Early history Fossils of aquatic life, in the form of a
belemnitida from the
Jurassic, have been found within the modern borders of Chula Vista. although
Eocene epoch fossils have been found in nearby
Bonita. The oldest site of human settlement within the modern boundaries of Chula Vista, was named Otai by the Spanish in 1769, and had been occupied as far back as 7,980 years ago. In 3000 BC, people speaking the
Yuman (Quechan) language began moving into the region from the
Lower Colorado River Valley and southwestern
Arizona portions of the
Sonoran Desert. Later the
Kumeyaay tribe came to populate the land, on which the city sits today, and lived in the area for hundreds of years. and the
Estudillo family, a powerful
Californio clan of Southern California, owned the majority of modern-day Chula Vista. In 1542 AD, a fleet of three
Spanish Empire ships commanded by
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, sailed into
San Diego Harbor. Early explorations by Spanish
conquistadors, such as these, led to Spanish claims of the land. The village of Chiap (known to the Spanish as La Punta) became a center of a
Kumeyaay revolt against the Spanish in 1775, which was later abandoned by 1776. The historic land on which Chula Vista sits became part of the 1795 land grant known as Rancho del Rey or The King's Ranch. The land eventually was renamed Rancho de la Nación. its construction was under the command of Captain George F. Price of the
5th Cavalry Regiment out of
Camp McDowell. In the 1870s and 1880s mining was done on Rancho Janal. The
San Diego Land and Town Company developed lands of the Rancho de la Nación for new
settlement. The town began as a five thousand acre development, with the first house being erected in 1887; by 1889, ten houses had been completed. Around this time, the lemon was introduced to the city, by a retired professor from the
University of Wisconsin. Chula Vista can be roughly translated from Spanish as "beautiful view"; the name was suggested by
Sweetwater Dam designer James D. Schulyer. The 1888 completion of the dam allowed for irrigation of Chula Vista farming lands. Chula Vista eventually became the largest
lemon-growing center in the world for a period of time. In 1889, the city became home to the first watch factory west of the
Mississippi River. Additionally, the
Coronado Belt Line Railroad was built through Chula Vista, connecting
Hotel Del Coronado with National City, where
Southern California Railroad terminated. Another railroad built through Chula Vista was the
National City and Otay Railroad, which was routed down Third Avenue. During the
depression at the end of the century, industrial employment in Chula Vista was limited to the
La Punta Salt Works and
packing houses.
20th century In 1911, Chula Vista had of agricultural lands, of which were lemon groves. The citizens of Chula Vista voted to incorporate on October 17, 1911. The State approved the city's incorporation in November. The yacht club would the first on the
West Coast to build race specific boats, which resulted in a uniquely designed
sloop. In 1915, a
Carnegie Library was built on F Street. In the 1910s,
Chinese,
Filipino, and
Mexican farm laborers worked the fields within the city, with most commuting in from
downtown San Diego and
Logan Heights. In January 1916, Chula Vista was impacted by the
Hatfield Flood, which was named after
Charles Hatfield, when the
Lower Otay Dam collapsed flooding the valley surrounding the
Otay River; up to fifty people died in the flood. Later in 1916, the
Hercules Powder Company opened a 30-acre bayfront site, now known as Gunpowder point, which produced substances used to make
cordite, a gun propellant used extensively by the
British Armed Forces during
World War I. In 1925, aviation began in Chula Vista, with the Tyce School of Aviation, operating the
Chula Vista Airport. In 1926, the salt works purchased Rancho Janal and grew barley and lima beans. In the 1930s, led by
Chris Mensalvas, Filipino and Mexican farm workers
went on strike against the celery farms. To the east, on land formerly known as Rancho Janal,
dairy farming and
cattle farming was done on over . By the end of the 1930s, the city's population of over 4,000 residents was mostly
Caucasian, with small populations of
Japanese and Mexican Americans. Prior to World War II,
anti-Japanese sentiment had existed in Chula Vista, due to competition between Japanese farmers and White farmers, however an association was formed which decreased those sentiments. In November 1940, the city purchased the Chula Vista Airport for Rohr Aircraft. The relocation of
Rohr Aircraft Corporation to Chula Vista in early 1941, just months before the
attack on Pearl Harbor, changed Chula Vista. The land never returned to being orchard groves again. In 1945,
The Vogue Theater opened. Due to
Executive Order 9066, the Japanese Americans who lived in Chula Vista were sent to
Santa Anita Racetrack and then to the
Poston War Relocation Center. One of those Japanese Americans from Chula Vista was Joseph K. Sano, who was an
air corps veteran of World War I, and a member of the
American Legion; during World War II, Sano served in the
Military Intelligence Service Language School at the
University of Michigan. In 1944, the state of California attempted to seize land in Chula Vista owned by Kajiro Oyama, a legal Japanese resident who was then
interned in Utah. Oyama was correctly charged with putting the property in his son Fred's name with the intent to evade the
Alien Land Law because Fred was a native-born citizen. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court as
Oyama v. California, where the court found that Kajiro's
equal protection rights had been violated. The population of post–World War II Chula Vista tripled from 5,000 residents in 1940 to more than 16,000 in 1950. In 1955, the Big Ski Drive-In opened; until it closed in 1980, it was one of the largest
drive-in theaters in the nation. By the 1960s, Chula Vista continued its expansion with the annexation of part of Bonita. That same decade, Filipinos and Mexicans began to move into Chula Vista in significant numbers; these included
Filipino navy veterans. In 1963, Chula Vista became the 2nd-most populous city in San Diego County. From 1960 to 2013, the
South Bay Power Plant, a 700-megawatt, four-
boiler plant, occupied of the Chula Vista waterfront. In 1971, a McDonald's on Third Avenue, became the first to have a
PlayPlace location, and was . The original PlayPlace was replaced and a newer version was installed, remaining there until at least 2015. Before 2024, the PlayPlace was uninstalled. In 1985, Chula Vista made the largest annexation in California history, which included the neighborhoods of Castle Park and Otay. Later, San Diego gave way, allowing Chula Vista to annex the
Otay River Valley, which was opposed by residents in
Otay Mesa and
Nestor. Over the next few decades, Chula Vista continued to expand eastward. Plans called for a variety of housing developments such as the Eastlake, Rancho del Rey, and Otay Ranch neighborhoods. The quick expansion east of
Interstate 805 was not embraced by all of the cities residents, leading to advocacy that new housing developments be built with parks, schools, and emergency services. In 1991, Chula Vista elected its first female mayor, Gayle McCandliss, who died from cancer a few weeks after being elected. In 1995, the
United States Olympic Committee opened an
Olympic Training Center in Eastlake on donated land; it is the USOC's first master-planned facility and is adjacent to
Lower Otay Reservoir. In the last decade of the century, a
desalinization plant opened to process water from wells along the Sweetwater River; it was expanded less than two decades later, which included a pumping station built in Bonita.
Camp Otay/Weber During
World War I and
II, the army maintained a base on the present-day corner of Main Street and Albany Avenue. It initially served as a border post during World War I, and was reestablished in December 1942. It was home to the
140th Infantry Regiment,
35th Infantry Division. The base was closed in February 1944, and the division went on to see combat in the
European theater. All traces of the post have since been removed.
21st century In 2003, Chula Vista had 200,000 residents and was the second-largest city in San Diego County. That year, Chula Vista was the seventh fastest growing city in the nation, growing at a rate of 5.5%, due to the communities of Eastlake and Otay Ranch. Chula Vista is growing at a fast pace, In mid-2006, officials from Chula Vista and the
San Diego Chargers met to discuss the potential construction of a new stadium that would serve as the home for the team; however, in June 2009, the Chargers removed Chula Vista as a possible location for a new stadium. The
South Bay Expressway, a toll-road extension of State Route 125, opened on November 19, 2007. As a result of the
Mexican drug war, many Mexicans from
Tijuana began to immigrate to Chula Vista. Being in close proximity to Tijuana, however, has led to some drug war activity within Chula Vista. In 2014, a survey conducted at the request of the city found that the majority of San Diegans surveyed had a negative perception of the city. By 2015, there were over 31,000
Filipino Americans living in Chula Vista; they make up the majority of the 48,840 Asian Americans who live in Chula Vista. In 2017, Chula Vista purchased the Olympic Training Center and renamed it to Elite Athlete Training Center; the United States Olympic Committee plans to continue to use the facility and pay rent to the city. That same year, a post office in the Eastlake neighborhood was renamed Jonathan "J.D." De Guzman Post Office Building, in honor of a city resident who died while a
San Diego Police Department officer in 2016; having immigrated from the
Philippines in 2000, De Guzman was active in his community in Chula Vista, and went on to serve as a police officer for 16 years until his death. In 2017, among the several dozens of streets named for military veterans, seven streets in the Otay Ranch neighborhood were named for Chula Vista servicemembers who died in either Afghanistan or Iraq. In 2025, it was announced that a new park in the Otay Ranch neighborhood will be dedicated as Filipino American Veterans Park, and will have a privately funded monument. The number of reported calls to the
Chula Vista Police about issues regarding homeless individuals have increased from 2004 to 2014, with Chula Vista having the largest population of homeless individuals in the South Bay. In 2016, it was estimated that there were about 500 homeless individuals in Chula Vista. Due to the increase in homeless population, Chula Vista, and other neighboring cities began to pass ordinances on recreational vehicles, and other large vehicles, resulting in a drop of the number of homeless individuals within the city. By 2018, the number of homeless individuals in Chula Vista was down to 367. In 2018, a proposal was made to develop Rohr Park into something similar to
Griffith Park in Los Angeles. A development plan is to
develop the bayfront. In 2019, Chula Vista was the first city in California to be certified as a
sanctuary city by the national non-profit "Welcoming America." In December 2022, the "Welcoming City" designation was revoked due to concerns about its
surveillance program. The Chula Vista Police Department was sharing license plate reader data with
ICE and
CBP. ==Geography==