Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
LA VALENCIA HOTEL
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When the Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovered Alta California in 1542, he landed
in San Diego Bay. Thinking he had found a new tract of land in the Pacific Ocean, maps were
marked to indicate that Alta California was an island. Other expeditions on behalf of the king of
Spain extended their knowledge of the new territory, but they did not attempt to exploit the land
until 1768 when the Russians were discovered to be seal hunting off the coast.
To settle the land in the name of the king of Spain, and to convert the Native Americans already
living there, the government of New Spain (modern-day Mexico) was directed to establish missions
and pueblos along the coast. The Franciscans were selected to lead these expeditions and they built
the Mission San Diego de Alcalá in 1769.
As the birthplace of Christianity in the Far West, this would be the first church in the state.
The mission would eventually anchor El Camino Real—a series of twenty-one missions built over
a period of 54 years, stretching to Sonoma, north of San Francisco.
Several square miles of surrounding land were incorporated into the Mission San Diego de Al-
calá, to be used for ranching and agricultural support of the Mission. This did not include La Jolla,
as there was very little water available there at the time. Once California became a state in 1850,
La Jolla was incorporated into the city of San Diego, although it remained a barren area for several
more years.
In 1869, Daniel and Samuel Sizer each bought 80 acres in La Jolla from the city for $1.25 an
acre, but failed to develop their new property. Frank Botsford arrived in 1886, also purchased land,
but went on to develop it with his partner, George Heald, from the Heald family in Healdsburg.
Lots were subdivided and resold at a considerable profit. Today, each acre would sell for well over
a million times more than its original price of $1.25.
La Jolla, which means “the jewel” in Spanish, grew with the influx of settlers following the
Gold Rush up north. The arrival of the railroad in the 1890s produced a land boom, which continues
to this day, interrupted only by the Great Depression. Ellen Browning Scripps, heiress to the news-
paper empire, arrived in 1896. She would be known for funding an ocean research center, later to
be named after her family. It is now part of the University of California at San Diego.
In December 1926, MacArthur Gorton and Roy Wiltsie opened the La Valencia Apartment-
Hotel, overlooking La Jolla Cove. Just two years later, they expanded the property by adding more
rooms, a lounge, an outside balcony, and its distinctive tower.
