Adapted from United States Naval Air Stations of World War II and United States Marine Corps Air

Stations of World War II by M.L. Shettle, Jr.; Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar by

globalsecurity.com; and Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, by MCAS Miramar Public Affairs,

all from the MCAS Miramar website.

 

Over 150 years ago, there was an enormous ranchero owned by Don Santiago Anguello, the former Mexican Army commandante of San Diego’s presidio. In 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico and eventually annexed the territories of California and New Mexico. Edward Scripps, a wealthy newspaper publisher, arrived in San Diego in 1890, seeking to escape the pressures of life on the East Coast. He is credited with naming the mesa Miramar, which loosely translated from Spanish means “an area from which there is a view of the sea from every vantage point.” Scripps established a 2,000-acre ranch. The land later was purchased by the Jessop family. In the vicinity, a post office, general store and one-room schoolhouse served the Miramar settlement of cowboys and ranchers.