The Rancho San Diego county branch library, opened in 2002 to serve both communities and others nearby, features a fountain resembling a natural hillside spring. Landmarks: One modern site popular with visitors is the Water Conservation Garden next to Cuyamaca College, where docents educate visitors on low-water-using landscaping. How it got its name: Jamul may come from the Kumeyaay word “hamull” that means “greens used for food.” Rancho San Diego was housing developers’ 1970 replacement for the historic Rancho Jamacha. Its operator backed out in 2018 and the tribe operates the facility on its own. Since the 1990s, the community has fought the Jamul Indian Village’s plans for a $360 million casino that ultimately opened on 6 acres on Campo Road. Residents have raised cattle, horses, ostriches and other animals, and Indians gathered acorns and traded seashells with tribes to the east. Homesteaders included workers for a cement plant operated by an early road builder, contractor and land baron George Daley. The casino would feature 1,700 slot machines, 50 live table games. It would be three stories and approximately 200,000 square feet.

History: The 9,000-acre Mexican Rancho Jamul land grant of 1829, like many others, was bogged down in disputed land claims that weren’t resolved until 1891. The tribe wants to build a 360 million Hollywood branded casino.