Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Encinitas

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
C+History
History · Encinitas

Encinitas’ post office opened in 1887, and 3 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 41% of U.S. towns · #214 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of Encinitas was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Its Register listings are the Olivenhain Town Meeting Hall, the Encinitas Boathouses and the Bumann Ranch. Below: maps from 1893 on and the census since 1960.

1887first post office
3on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
19famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Encinitas began

When was Encinitas founded?

1887

The Encinitas post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1986. Four smaller post offices, San Dieguito (1874), Encinitos (1882) and Olivehain (1887), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 2,786 in 19602020 census: 62,007139 years

How historic is Encinitas?

C+

More historic than 41% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Encinitas post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1986.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Encinitas’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Encinitas is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #214 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Encinitas’ overall grade.
Founding era1887, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.6% of homes (±0.5) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register3 listings, 13 historic buildings, 2.1 per 10,000 residents · typical CA town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 41%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 75%

Few California towns list much on the Register (a typical California town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Encinitas’ 2.1 sits above most of its state (81% of California towns have fewer) while its 13 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1986.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Encinitas’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Encinitas, and 7 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Encinitas are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18936 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1997. Watch Encinitas change.Famous sons and daughtersChase Budinger, Dr Disrespect and 17 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Encinitas had its own post office from 1887 to 1964. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

San Dieguito
1874–1886
Encinitos
1882–1887
Encinitas
1887–1964
Olivehain
1887–1909
Leucadia
1888–1964
Cardiff-By-The-Sea
1912–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cardiff-by-the-SeaGreen Valley Mobile EstatesLeucadiaOlivenhainPark Encinitas Trailer ParkRiviera Mobile Home ParkSea Aire Mobile Home Park
1cemetery inside Encinitas
Olivenhain

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Encinitas’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Encinitas’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Encinitas on the map, 1893 to 1997

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Encinitas. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Encinitas on the 1893 USGS mapEncinitas on the 1901 USGS mapEncinitas on the 1948 USGS mapEncinitas on the 1968 USGS mapEncinitas on the 1975 USGS mapEncinitas on the 1997 USGS map1893Oceanside sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Encinitas.

The story

How Encinitas came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Encinitas.

Read it all →

Gaspar de Portolá, governor of Baja California, met the indigenous Kumeyaay people when he visited the area in 1769 on the Portolá expedition and he met residents from the nearby Kumeyaay village of Jeyal (or Heyal), near the San Elijo Lagoon. Portolá named the valley Los Encinos for the oak forest along El Camino Real, where there was also a village that was likely known as Hakutl in New Encinitas.

After Mexican Independence, land was granted to Andrés Ybarra in 1842 to build Rancho Las Encinitas in what is now Olivenhain and New Encinitas, from which Encinitas got its namesake. Encinitas is a Spanish name meaning "little oaks".

The town of Old Encinitas was formed in 1881 by Jabez Pitcher.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Encinitas, 1874 to 1995

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Post officeThe San Dieguito post office opens
  3. 1882Post officeThe Encinitos post office opens
  4. 1886Post officeThe San Dieguito post office closes
  5. 1887Post officeThe Encinitos post office closes
  6. 1887Post officeThe Encinitas post office opens
  7. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 20th century
  9. 1964Post officeThe Encinitas post office closes
  10. 1982Born hereDr Disrespect is born here
  11. 1988Born hereChase Budinger is born here
  12. 1992Born hereRyn Weaver is born here
  13. 1995Born hereSerayah McNeill is born here
By decade

Encinitas, decade by decade

Today11 recent
Aerial view of California Coast, looking east by NE, toward Carlsbad and2026Aerial view of California Coast, looking east by NE, …Aerial view of California Coast, looking east by NE around the northern part of2026Aerial view of California Coast, looking east by NE a…Aerial view of California Coast, looking east by NE around south Encinitas and Solana Beach2026Aerial view of California Coast, looking east by NE a…Aerial view of California Coast, looking east by NE - Carlsbad and Encinitas, centered near Batiquitos Lagoon2026Aerial view of California Coast, looking east by NE -…Aerial view of California Coast, looking NE around Solana Beach2026Aerial view of California Coast, looking NE around So…Aerial view of California Coast, looking NE around Encinitas and Solana Beach2026Aerial view of California Coast, looking NE around En…D Street beach access2015D Street beach accessEncinitas Boathouses2013Encinitas BoathousesEncinitas Montage2011Encinitas MontageEncinitas I2010Encinitas IBoathouses2007Boathouses
On the National Register

3 historic places in Encinitas

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
13
each building in a district counts
first listed
1993
Olivenhain Town Meeting Hall
Olivenhain Town Meeting HallEncinitas BoathousesBumann Ranch
Buildings
Olivenhain Town Meeting HallBuilding
Encinitas BoathousesBuilding
Bumann RanchBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Encinitas, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,00060,00065,000196019802000202062,007

Grew from 2,786 people in 1960 to 62,007 in 2020, more than tenfold.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Encinitas’ Wikipedia page.

Famous people

19 famous people were born in Encinitas

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Chase BudingerAmerican basketball and beach volleyball player · b. 1988
Dr DisrespectAmerican live streamer · b. 1982
Serayah McNeillAmerican singer and actress · b. 1995
Ryn WeaverAmerican singer · b. 1992
E
Erik SullivanAmerican volleyball player · b. 1972
John FairchildAmerican basketball player · b. 1943
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Carlsbad2 historic placesC+Solana BeachIts storyD−San MarcosIts storyD

Questions about Encinitas’ history

What year was Encinitas founded?

The Encinitas post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1986.

How does Encinitas rank for history?

Encinitas is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #214 of 847 in California. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Encinitas?

Three places: the Olivenhain Town Meeting Hall (listed 1993), the Encinitas Boathouses (2019) and the Bumann Ranch (2020).

How old are the homes in Encinitas?

2% of Encinitas’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1980.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (11), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.