajome, Buena Vista, and San Marcos ranchos, over grazing lands and watering holes.

In October 1883, a group of Los Angeles investors purchased Rancho Rincon del Diablo. This group sold the land to the newly formed Escondido Company in 1884. On December 18, 1885, investors incorporated the Escondido Land and Town Company, and in 1886 this company purchased the 12,814-acre (52 km2) area for approximately $100,000. Two years later, in 1888, Escondido was incorporated as a city; the vote was 64 in favor of cityhood with 12 votes against. Railroads such as the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific were laid in the 1880s. The opening of U.S. Route 395 in 1930 boosted economic growth in Escondido.

Escondido was primarily an agricultural community, growing muscat grapes initially. After a dam was built in 1894-5 to form what is known today as Lake Wohlford, orange and lemon trees were planted in large numbers, as were olive and walnut trees. By the 1960s, avocados became the largest local crop. Since the 1970s, Escondido has lost most of its agricultural land to housing developments.

Geography

Escondido is located at 33°7’29” North, 117°4’51” West (33.124794, -117.080850).[13]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 37.0 square miles (96 km2). 36.8 square miles (95 km2) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.52 km2) of it is water. The total area is 0.48% water.

The city is growing at a rapid rate with new communities like Hidden Trails appearing at the east end of East Valley Parkway. The city proper is surrounded by several sparsely populated unincorporated communities. These include Jesmond Dene and Hidden Meadows to the north; Felicita Park to the southwest; and Rincon Del Diablo to the southeast. Residents of these communities have Escondido mailing addresses and zip codes, and their children are sometimes assigned to Escondido schools, but residents of these communities cannot participate in city elections.[citation needed]

The city contains several neighborhoods including:

• Downtown Escondido centers around Grand Avenue between Centre City Parkway and Palomar Hospital. The city’s general plan defines the Downtown Specific Plan Area as approximately 460 acres (1.9 km2) bounded by Centre City Parkway on the west, Hickory and Ivy Streets on the east, Washington Avenue on the north, and Fifth Avenue on the south, with an additional narrow section extending west along Valley Parkway to Interstate 15.
• Old Escondido is bounded by Escondido Boulevard on the west, Chestnut Street on the east, Fifth Avenue on the north, and Thirteenth Avenue on the south. This area is made up of mostly single-family residential housing.

The Escondido Creek bisects the city. It originates at the Lake Wohlford Dam in the northeast, passes through downtown and leaves the city through the Harmony Grove area in the southwest before eventually emptying into the San Elijo Lagoon. The creek path through the city was developed into a concrete flood control channel in the 1960s. A Class I bicycle path runs along most of the channel’s length.

The community of Valley Center is located just north of Escondido. Valley View Casino, owned by the San Pasqual Band of Diegueno Mission Indians, is located in Valley Center.

Natural vegetation types in the Escondido area include chaparral brushland, oak woodland, riparian (stream) woodland, and grassland. The Daley Ranch Preserve north of the city provides a good location to view these natural vegetation types.

All information about Escondido courtesy of Wikipedia.

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