In the North County at the west end of Loma Santa Fe Drive, there’s a gap in the bluff that allows people to take some stairs down to the water.
It might surprise you to know it didn’t used to be that way.
Back before 1924, you couldn’t get to the beach in this beach town because the cliffs continued straight across from one side to the other.
That didn’t seem right to land developer Ed Fletcher who felt he had to do something.
He hired a man to stand for three months every day, all day blasting away at the bluff with a fire hose until it was washed away.
Then a big steam shovel was brought in to spread what was left of the sandstone.
There was a whole section of the coastal bluff gone and a gap left behind where people could get to the beach.
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That brought crowds and immediately a town plaza was formed a few hundred yards inland.
There was the gasoline station and Ford dealership that doubled on the weekends as a hall for dances.
And buildings built more than 80 years ago that, though certainly changed, can still be seen.
All because Ed Fletcher thought if you were going to call a place Solana Beach, you ought to be able to get to the beach.
So he literally moved a mountain to create access to what came to be called Fletcher Cove.
A story you now know About San Diego.
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