Untitled Document
City History Facts
1900 - 1929
- 1900 - City of San Diego population reaches 17,700.
- 1903 - Marine Biological Association of San Diego formed. Later becomes the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
- 1910 - City of San Diego population reaches 39,578.
- 1911 - Glenn Hammond Curtiss makes world's first successful seaplane flight from waters off Spanish Bight.
- 1912 - Navy establishes a base on North Island with three airplanes and three fliers.
- 1913 - Broadway Pier constructed with a $1.7 million bond issued by the City.
- 1915 - The Panama California Exposition opens in Balboa Park. Santa Fe Depot opens, replacing the earlier Grand Union Depot. Balboa Stadium opens with a capacity of 23,000, making it the largest municipal stadium in the nation at the time.
- 1916 - Unusually heavy rains cause severe flooding in San Diego, washing out all but two of the City's 112 bridges and breaking the Lower Otay Dam. Plans begin for the San Diego Zoo when federal officials quarantine animals imported for the Panama California Exposition and don't allow them to leave.
- 1919 - U.S. Navy makes San Diego Bay home base for the Pacific Fleet. San Diego & Arizona Railroad completed after 13 years of labor and $17 million, providing San Diego a direct link with the East.
- 1920 - City of San Diego population reaches 74,361.
- 1923 - Marine Corps Recruit Depot opens and Naval Training Center commissioned.
- 1925 - Mission Beach Amusement Center (now Belmont Park) opens.
- 1927 - Charles Lindbergh departs from Rockwell Field, North Island, in the Spirit of St. Louis, a custom M 1 monoplane built in San Diego by Ryan Airlines. Lindbergh completes his historic solo nonstop flight from New York to Paris May 20-21.
- 1928 - Lindbergh Field, San Diego's municipal airport, dedicated.
- 1929 - Presidio Park opens through the generosity of businessman and philanthropist George W. Marston.
1930 - 1969
- 1930 - City of San Diego population reaches 147,995.
- 1932 - Reuben H. Fleet moves Consolidated Aircraft from Buffalo, N.Y.
- 1935 - California Pacific International Exposition opens in Balboa Park.
- 1936 - Minor league Hollywood Stars baseball team moves to San Diego to become the San Diego Padres.
- 1937 - First transcontinental flight from San Diego to New York City made in a seaplane.
- 1939 - Naval Air Station, Miramar develops on the site of Camp Kearny.
- 1940 - City of San Diego population reaches 203,341.
- 1945 - San Diego voters approve $2 million bond issue to begin development of Mission Bay. First phase of park opens four years later.
- 1947 - San Diego Aqueduct opens, bringing first Colorado River water to San Diego.
- 1950 - City of San Diego population reaches 333,865.
- 1951 - First Jack in the Box restaurant opens at 63rd Street and El Cajon Boulevard.
- 1952 - San Diego College for Women founded; eventually merges with the College for Men in 1972 and becomes the University of San Diego.
- 1960 - City of San Diego population reaches 573,224.
- 1961 - American Football League Chargers move from Los Angeles to San Diego.
- 1962 - San Diego Port District formed by state to manage San Diego Harbor, operate Lindbergh Field, and administer public lands along San Diego Bay.
- 1963 - Jonas Salk establishes the Jonas Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego.
- 1964 - University of California, San Diego opens 1,000 acre campus. City Administration Building opens downtown at Community Concourse. Sea World opens in Mission Bay Park.
- 1966 - San Diego Sports Arena completed.
- 1967 - $27 million San Diego Stadium opens in Mission Valley.
- 1969 - San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge opens, replacing ferry service across San Diego Bay.
1970-2004
- 1970 - San Diego becomes California's second largest city with a population of 696,474. 6,000-acre La Jolla Underwater Park dedicated.
- 1973 - Point Loma College established; later renamed Point Loma Nazarene University.
- 1975 - Redevelopment plans launched for downtown San Diego.
- 1980 - City of San Diego population reaches 875,538. The San Diego Trolley, first line in the City's new light rail transit system, dedicated. It begins service in 1981. Dennis Conner brings the America's Cup to San Diego, winning the cup in 1980, 1987 and 1988.
- 1984 - Padres win National League Pennant; first World Series games first played in San Diego.
- 1986 - The San Diego Supercomputer Center opens at the University of California, San Diego, providing the national research community with access to the highest performance computers available.
- 1988 - San Diego hosts its first Super Bowl in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.
- 1989 - San Diego Convention Center opens.
- 1990 - City of San Diego population reaches 1,110,549.
- 1996 - San Diego hosts Republican National Convention, first national political convention in San Diego.
- 1997 - Naval Training Center on Point Loma closes to all active military use as part of federal Base Closure and Realignment Act. Former base to be redeveloped for public and private uses.
- 1998 - Padres win National League Pennant; second World Series played in San Diego. Super Bowl also held in (renamed) Qualcomm Stadium
- 2000 - City of San Diego population reaches 1,223,400.
- 2001 - Expansion of Convention Center opens, doubling the size of the facility.
- 2004 - PETCO Park opens, bringing professional baseball back to downtown.
The City of San Diego's strong economy, diverse population, great educational institutions, unsurpassed quality of life, and world-renowned location make it the ideal place to do business, to work, and to live. Because of its highly-educated workforce and mix of high-tech industry and recreational assets, a marketing consortium of high-tech industries has dubbed San Diego "Technology's Perfect Climate."
With its great weather, miles of sandy beaches, and major attractions, San Diego is known worldwide as one of the best tourist destinations. San Diego is also a location for cutting-edge businesses for telecommunications, biotechnology, software, electronics, and other major industries. Here's why San Diego is a great place to live and work:
- San Diego is more than just a beautiful city with ideal weather. San Diego is a great place to do business.
- No other American city can boast a better location than San Diego's place on the Pacific Ocean and the international border with Mexico.
- The City's 1.25 million residents make it the seventh largest city in the country and the second largest in California. Yet San Diego has a comfortable, small town atmosphere.
- The median age of San Diego's young dynamic population is 32, with two-thirds less than age 35 and only 10 percent over 65.
- Nearly one-third of San Diego's talented workforce over the age of 25 has at least a bachelor's degree.
- More than 96 percent of San Diegans are employed, and the median family income approaches $40,000.
- The top industries in San Diego are manufacturing, defense, tourism and agriculture.
- Telecommunications, software and biotech are among San Diego's fastest growing industries, and San Diego has become the nation's center for wireless industries with the city being dubbed "Telecom Valley."
Learn more about this city
City of SAN DIEGO, CA official site
City of SAN DIEGO, CA chamber of commerce
City of SAN DIEGO, CA general information
City of SAN DIEGO, CA yellow pages
City of SAN DIEGO, CA newspaper
County of SAN DIEGO, CA official site
State of California official site