Escondido

The Luiseño settled first, with campsites and villages along the creek that runs through the area. They called the place Mixéelum Pompáwvo and had another village to the north, Panakare. The Kumeyaay moved in from near the Colorado River and settled in the San Pasqual Valley and near the San Dieguito River, in what is now the southwestern and western parts of the city. Most of those villages and campsites have since been destroyed by development and agriculture.

Most of today's Escondido sits on the former Rancho Rincon del Diablo, or "Devil's Corner," a Mexican land grant given in 1843 to Juan Bautista Alvarado. The southern part lies on Rancho San Bernardo, granted in 1842 and 1845. In 1846 the Battle of San Pasqual was fought southeast of town, with Mexican forces under Andrés Pico against Americans under Stephen W. Kearny, Archibald Gillespie and Kit Carson. A park in Escondido bears Carson's name.

A judge named Oliver S. Witherby had a bigger idea. He wanted the rancho to be the capital of a new territory, carved out of California in the run-up to the Civil War, with a railroad running through nearby. The proposal passed the California legislature in 1853 but died in Congress. Witherby gave up on being a capitol owner and opened a mining operation instead.

Witherby sold the rancho in 1868 for $8,000 to Edward McGeary and the Wolfskill brothers, John, Josiah and Matthew. John Wolfskill ran sheep, horses and cattle, and fought often with the Couts family next door over grazing land and watering holes. In October 1883 a group of Los Angeles investors bought the rancho, and they sold to the newly formed Escondido Company in 1884. In 1886 the Escondido Land and Town Company bought the 12,814-acre area for approximately $100,000.

Escondido was incorporated as a city in 1888. The vote was 64 in favor and 12 against. The Santa Fe rail line was laid in the 1880s, and the opening of U.S. Route 395 in 1930 gave the economy another push.

Farming drove the early years. Growers started with muscat grapes. After a dam built in 1894 and 1895 created what is now Lake Wohlford, orange and lemon trees went in by the thousands, along with olives and walnuts. By the 1960s avocados were the biggest local crop. Since the 1970s most farmland has gone to housing, but the San Pasqual Valley still has vineyards, citrus orchards and avocado orchards.

Downtown centers on Grand Avenue, between Centre City Parkway and the site of the old Palomar Hospital. The city's plan defines the downtown area as roughly 460 acres, 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. It holds coffee shops, restaurants, galleries, bakeries, a comedy club and the historic Ritz Theater.

The Old Escondido Historic District lies just south, between Escondido Boulevard and Chestnut Street. It is mostly single-family houses in Victorian and Craftsman styles, a 5 to 10 minute walk from Grand Avenue.

Escondido Creek cuts through the city. It starts at the Lake Wohlford Dam in the northeast, passes through downtown, and leaves through the Harmony Grove area in the southwest on its way to San Elijo Lagoon. In the 1960s the creek was turned into a concrete flood control channel, and a bicycle path now runs along most of it.

The city is also split in character. The hilly edges to the north, southeast and southwest are wealthier and mostly non-Hispanic white, while the flat areas next to downtown are predominantly Hispanic.

Kit Carson Park covers 285 acres, with three ponds, sports fields, a disc golf course, an arboretum, and Queen Califia's Magical Circle. That last one is the final major international work of French artist Niki de Saint Phalle, who chose Escondido because it reminded her of Italy. Nearby, Grape Day Park sits behind City Hall and the performing arts complex. It is named for the annual grape day harvest, held on the first Saturday after Labor Day from 1908 to 1950.

Grape Day Park is also home to the Escondido History Center, which keeps the city's original Santa Fe Depot, its first library, a Victorian house, a barn and a blacksmith shop. The California Center for the Arts is one block off Grand Avenue and has two theaters, a visual arts museum, an educational complex and a conference center. The San Diego Children's Discovery Museum, across the street on North Broadway, serves kids up to 10. On Friday evenings from April to September, Cruisin' Grand fills seven blocks of Grand Avenue with vintage cars from before 1970.

The Escondido Arts Partnership, founded in 1995, runs the Second Saturday Art Walk. The San Diego Zoo Safari Park is nearby in the San Pasqual Valley, though it lies inside the city limits of San Diego, not Escondido.

The city has fifteen parks. The biggest outdoor draw is Daley Ranch, a 3,058-acre conservation area the city acquired in 1996. It has over 20 miles of trails for hiking, mountain biking and horses. The Boulder Loop Trail is 2.4 miles and looks out over the city, and the Ranch House Loop is 2.5 miles and passes two small ponds and the site of Daley's original log cabin. Deer, coyotes, bobcats, rabbits and hawks live there, and cougars show up occasionally.

Dixon Lake, in the north, supplies the city with fresh water. It allows fishing, with about 34 campsites and rowboats, motorboats and pedal boats for rent, but no swimming. The state stocks it with bass, bluegill, carp, catfish, crappie and trout, and the Trout Derby is held there every year. Lake Wohlford, in the northeast corner, has walking trails and fishing.

Other parks include Washington Park, with lighted ball fields, tennis and basketball courts and a 25-yard pool, and Frances Ryan Park, a 67-acre complex of soccer fields. Deer Park Monastery, a Buddhist sanctuary on 400 acres in the hills north of the city, is one of three monasteries in the United States under the direction of Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh.

About 64,000 civilian residents over 16 are employed. Of those, 15% work in education, health care and social services, 13% in retail, 13% in construction, 12% in professional, scientific, management and administrative services, 11% in arts, entertainment and food service, 11% in manufacturing, and 11% in other services.

Stone Brewing Co. moved its headquarters and brewery from San Marcos to a much larger site in the Quail Hills area in 2006. Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps is also based in the city. Palomar Medical Center, in west Escondido near the I-15/78 interchange, is the only designated trauma center in northern San Diego County. It opened in 2012 and replaced a hospital that had stood in central Escondido since 1950. The old downtown hospital building was demolished in 2022.

Shopping includes the certified downtown Farmers Market and the Escondido Swap Market, which has run for over 40 years. Westfield North County, an indoor mall on Via Rancho Parkway in the south of the city, opened in 1986 and has JCPenney, Macy's and Target.

Route 78 enters from the west as a freeway from Oceanside, ends at Broadway, then follows surface streets east into the San Pasqual Valley. Interstate 15 runs north to Temecula and south to San Diego. The nearest major airport is San Diego International, and the nearest general aviation airport is Palomar Airport in Carlsbad.

The Escondido Transit Center, at 700 W Valley Pkwy, is the hub for North County Transit District buses and connects to the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System and the Riverside Transit Agency. The Sprinter hybrid rail line runs 22 miles to Oceanside and opened in 2008, which made Escondido one of the first cities in the United States to run German-built Siemens Desiro trains. At Oceanside it connects to the Coaster, Orange County and Inland Empire-Orange County commuter lines and to Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner. BNSF Railway handles freight.

Most of the city is in the Escondido Union Elementary School District and the Escondido Union High School District. Some parts lie in the San Pasqual Union Elementary, San Marcos Unified, and Valley Center-Pauma Unified districts. The city has 19 elementary, seven middle and seven high schools. Escondido High School, Orange Glen High School, San Pasqual High School and Valley High School are among them.

Escondido Adult School was established in 1968 and teaches high school diploma and GED courses, English as a second language, and short medical training programs. Palomar College has an Escondido campus. Westminster Seminary California is in the city, and John Paul the Great Catholic University moved its main campus here in 2013. The Escondido Public Library has a main branch, the Pioneer Room, a computer center and a bookmobile.