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() is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. As of the latest 2000 census the city had a population of 48,044. The ZIP code is 92064.
Poway is located at (32.969895, -117.038479). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 101.9 km² (39.3 mi²). 101.6 km² (39.2 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.25%) is water. The city is known in Diegueño as
Artifacts such as arrow heads, spear points, metates, grinding stones, and pottery found along the bed of Poway Creek all indicate an early Diegueño presence. Various pictographs adorn many of Poway's boulders, and modern techniques suggest that these paintings date back to the 1500s or earlier. Poway's contemporary history began in 1758, when padres from the Mission San Diego de Alcala kept cattle in the valley. The name "Paguay", one of many original spellings, appears on mission documents in 1774. The name, also written as Paguai, Paui, Pauai, Pauy, Powaii, and finally Poway, has incurred dispute as to its meaning. While one Native American linguist insists that it means "here, where the waters meet", the consensus has traditionally translated the word as "the two little valleys".
For approximately a century, Poway served as a stock range for the mission, until settlers began to come to the valley for farming purposes in the late antebellum period. Few records of this time have survived, and not until 1894 and the inception of the Poway Progress did the town's history become a thing of record. In 1887, about 800 people lived and farmed in Poway. Around the turn of the century Poway farmers had moderate success in the production and vending of fruit, grain, and dairy products. Expansion, however, failed to follow agricultural success. Though the farmers prospered, the town existed in a static state for decades, varying only slightly in population, demographics, crop selection, and the like.
Poway has a creek and fertile soil, but the lack of easily available water prevented the settlement from attracting large-scale farmers and the accompanying population growth. Not until 1954 did the town establish the Poway Municipal Water District, which utilizes water from the Colorado River Aqueduct to irrigate all of Poway's 10,000 acres (40 km²). When water came to the town, people did as well. In 1957, following the sewer system's completion, developers built housing tracts, and modern Poway grew from there. In 1980 Poway incorporated and officially became the City of Poway (nicknamed "the City in the Country") rather than a part of San Diego. Poway no longer depends on agriculture for its primary source of income, and has instead transitioned into a residential community for those who work for employers in and around the San Diego area. According to a recent state government estimate, the population of Poway has grown since that last census to 50,542.