La Mesa’s early growth was shaped by rail—but not in the way the term “trolley suburb” might suggest.
Unlike neighborhoods closer to downtown San Diego, La Mesa was never served by electric streetcar lines from the San Diego Electric Railway. While that system transformed communities such as Hillcrest, North Park, and Kensington into classic streetcar suburbs, La Mesa followed a different path—one rooted in steam railroads and later, bus transportation.
La Mesa’s earliest rail connection came through the San Diego, Cuyamaca and Eastern Railway, which began passenger service in the summer of 1889. This was a standard-gauge steam railroad—not an electric line—and it later became part of the San Diego and Arizona Railway in 1917, another venture tied to John D. Spreckels, according to La Mesa historian Jim Newland.
That rail line did more than move passengers—it helped determine where La Mesa itself would take shape. The original settlement, known as Allison Springs, was located near what is now 70th Street and El Cajon Boulevard, where a school opened in 1891. But with the arrival of the railroad depot and post office farther east, the townsite shifted. By 1894, the area around the depot became known as La Mesa Springs, anchoring the community in the location it occupies today, he said.
Although electric streetcars never reached La Mesa, they were often proposed. Between roughly 1905 and the 1920s, the San Diego Electric Railway made multiple announcements expressing interest in extending its lines east from neighborhoods such as University Heights and Encanto toward La Mesa and El Cajon. These გეგმ appeared in maps and newspaper reports of the era—but none were ever built.
Instead, La Mesa’s transportation network evolved differently. In addition to steam rail service, early gasoline-powered rail motor cars began operating around 1908 along the existing railroad line. These vehicles, while more modern than steam trains, were not streetcars and did not run on urban trolley systems.
By the early 20th century, La Mesa was already beginning its transition from a rural outpost into a suburban community. That shift accelerated after 1906, as development increased and new forms of transportation emerged. Even by 1908, local auto bus companies had begun operating in the area, supplementing the limited passenger rail service and offering more flexible travel options.
The San Diego Electric Railway would eventually play a role in La Mesa transit—but not through rail. In 1926, the company applied for permission to extend service eastward using motor buses rather than streetcars. The following year, regulators approved the plan, and by the fall of 1927, SDER buses were running between downtown San Diego, La Mesa, and El Cajon along El Cajon Boulevard, then part of U.S. Route 80.
Those buses proved to be a turning point. In 1928, passenger service on the San Diego and Arizona Railway’s eastern line ended, influenced in part by the growing efficiency and lower cost of bus transportation. By the mid-1920s, the shift away from rail toward automobiles and buses was already well underway across Southern California.
Infrastructure improvements reinforced that transition. El Cajon Boulevard was fully paved to La Mesa by the mid-1920s, and in 1926, University Avenue was extended and improved eastward, further linking the community to San Diego by road. Increasing automobile ownership also reshaped how residents moved through the region, Newland said.
Freight service along the old railroad line continued for a time, finally ending in 1951. Decades later, the corridor found new life. Around 1979, the right-of-way was acquired for modern transit development, and in May 1989, light rail service—today’s San Diego Trolley—finally reached La Mesa.
The distinction matters. La Mesa did grow with the help of rail access, but it was not a traditional streetcar suburb. Its development was influenced first by steam railroads, then by early motorized transit, and eventually by the automobile era.
Only much later did electric rail return—this time in a modern form—bringing trolleys to La Mesa for the first time in its history.
This story was recently updated.
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Sources:
San Diego History Center Archives — streetcar era photography and regional transportation history.
San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) — historical overview of San Diego streetcar and trolley development.
Jim Newland, La Mesa Historical Society; historian
San Diego Union-Tribune archives — historical reporting on streetcar expansion, suburban growth, and system decline (1900s–1940s)
Secondary transportation history research on the San Diego Electric Railway (1892–1949) and interurban rail development in Southern California.
