Rosecrans is an important military post; Rockwell Field, across the bay, on North Island, is a training school and supply depot of the Army Air Corps ; and Camp Lawrence J. Hearn, 8 m. S.
at Imperial Beach, is a cavalry post. In addition to the aviation activities of the army and navy (in progress here since 1917), there are six commercial aviation projects of importance, manu facturing planes, motors and parachutes; conducting training schools; and operating passenger and freight services. At one of them Col. Lindbergh's "Spirit of St. Louis" was built in 1927. Forty-two world records in aviation have been established (to 1928) by the army and navy at San Diego; and it has been the scene of such feats as the taking of the first photographs from the air (i9i I), the first night flying, the first re-fueling in flight, and the first seaplane flight in the United States. San Diego was the first city in the United States to establish a municipal board of air control. The first transcontinental non-stop flight (by Kelly and Macready, in 1923) ended at San Diego; and from here Lind bergh started for his flight from New York to Paris in May, 1927.
San Diego bay was discovered in 1542 by the Portuguese navi gator Cabrillo, in the service of Spain, and was named in 1602 by the Spanish explorer Viscaino. At Old Town, in North San Diego, the first European settlement in Upper California was made in 1769. On July 16 Father Junipero Serra founded the mission of San Diego de Alcala (the first of the 21 Franciscan missions in the State) and a little later a military presidio was established. The mission was moved in 1774 to a site 8 m. from
the centre of the present city, where it still stands in fair preser vation. San Diego began the revolt against Governor Victoria in 1831, but in 1836 was intensely loyal to Mexican authority, in opposition to Governor Alvarado and the northern towns. It was made a port of entry in 1828, and in 1840 had a population of 140. In July, 1846, it was occupied by American forces under Gen. Fremont, who raised the first American flag to fly in California. In 185o it was incorporated as a city, but as it did not grow it lost its charter in 1852. In 1867 there were only a dozen inhabi tants. Then a promoter, A. E. Horton (d. 1909), laid out a new city 3 m. below the old site. By 1870 it had a population of 2,30o, and in that year the military reservation was established on Point Loma. In 1871 work started on the Santa Fe railroad; in 1872 the new city was incorporated; in 1874 it was made a port of entry. The boom was ended by the depression of 1873-76, but development was resumed when the railroad reached the city in 1884. By 1890 the population had grown to 16,159. In the follow ing decade the increase again was slight, but between 1900 and 1910 it amounted to 124%, between 1910 and 1920 to 89% and between 1920 and 1928 (according to local estimates) to i00%. In 1919 the San Diego and Arizona railway was completed, giv ing additional transcontinental connections. In the eight years 1920-27 new buildings for which permits were issued represented an aggregate value of $101,749,000; the traffic of the port in creased 74%, to 942,476 tons; and bank debits 8o%, to $740, 691,951.