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) is a city located in San Diego North County, California, just north of the city of San Diego. The name means "hidden" in Spanish—it occupies a shallow valley ringed by rocky hills. Founded in 1888, it is one of the oldest cities in San Diego County. The city has a mild climate, a diverse economy and an estimated population of 128,819. The city is known as '
in Diegueño. A nationwide study in 2005 ranked Escondido #11 out of 25 of the most conservative cities in America.
Escondido was originally settled by Native American tribes. Spain controlled the land from the late 1700s to the early 1800s, and established many missions in California to convert the indigenous people. When Mexico gained its independence from Spain, the local land was divided into large "ranchos." The land that would become Escondido was
, a land grant that was given to Juan Bautista Alvarado in 1843 by the Mexican governor.
In 1846, war broke out between the United States and Mexico, and a key battle was fought in the area just south of Escondido. Known as the Battle of San Pasqual, it pitted Mexican Andrés Pico (the brother of then California governor Pío Pico) against Americans Kearny, Gillespie, and Kit Carson. A large park in Escondido is named for Carson.
The city was home to a large Spanish-speaking population in the first census back in 1850, but after the US won the war, non-Hispanic settlers came to Southern California in increasing numbers. The decade of the 1880s is known as the "Southern California Land Boom" because so many people were moving to the state. In 1886 a group of investors called the Escondido Land & Town Company purchased the area. Two years later in 1888 Escondido was incorporated as a city - the vote was 64 in favor of cityhood with 12 votes against. Railroads like the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific were laid in the 1880s, and the opening of U.S. Route 395 in 1930 boosted economic growth in Escondido.
Escondido was primarily an agricultural community, growing muscat grapes initially. After a dam was built in 1894-5 to form what is known today as Lake Wohlford, oranges and lemons were planted in large quantity, as well as a number of olives and walnuts. By the 1960s avocados became the largest local crop. Since the 1970s, Escondido has lost most of its agricultural landscape to new housing developments.
From 1963–1968, the San Diego Chargers, then of the now-defunct AFL, held training camp in Escondido.
Through the 20th century the community grew and the economy diversified. Today the community has approximately 140,000 residents, and an economy based on agriculture, tourism, retail, services, light industry, and high tech. Escondido no longer has a large lower-middle-class population as it once had: most of this socioeconomic group had to move elsewhere when housing prices soared and older neighborhoods were bulldozed or renovated. Escondido has a high real estate appraisal rating, a phenomenon in North San Diego County since the population began to rise steadily in the 1970s.