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La Mesa
Once property of the Mission San Diego de Alcala, early development began in La Mesa in the 1890s with the railroad and the construction flume, which brought water to the mountains. Five- and ten-acre lemon ranches were established around the new townsite of La Mesa Springs. By 1923 the population had increased to 1600, the area transformed from a rural agricultural one to a thriving residential community.
Recent growth has been concentrated in North La Mesa -- the Baltimore Drive/Lake Murray region. This resulted in construction of apartments, condominiums, townhouses, and shopping centers, the largest of which is Grossmont Shopping Center, completed in 1961 and recently renovated. An industrial park flourishes in Alvarado Canyon -- in earlier days called "Hobo Junction."
During the Spanish and Mexican days, a cross on a California hill meant people of good will lived nearby. As La Mesa continues to meet the needs of its community, residents take heart from the sturdy white cross atop Mt. Helix as it glitters in the golden twilight.
El Cajon
Two names keynote the early development of El Cajon -- the Big Box Valley and the Corners. El Cajon's growth is linked to its onetime role as the agrarian heartland and communcations center of San Diego County.
This modern commercial municipality's origins are vague; a school for six children was built in 1870 at Park and Magnolia, indicating a permanent homestead, and scattered homes of adobe construction date back to the mid 19th Century. For the next 70 years, Nox's Corner was the nucleus of El Cajon's business district. By the turn of the century, Main Street, astride Magnolia, boasted two hotels, a general store, meat market, post office, pharmacy, harness shop, and assorted offices.
El Cajon followed the typical growth pattern of small-town America. By 1940 the population had more than doubled, but in the years following World War II, it skyrocketed. By 1949, the needs of a growing metropolitan area -- pop. 5600 -- made a council government necessary. The incorporated area was to increase five-fold by 1960 to 9.8 square miles; the population six-fold to 37,618. Rapid growth put a strain on El Cajon's municipal services -- police, fire, parks and rec, and public works. But in the next two decades, El Cajon caught up. It has weathered its rapid growth from the '50s through the '70s, and now boasts a 21st-century goal: a balanced economy and a government that offers full municipal services.
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