La Jolla. La Jolla is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, occupying 7 miles of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature of 70.5 °F. La Jolla is surrounded on three sides by ocean bluffs and beaches and is located 12 miles north of downtown San Diego and 45 miles south of the Orange County line. The neighborhood's border starts at Pacific Beach to the south and extends along the Pacific Ocean shoreline north to include Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve ending at Del Mar, California. La Jolla is home to many educational institutions and a variety of businesses in the areas of lodging, dining, shopping, software, finance, real estate, bioengineering, medical practice and scientific research. The University of California, San Diego is located in La Jolla, as are the Salk Institute, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Scripps Research. Origin of the name La Jolla, 1908 Local Native Americans, the Kumeyaay, called this location, lit. The topographic feature that gave rise to the name holes is uncertain; it probably refers to sea-level caves located on the north-facing bluffs, which are visible from La Jolla Shores. It is suggested that the Kumeyaay name for the area was transcribed by the Spanish settlers as. Another suggestion for the origin of the name is that it is an alternative spelling of the Spanish phrase, which means. Despite being disputed by scholars, this derivation of the name has been widely cited in popular culture. This supposed origin gave rise to the nickname The Jewel. The name may also come from the Spanish, meaning a geographic hollow. Different spelling conventions over the years would permit this to be written as La Jolla. Early history See also: List of San Diego Historical Landmarks in La Jolla Red Roost and Red Rest, two bungalow cottages built in 1894 on the road above La Jolla Cove. In recent years the cottages have been covered in tarpaulins. The side view of Red Roost, a bungalow cottage built in 1894, one of two that still exist on the road above La Jolla Cove During the Mexican period of San Diego's history, La Jolla was mapped as pueblo land and contained about 60 lots. When California became a state in 1850, the La Jolla area was incorporated as part of the chartered City of San Diego. In 1870, Charles Dean acquired several of the pueblo lots and subdivided them into an area that became known as La Jolla Park. Dean was unable to develop the land and left San Diego in 1881. A real estate boom in the 1880s led speculators Frank T. Botsford and George W. Heald to further develop the sparsely settled area. In the 1890s, the San Diego, Pacific Beach, and La Jolla Railway was built, connecting La Jolla to the rest of San Diego. La Jolla became known as a resort area. To attract visitors to the beach, the railway built facilities such as a bath house and a dance pavilion. Visitors were housed in small cottages and bungalows above La Jolla Cove, as well as a temporary tent city erected every summer. Two of the cottages that were built in 1894, the Red Roost and the Red Rest, also known as the Neptune and Cove Tea Room, still exist and are the oldest buildings in La Jolla that are still on their original site. The two cottages have been vacant since the 1980s, boarded up and covered in tarpaulins while their fate was debated. In November 2020 the Red Rest was largely destroyed by fire. The La Jolla Park Hotel opened in 1893. The Hotel Cabrillo was built in 1908 by Squire James A. Wilson and was later incorporated into the La Valencia Hotel. By 1900, La Jolla comprised 100 buildings and 350 residents. The first reading room was built in 1898. A volunteer fire brigade was organized in 1907; the city of San Diego established a regular fire house in 1914. Livery stable owner Nathan Rannells served successively as La Jolla's volunteer fire captain, first police officer, and first postmaster. La Jolla Elementary School began educating local children in 1896. The Bishop's School opened in 1909. La Jolla High School was established in 1922. Between 1951 and 1963, other elementary schools were established in the area to ease overcrowding. The La Jolla Beach and Yacht Club was built in 1927.