Miramar is a neighborhood in the northern part of the city of San Diego, California, USA. Although Miramar is mainly a commercial and light industrial area, many people live in Miramar. Most residents live on the Marine base MCAS Miramar (formerly Miramar Naval Air Station). Miramar was the site of the real TOPGUN made famous by the movie Top Gun in 1986. NAS Miramar was realigned by the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program in 1995 and turned over to the Marine Corps as a fixed wing and helicopter base in 1996. To the north of MCAS Miramar is the suburb Mira Mesa.
History
Miramar was originally part of Scripps Ranch, founded by Edward W. Scripps. He named his home he built on the ranch "Miramar" in the 1890s, after Archduke Maximilian's castle, Miramare, in Trieste, Italy. The name eventually became applied to the surrounding mesa. Loosely translated from Spanish it means "a view of the sea". Before becoming a military base in 1950, Miramar was a small, isolated community centered around a railroad station. No buildings from the original Miramar survive.
See also
- Ruby Peters Miramar before the planes: of the U.S. Naval Air Station at San Diego, California; a rural settlement and one room school 1890-1950. (1984)
