San Marcos, CA

San Marcos is a city located in San Diego County, California. The population was 106,924 at the 2010 census. It is bordered by Escondido to the north, Oceanside to the east and south, and Vista to the west.

The city of San Marcos was founded in 1887 by George W. Pardee as a small agricultural community on land donated by John D. Spreckels. Pardee named his settlement after Saint Mark's Monastery in Venice, Italy which he had seen on a trip earlier that year. The monastery was also the namesake of Pardee's previous business venture in Sacramento.

In 1888, San Marcos became home to California's first college, San Marcos College (now known as California State University, San Marcos). In 1903, following a devastating fire that destroyed much of downtown San Marcos and killed over 30 people, the city rebuilt with new brick buildings and an ornate clock tower modeled after those found in Venice.

During World War II many young men from San Marcos served in the United States military including future NBA basketball player Jerry West who served as a bombardier aboard an B-17 Flying Fortress bomber during combat missions over Germany and Austria.

Today San Marcos is still home to several businesses founded by early residents including Spreckels' sugar refinery (now owned by Archer Daniels Midland), Western Union Telegraph Company (now part of AT&T), and J&J Snack Foods (makers of Pringles potato chips). Several major retail chains have stores throughout the city including Target Corporation (formerly called TARGET Corporation), Lowe's Home Improvement Stores Inc., Sears Holdings Corporation (formerly known as Sears Roebuck & Co.), Macy's Inc., Kohl's Department Store Inc., Starbucks Corporation (), Safeway Incorporated (), Bed Bath & Beyond Incorporated (), REI Co-op () and Whole Foods Market ().

In recent years there has been significant growth within the city limits with new housing developments such as The Shores at Mission Bay Park development which includes 1,200 homesites along Mission Bay; Village at Stonegate development which includes 1,000 homesites near downtown; The Preserve at Rancho Santa Fe development which includes 800 homesites near Rancho Santa Fe; Canyon Crest development which includes 600 homesites near downtown; Legacy Ridge development which includes 500 homesites near downtown; Windmill Pointe development which includes 400 homesites near downtown; Heritage Oaks subdivision which includes 300 homesites east of town off Highway 78; Southridge subdivision which includes 200 homesite south of town off Highway 78 ;and more recently Riverstone Ranch subdivision that has already reached its full build out with nearly 1 thousand lots available for purchase! With all this growth it is no wonder that real estate prices continue to rise within City Limits!