SOLANA BEACH — On March 5, 1923, Col. Ed Fletcher, who was clearly a man of vision albeit an aggressive land developer, filed the original Solana Beach subdivision map with the county of San Diego.

At that time, Fletcher and his associates owned almost all of Solana Beach. There were only two houses on the town site; the George Jones and Herbert Estes families owned them.

The Santa Fe Railroad owned the railroad right-of-way through the subdivision.

It agreed to build a station to serve the area if Fletcher paid half the cost of construction.

The tracks were not below grade as they are now and the station was built approximately a half block south of the current terminal.

Fletcher also had the sales rights to Rancho Santa Fe. Except for wells, both areas lacked a reliable source of water so Fletcher spearheaded the construction of Lake Hodges dam by the Cuyamaca Water Company in which he had an interest. The dam was completed in 19l8.

The plaza has always been the center of Solana Beach. Fletcher was concerned there was no clear view and access to the beach, so he had a passage carved through the cliff and developed it as a cove.

He would be pleased to see the recent improvements that have been made and how the area is being used by dozens of families and children.

Fletcher built the Solana Beach Hotel and added some commercial offices at the corner of the plaza and Highway 101. One of these housed a bank that he owned. It was later sold to Bank of America.

Some of the land on the mesa where Lomas Santa Fe is now was used for growing lima beans, avocados and citrus. But it was not all peaches and cream for Fletcher.

He faced hard times during the 1929 depression and lost a lot of his land because he could not pay the county taxes. His illustrious career ended with his death in October 1955.

Happy birthday Solana Beach!