When Pacific Beach was founded in 1887, a railroad was built to connect it to downtown San Diego. An extension to La Jolla followed on May 15, 1894. That line went belly up in 1918 and its tracks were removed and sold for scrap metal to Japan.
But remnants of a second La Jolla railroad, the San Diego Electric Railway (SDER), are everywhere. Operated from 1924 to 1940, the West Coast’s first electric streetcar system has tracks buried beneath tar, asphalt and mud along La Jolla’s streets and the bike path. In addition, the frontage of Bird Rock’s main San Carlos Station now forms the La Jolla Methodist Church at 6063 La Jolla Blvd.