Rancho Santa Fe Community history

Osuna worked his way up the military ranks and in 1834 the Mexican period San Diego held its first election.

After Victoria’s overthrow, Juan Maria Osuna received permission from Governor Jose M. Echeandia to occupy the land and he took possession of it in 1836 for a future family home and ranch.

By 1875, only a small portion of the land remained in the possession of the Osuna family.

To learn more about the history of Encinitas, visit the City of Encinitas website. It was built in 1883 and was operated by the Encinitas Union School District, which had formed one year earlier.

The first school in Rancho Santa Fe was a wood-framed structure built in 1905 by Ferdinand Coehn, Theodore Fidero, and their neighbors in the northeast section.

The last parcel under their ownership, 116 acres, was sold in 1906.

Ivy Fidero Laughter was the first graduate in 1924.

The Aliso Canyon School was officially renamed the Rancho Santa Fe School, and the Rancho Santa Fe School District was formed in 1927.

In 1928 the Rancho Santa Fe Covenant was recorded, which formed the Rancho Santa Fe Association and Art Jury, which was meant to ensure the orderly development and retention of the ranch’s character after the Santa Fe planned their exit.

A larger schoolhouse was constructed in 1931 to accommodate the growing student population (35-40) in Rancho Santa Fe.

The first new fire truck, a 1948 Mack 750 gallon-per-minute pumper, was purchased and remained in service until the early ‘70s.

By the mid-1950’s school enrollment ballooned to 110 necessitating the purchase of a third and final school site on La Granada between El Fuego and Avenida de Acacias.

In 1951 Commissioners Janinet and Richard Pharr traveled to San Diego to sign for a loan of $19,000, which was used to construct what was known as the village fire station and to renovate the Fire Chief’s quarters.

Approximately one acre of land was sold to the Fire District by Santa Fe Irrigation District in 1953.

In 1956, the three-member Board of Directors hired a new fire chief, one who had recently arrived from his native England.

In the 1960’s, Rancho Santa Fe Board of Directors agreed to a mutual contract to share the Fire Chief’s position with the Solana Beach Fire Protection District.

In 1970, to further aid in quicker response times, the first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system in Southern California was brought on line in Rancho Santa Fe, preceding all others by more than ten years!

Chief Pavone began his career 1975 as a volunteer with the Pismo Beach Fire Department.

Over the next few years the community continued to grow and a second fire station was constructed in Village Park in 1979, serving a portion of Encinitas and the Olivenhain Valley.

Chief J. Fox retired from the Fire District in 1981, and his son, Peter Fox, was appointed Fire Chief.

Shortly thereafter, a third fire station was constructed in 1983 in Fairbanks Ranch to serve not only Fairbanks Ranch, but also Whispering Palms, Circo Diegueno, and Rancho Santa Fe Farms.

1987 also saw the departure of Chief P. Fox and the Board of Directors appointed Arden L. “Pete” Pedersen as Fire Chief.

The new station opened on July 1, 1990, as a result of the development of the industrial complex that was part of the 4S Ranch project.

Another medical first was achieved by the District in 1991.

Our fifth Fire Chief, Erwin L. Willis, was hired in June of 1993 to replace Chief Pedersen, who retired after 30 years in the fire service.

In the fall of 1999, the District entered into an agreement with the County of San Diego Emergency Medical Services to provide advanced life support service to augment the EMT-DC first response.

Following Chief Willis’s retirement in 2005, the RSFFPD selected Nicholas Pavone to be the Fire Chief.

Before the collapse of the real estate market in 2007, Forbes reported Rancho Santa Fe as having the third most expensive ZIP code in the United States and the most expensive in California with a median home sale price of $2,585,000.

The school was completely renovated in 2010 at a cost of $35 million using voter approved bond funds.

The current campus was completed in 2011 with a bond referendum.