Del Mar

History

In 1880, the California Southern Railroad was formed to connect San Diego to the national rail network and Del Mar was along the planned route. It was first settled in 1882 by Theodore M. Loop, a railroad official from New York, and his wife Ella. Loop thought the area was "the most attractive place on the entire coast". Ella gave the site its name, inspired by Bayard Taylor's poem "The Fight of Paso del Mar". Instead of moving on when the railroad was completed, Loop decided he wanted to stay. In 1885, Loop met Colonel Jacob Taylor and proposed building a town together. Taylor was a prosperous rancher that had come to the region with his family. He had bought Rancho Santa Maria de Los Peñasquitos and intended to stay there. On seeing the beauty and development potential of the Del Mar area, he changed his plans. He purchased of land from Enoch Talbert, with visions of building a seaside resort for the rich and famous. He installed the first telephone line between Del Mar and Peñasquitos so he could manage his ranch while living on the coast and developing his resort. By 1888, there was a village of about 25 homes with what is now 10th Street as its main corridor. The city built the first dedicated school for the surrounding sparsely populated area, ending the practice of students being taught in barns. The town's development suffered a major setback when Taylor's hotel "Casa del Mar" burned to the ground due to a kitchen fire the following year. Flooding in Southern California had damaged roads, bridges, and railroad tracks causing widespread devastation and leaving Del Mar isolated. San Diego's population fell in half from its 1887 peak by 1890. Despite Taylor's initial pledge to rebuild, he was not only unable to complete the project, he lost his ranch…

Geography

Del Mar is one of only two locations where the Torrey pine tree naturally occurs. The Torrey pine is the rarest pine in the United States; only two populations of this endangered species exist, in Del Mar and on Santa Rosa Island. The Soledad Valley at the south of Del Mar severs two colony segments. At the southern edge of Del Mar is the Los Peñasquitos Lagoon. To the north is the San Dieguito Lagoon and the San Dieguito River, which empties into the Pacific Ocean at Del Mar. The bluffs along Del Mar's south beach are subject to collapse. Properties on the bluffs are subject to the impacts of climate change, such as sea level rise and coastal erosion. The transportation infrastructure is under threat. The city has a climate change adaptation plan which excludes the option of a managed retreat, the strategy that was recommended by the California Coastal Commission in 2019. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which of it is land and of it (3.08%) is water. Del Mar's climate is considered mediterranean-subtropical with warm, dry summers and mild, humid winters. Temperatures exceed only on a few occasions throughout the year and rarely drop below . The average yearly temperature in Del Mar is approximately . Del Mar regularly receives heavy marine layer clouds due to its position between two lagoons and bordered to the west by the Pacific Ocean.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  54,142
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  50,556
• Anna's Hummingbird

  Calypte anna (R.Lesson, 1829) · Aves
  47,170
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  46,047
• Black Phoebe

  Sayornis nigricans (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  44,509
• California Towhee

  Melozone crissalis (Vigors, 1839) · Aves
  42,310
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  39,965
• Lesser Goldfinch

  Spinus psaltria (Say, 1822) · Aves
  38,127

Largest nearby schools

• Torrey Pines High
  High · San Diego · 2,614 students · 25.6:1 ratio
• Del Norte High
  High · San Diego · 2,531 students · 26.6:1 ratio
• Canyon Crest Academy
  High · San Diego · 2,336 students · 27.5:1 ratio
• Westview High
  High · San Diego · 2,257 students · 25.1:1 ratio
• Mira Mesa High
  High · San Diego · 2,219 students · 25.2:1 ratio
• San Dieguito HS Academy
  High · Encinitas · 2,089 students · 25.5:1 ratio
• Scripps Ranch High
  High · San Diego · 1,984 students · 28.3:1 ratio
• Mt. Carmel High
  High · San Diego · 1,865 students · 23.3:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.08 — 2026-10-01
  20 km ESE of Anza, CA
• M 2.63 — 2026-09-23
  9 km WNW of Anza, CA
• M 3.31 — 2026-09-12
  26 km ESE of Avalon, CA
• M 2.95 — 2026-09-12
  26 km ESE of Avalon, CA
• M 2.54 — 2026-09-12
  26 km ESE of Avalon, CA
• M 2.91 — 2026-08-31
  22 km SSW of La Quinta, CA