Imperial Beach, California
city in San Diego County, California, United States
Imperial Beach is a beach city in San Diego County, California, United States, with a population of 26,137 as of the 2020 census. It is in the South Bay area of San Diego County, 14.1 miles (22.7 km) south of downtown San Diego and 5 miles (8 km) northwest of downtown Tijuana, Mexico. Imperial Beach is the southernmost city in California and the West Coast of the United States.
History
Imperial Beach sits on the traditional territory of the Kumeyaay people, who had established the village of Alyshuwii. Founded in June 1887, the city takes its name from Imperial County, California, a desert climate 100 miles (161 km) east. Farmers and land owners from the Imperial Valley came to the area in the late 1880s seeking cooler weather during summer months. In March 1887, over 2,000 laborers descended upon nearby Coronado, California to construct the Hotel del Coronado, the largest resort in the world at the time. A large number of the workers stayed in Imperial Beach and some would later make it their permanent homestead. The city would incorporate in 1956, operating its own mayor–council government providing city fire department service and policing by the formation of its own police department but eventually, years later, through the contracting of services through the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.
Imperial Beach has undergone a makeover to become more visitor-friendly and commercially viable.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Imperial Beach, California” as city in San Diego County, California, United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as city in San Diego County, California, United States. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q917531. VIAF identifies the subject as 126687750. The Library of Congress control number is n82032021. Authority coordinates are 32.578, -117.117. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1887 and 1956.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Imperial Beach, California”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Imperial Beach, California primary sources, Imperial Beach, California archive and Imperial research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Imperial Beach, California”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Imperial Beach, California” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.