Rancho Bernardo

Rancho Bernardo is part of the City of San Diego, but its location and distinctive ambiance set it apart almost like a city in its own right.  Located about a half hour from Lindbergh Field Airport, residents have easy access to downtown and other parts of the county.  RB, as it is often called, is planned community made up of individual neighborhoods and shopping areas.

The area was originally home to Indian bands who left behind their pictographs and the hollows they used to grind corn and acorns.  The trail they followed to the ocean coast is still visible.  Next came the conquistadors looking for riches and the padres who tended cattle and grapes in the valleys and hills. The original land grant was made by the King of Spain in 1789 as "La Canada de San Bernardo" for 17,763 acres of land.  The name probably derives from the St. Bernard of Clairvaux, the priest who led the Second Crusade.

Maps show the area as San Bernardo as early as 1800.  The first recorded owner was Capt. Joseph Sevenoaks, an English seafarer who settled in California and became Don Jose Francisco Snook.  Snook's rancho was the site of the Battle of San Pasqual and provided supplies for Gen. Kearny's troops.  Kearny's troops were ambushed by Pio Pico's troops as they retreated from the rancho towards San Diego .  The Americans were pinned down for three days and only rescued after Kit Carson, walked into San Diego for help.

The Butterfield Stage used the village of Bernardo as a stopping point and it was a favorite resting place for travelers going between San Diego and Escondido. Over the years the Rancho was associated with a number of prominent San Diegans--James McCoy, Col. Ed Fletcher, William Henshaw and Lawrence and Donald Daley. 

The Daley's formed Rancho Bernardo, Inc.in 1961 and several years later sold the land to AVCO Community Developers.  AVCO developed the planned community of today creating residential areas, light industry parks, shopping, green belts, clubs and golf courses.