Del Mar is a beach town in San Diego County, California, located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Take a look below for 15 fun and awesome facts about Del Mar, California, United States.
1. Established in 1885 as a seaside resort, the city incorporated in 1959.
2. The Del Mar Horse Races are hosted on the Del Mar racetrack every summer.
3. In 1885, Colonel Jacob Taylor purchased 338 acres (1.37 km2) from Enoch Talbert, with visions of building a seaside resort for the rich and famous.
4. The United States Navy operated a Naval Auxiliary Air Facility for blimps at Del Mar during World War II.
5. The population was estimated at 4,347 in 2018, up from 4,161 at the 2010 census.
6. The town has a wealthy population along the coast and the bluffs above the ocean.
7. However, these properties are very vulnerable to climate change caused sea level rise and subsequent coastal erosion.
8. Already transportation infrastructure has been under threat.
9. The city has a Climate change adaptation plan that notably doesn’t have any managed retreat strategy even though it was recommended by the state California Coastal Commission in 2019.
10. Del Mar was first settled in the early 1880s by Theodore M. Loop, a railroad official, and his wife Ella.
11. Ella gave the site its name, inspired by Bayard Taylor’s poem “The Fight of Paso del Mar”.
12. In 1885, Del Mar was officially founded after another settler, “Colonel” Jacob Taylor, purchased the land from homesteader Enoch Talbert.
13. Del Mar is one of only two locations where the Torrey Pine tree naturally occurs. The Torrey Pine is the rarest pine in the United States; only two populations of this endangered species exist, in Del Mar and on Santa Rosa Island.
14. The Soledad Valley at the south of Del Mar severs two colony segments.
15. At the southern edge of Del Mar is the Los Peñasquitos Lagoon. To the north is the San Dieguito Lagoon and the San Dieguito River, which empties into the Pacific Ocean at Del Mar. The bluffs along Del Mar’s south beach are subject to collapse.
