Children’s Pool is a rocky cove partially enclosed by a seawall, located in La Jolla, about 13 miles (21 km) south of Encinitas and 11 miles (18 km) northwest of downtown San Diego, California. In 1931, the seawall was built as a gift to the community of La Jolla by philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps. Tourists and locals traveled to La Jolla’s coastline for picnics, sunbathing, and leisure. However, many of La Jolla’s beaches remained unsafe for swimmers due to exposure to strong waves and currents. In 1921, Scripps contracted engineer Hiram Newton Savage to design a breakwater and retained architect William Templeton Johnson to oversee the facility’s design. Construction began in the fall of 1930 and was completed on April 4, 1931. The seawall protects the shore from oncoming waves, making it an ideal spot for children to paddle safely.

The original inhabitants of this area were the Kumeyaay, who called the location “mat kulaaxuuy”, meaning “land of holes.” The present-day name may derive from this or from the Spanish la joya, meaning “the jewel.” During the Mexican period of California‘s history, La Jolla was mapped as pueblo land containing roughly 60 lots. When California became a state in 1850, La Jolla was incorporated into the chartered City of San Diego. In 1896, journalist and publisher Ellen B. Scripps settled in La Jolla, where she lived for the last 35 years of her life. She devoted herself to philanthropic endeavors, particularly those benefiting her adopted home. She founded the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Scripps College, Scripps Hospital, and Scripps Clinic, and built the La Jolla Women’s Club and the La Jolla Public Library. She also purchased the pueblo lots—land designated for civilian settlement—that became Torrey Pines State Reserve.

The concrete breakwater became the focus of a contentious debate some 60 years after its completion. A colony of harbor seals began inhabiting the beach in the mid-1990s, and by 1999, around 100 seals were regularly resting there, prompting San Diego Parks and Recreation to install a rope barrier. The barrier defined the seal habitat and protected the animals from people. In 2004, the city removed the rope barrier and adopted a “joint use” policy. Given the overwhelming presence of the seals, swimmers are permitted but strongly discouraged from entering the water. Although many seals have grown accustomed to humans, visitors are encouraged to keep their distance, as the animals can be aggressive and unpredictable. Read more here and here. Explore more of Children’s Pool and La Jolla here: