Will C. Crawford Alumni Association & Foundation
Point Loma
Please enjoy these photographs of early Point Loma.
A BRIEF HISTORY:
Loma is the Spanish word for hill. The original name of the peninsula was La Punta de la Loma de San Diego, translated as Hill Point of San Diego. This was later anglicized to Point Loma. Point Loma is historically important as the landing place of the first European expedition to come ashore in present-day California. The peninsula has been described as "where California began". Today, Point Loma houses two major military bases, a national cemetery, a national monument, and a university, in addition to residential and commercial areas.
There were no permanent indigenous settlements on Point Loma because of a lack of fresh water. Kumeyaay people did visit Ocean Beach periodically to harvest mussels, clams, abalone and lobsters. Point Loma was discovered by Europeans on September 28,1542 when Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (João Rodrigues Cabrilho in Portuguese) departed from Mexico and led an expedition for the Spanish crown to explore the west coast of what is now the United States. Cabrillo described San Diego Bay as “a very good enclosed port.” Historians believe he docked his flagship on Point Loma’s east shore, probably at Ballast Point.
Links:
|
