City history
Tracing the journey from the ancestral lands of the Kumeyaay people to a premier maritime and naval center, San Diego's history is defined by exploration and transformation.
Chapter one
Indigenous name
"People of the land"
The Kumeyaay people have inhabited the coastal and mountain regions of San Diego for thousands of years, maintaining a distinct culture and complex social systems long before Spanish arrival.
Saint Didacus of Alcalá
The name was chosen by Father Junípero Serra to honor the Spanish saint.
Chapter two
With the expansion of the railroad, San Diego transitioned from local solar time to a standardized Pacific Time zone to facilitate synchronized transit and commercial scheduling across the West Coast.
The United States first implemented daylight saving time during the First World War to conserve energy, a practice that San Diego eventually adopted as a seasonal temporal standard.
Chapter three
The establishment of Mission San Diego de Alcalá by Spanish explorers marked the first permanent European settlement in California, fundamentally altering the region's social and political landscape.
Following the Mexican-American War, San Diego was integrated into the United States as part of the newly admitted state of California, shifting its governance and legal systems.
The 1915 Panama-California Exposition brought international attention to San Diego, introducing stunning Spanish Colonial Revival architecture that remains a central part of the city's cultural identity in Balboa Park.
The onset of World War II spurred an unprecedented expansion of the United States Navy in San Diego, transforming the city into one of the most significant military ports globally.