La Mesa nicknamed, “the jewel of the hills,” resides in central San Diego.
The area we know as La Mesa today was originally founded by the spanish and was included in the Mission San Diego de Alcala back in the late 18th century.
However, the introduction of the railroad into San Diego set off land cultivation in the east.
After several purchases of the almost 4,000 acres, the owner of “Lookout Ranch” took the land and started to develop streets and farms which he named La Mesa Colony on the maps.
After thriving for some time in the late 1800’s with it’s successful citrus cultivation of the La Mesa Lemon Company Store, it officially became known as the city of La Mesa in 1869.
