Carlsbad, California | ||
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Charter city | ||
City of Carlsbad | ||
Downtown Carlsbad
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Nickname(s): Village by the Sea | ||
Location of Carlsbad within San Diego County, California. |
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Location in the United States | ||
Coordinates: 33°7′19″N 117°17′49″W / 33.12194°N 117.29694°WCoordinates: 33°7′19″N 117°17′49″W / 33.12194°N 117.29694°W | ||
Country | United States of America | |
State | California | |
County | San Diego | |
Incorporated | July 16, 1952 | |
Government | ||
• Type | Council–manager | |
• Mayor | Matt Hall | |
Area | ||
• Total | 39.110 sq mi (101.295 km2) | |
• Land | 37.722 sq mi (97.699 km2) | |
• Water | 1.388 sq mi (3.596 km2) 3.55% | |
Elevation | 52 ft (16 m) | |
Population (April 1, 2010) | ||
• Total | 105,328 | |
• Estimate (2014) | 112,299 | |
• Rank |
5th in San Diego County 54th in California |
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• Density | 2,700/sq mi (1,000/km2) | |
Time zone | Pacific (UTC−8) | |
• Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC−7) | |
ZIP codes | 92008, 92009, 92010, 92011, 92018 | |
Area codes | 442/760 | |
FIPS code | 06-11194 | |
GNIS feature IDs | 1660437, 2409984 | |
City flower | Bird‐of‐paradise | |
Website | www |
Carlsbad is a seaside resort city occupying a 7-mile (11 km) stretch of Pacific coastline in northern San Diego County, California. The city is 87 miles (140 km) south of Los Angeles and 35 miles (56 km) north of downtown San Diego and is part of the San Diego-Carlsbad, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is bordered by Oceanside to the north, Vista and San Marcos to the east and Encinitas to the south. Referred to as "The Village by the Sea" by locals, Carlsbad is a tourist destination. The city's estimated 2014 population was 112,299. Among the nation's top 20 wealthiest communities, Carlsbad is the 5th richest city in the state of California with a median household income close to $105,000
Carlsbad's history began with the Luiseño people (the Spanish name given to them because of their proximity to Mission San Luis Rey). Nearly every reliable fresh water creek had at least one native village, including one called Palamai. The site is located just south of today's Agua Hedionda Lagoon.
The first European land exploration of Alta California, the Spanish Portolà expedition of 1769, met native villagers while camped on Buena Vista Creek. During the Mexican period, in 1842, the southern portion of Carlsbad, was granted as Rancho Agua Hedionda to Juan María Marrón.
In the 1880s a former sailor named John Frazier dug a well in the area. He began offering his water at the train station and soon the whistle-stop became known as Frazier's Station. A test done on a second fresh-water well discovered the water to be chemically similar to that found in some of the most renowned spas in the world, and the town was named after the famed spa in the Bohemian town of Karlsbad (now Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic).