When people think of Del Mar history, Bing Crosby and the Del Mar Racetrack are often the first things that come to mind.
But decades before Hollywood celebrities arrived and racing fans filled the grandstand, two men saw the potential of a quiet stretch of coastline and helped shape the beginnings of one of San Diego County’s best-known seaside communities.
Del Mar’s early history is closely tied to Theodore M. Loop and Colonel Jacob Shell Taylor, whose visions transformed an undeveloped coastal area into a planned seaside town.
Loop came to the area in the early 1880s as the contractor and engineer for the California Southern Railroad. After acquiring acreage near Los Peñasquitos Creek, he described the setting as “the most attractive place on the entire coast.”
Loop established a tent city on the beach, and the community became known as Del Mar.
In 1882, Loop met Colonel Jacob Shell Taylor, who had moved with his family to Rancho Peñasquitos. Loop encouraged Taylor to build a town on the coastal mesa, and Taylor was captivated by the location.
In the summer of 1885, Taylor purchased 338.11 acres from homesteader Enoch Talbert and began developing the Del Mar townsite.
Taylor envisioned Del Mar as an elegant seaside resort. He laid out streets, built homes and promoted the new community while overseeing construction of its centerpiece, Casa del Mar, near present-day 10th Street.
The resort was served by the nearby railroad depot and also featured a dance pavilion and a saltwater bathing pool extending into the ocean, making it one of Southern California’s most ambitious coastal developments of its era.
Del Mar’s promising beginning was interrupted in 1889 when Casa del Mar was destroyed by fire. Combined with economic hardships affecting California, the loss of the resort caused development to stall, and Del Mar remained relatively quiet until the early 1900s.
Del Mar’s fortunes began to change again in the early 1900s, when the South Coast Land Co. acquired Taylor’s holdings and renewed development. The company hired noted Los Angeles architect John C. Austin to design the Stratford Inn, which opened in 1910 at the northwest corner of 15th Street and Grand Avenue, now Camino del Mar.
The Tudor Revival-style hotel quickly became the social center of the growing village. In later years, many historical photographs identified the building as the Hotel Del Mar, explaining the different names found in archival collections.
Del Mar gained a new identity in 1937 when Bing Crosby and his partners opened the Del Mar Racetrack, creating a lasting connection between the community and thoroughbred racing.
Yet the foundation for the village had already been established decades earlier through the vision of Loop and Taylor.
Today, visitors know Del Mar for its beaches, racetrack and oceanfront charm, but the community’s story began in the 1880s with two pioneers who recognized the extraordinary promise of an undeveloped stretch of California coastline.
Del Mar Historical Society – Old Del Mar
Del Mar Historical Society – Remember the Railroad
Del Mar Foundation – History of Del Mar
San Diego History Center Photo Archives
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