El Cajon

History

During Spanish rule (1769–1821), the government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English word ranch is derived. Land grants were made to the Roman Catholic Church, which set up numerous missions throughout the region. In the early 19th century, mission padres' search for pastureland led them to the El Cajon Valley. Surrounding foothills served as a barrier to straying cattle and a watershed to gather the sparse rainfall. For years, the pasturelands of El Cajon supported the cattle herds of the mission and its native Indian converts. Titles to plots of land were not granted to individuals until the Mexican era (1821–1846). The original intent of the 1834 secularization legislation was to have church property divided among the former mission Indians, but most of the grants were actually made to rich "Californios" of Spanish background who had long been casting envious eyes on the vast holdings of the Roman Catholic missions. In 1845, California Governor Pio Pico confiscated the lands of Mission San Diego de Alcala. He granted 11 square leagues (about ) of the El Cajon Valley to Dona Maria Antonio Estudillo, daughter of José Antonio Estudillo, alcalde of San Diego, to repay a $500 government obligation. The grant was originally called Rancho Santa Monica and encompassed present-day El Cajon, Bostonia, Santee, Lakeside, Flinn Springs, and the eastern part of La Mesa. It also contained the Rancho Cañada de los Coches grant. Maria Estudillo was the wife of Don Miguel Pedrorena (1808–1850), a native of Madrid, Spain, who had come to California from Peru in 1838 to operate a trading business. With the cession of California to the United States after the Mexican–American War,…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. It is bordered by San Diego and La Mesa on the west, Spring Valley on the south, Santee on the north, and unincorporated San Diego County on the east. It includes the neighborhoods of Fletcher Hills, Bostonia, and Rancho San Diego. Under the Köppen climate classification, El Cajon straddles areas of Mediterranean climate (Csa), hot semi-arid climate (BSh) and cool semi-arid climate (BSk). As a result, it is often described as "arid Mediterranean" and "semiarid steppe". Like most inland areas in Southern California, the climate varies dramatically within a short distance, known as microclimate. El Cajon's climate has greater extremes compared to coastal San Diego. The farther east from the coast, the more arid the climate gets, until one reaches the mountains, where precipitation increases due to orographic uplift. Temperature variations between night and day tend to be moderate with an average difference of during the summer, and an average difference of during the winter. The annual average precipitation at El Cajon is . Rainfall is fairly evenly distributed throughout the winter, but rare in summer. The wettest month of the year is February with an average rainfall of . The record high temperature was on September 5, 2020, and the record low on January 8, 1913. The wettest "rain year" was from July 1940 to June 1941 with and the driest from July 1988 to June 1989 with . The most rainfall in one month was in January 1993, and the most in 24 hours on January 27, 1916. A rare snowfall in November 1992 totalled . of snow covered the ground in January 1882.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  53,677
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  49,806
• Anna's Hummingbird

  Calypte anna (R.Lesson, 1829) · Aves
  48,424
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  43,104
• Black Phoebe

  Sayornis nigricans (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  41,844
• California Towhee

  Melozone crissalis (Vigors, 1839) · Aves
  40,082
• Lesser Goldfinch

  Spinus psaltria (Say, 1822) · Aves
  39,765
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  34,397

Largest nearby schools

• Henry High
  High · San Diego · 2,607 students · 27.2:1 ratio
• Helix High
  High · La Mesa · 2,502 students · 24.3:1 ratio
• Granite Hills High
  High · El Cajon · 2,398 students · 24.7:1 ratio
• Hoover High
  High · San Diego · 2,265 students · 23.1:1 ratio
• Grossmont High
  High · La Mesa · 2,175 students · 24.4:1 ratio
• Steele Canyon High
  High · Spring Valley · 2,168 students · 25.5:1 ratio
• Literacy First Charter
  Other · El Cajon · 1,972 students · 21.4:1 ratio
• Valhalla High
  High · El Cajon · 1,911 students · 24.5:1 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 2.91 — 2026-08-31
  22 km SSW of La Quinta, CA
• M 3.06 — 2026-08-25
  12 km WSW of Salton City, CA
• M 3.64 — 2026-08-19
  14 km N of Warner Springs, CA
• M 2.63 — 2026-08-13
  28 km SSW of Ocotillo Wells, CA