Campo (Spanish for "Field") is an unincorporated community in the Mountain Empire area of southeastern San Diego County, California, United States. The population was 2,955 at the 2020 United States census. The United States Census Bureau defines Campo as a census-designated place (CDP).

The CDP includes three distinct settlements: Campo, Cameron Corners and Morena Village. Cameron Corners is about north of Campo. Morena Village is located several miles further north, just east of Morena Dam. These communities all use Campo postal addresses and the ZIP Code 91906.

Campo is part of the United States-Mexico border. The border in Campo is also the trailhead of the Pacific Crest Trail.

History In 1868, Silas and Luman Gaskill opened the Gaskill Brothers' Stone Store; they were among the area's first residents. Seven years later in 1875, the store became the site of one of the deadliest Old West shootouts in California, with eight killed as the gang of bandits failed to raid the store.

Morena Dam was constructed between 1896 and 1912 to provide water to the San Diego area.

Campo was a station on the San Diego and Arizona Railway, completed in 1919.

Campo was a military town during World War II and was known as Camp Lockett. It was home to a veterans' convalescent hospital, a 300-bed Italian prisoner-of-war camp in Cameron Corners and an all African-American Buffalo Soldiers Cavalry unit which patrolled the border on horseback until 1944.

The United States military continues activities nearby at La Posta Mountain Warfare Training Facility.

Geography Nearby communities include Boulevard, Potrero, Tecate, Dulzura, Jacumba, Pine Valley, Mount Laguna, Descanso, and Jamul.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 23.5 square miles (60.7 km), 99.97% of it land, and 0.03% of it water.

It is southeast of San Diego.

Climate Campo has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa) with hot, dry summers and cool, relatively wet winters. The diurnal temperature variation is large throughout the year, averaging , which is comparable to such high-desert settlements as Bishop or Alamosa, Colorado. Diurnal temperature variation can reach on some days, and averages in July and August. The high diurnal temperature range means that 69 mornings each year fall below freezing, though no temperature below has ever been recorded, whilst the lowest maximum recorded has been on December 14, 1967. The huge diurnal temperature range makes mornings usually cool even on sweltering summer days: the hottest minimum has been on 25 August 2026, but from 1991 to 2020 the average highest minimum was and before the August 2026 record, the hottest minimum had been a mere on July 23, 2006.

Orographic influences make rainfall about fifty percent higher than in San Diego: the wettest "rain year" was from July 1992 to June 1993 with , and the driest from July 2001 to June 2002 with . The most precipitation in 24 hours has been on November 23, 1965, and the most in one month in January 1993. Snowfall is extremely rare: fell in the record cold month of January 1949,See but only nine other seasons have ever had measurable snow and none have accumulated more than .

Demographics

Campo first appeared as a census designated place in the 2010 U.S. census.

Racial and ethnic composition +Campo CDP, California – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2010% 2010White alone (NH)1,6341,48860.88%50.36%Black or African American alone (NH)105613.91%2.06%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)60872.24%2.94%Asian alone (NH)24420.89%1.42%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)670.22%0.24%Other race alone (NH)0230.00%0.78%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)611602.27%5.41%Hispanic or Latino (any race)7941,08729.58%36.79%Total2,6842,955100.00%100.00%

2020 census As of the 2020 census, Campo had a population of 2,955 and a population density of .

The age distribution was 25.6% under the age of 18, 7.7% aged 18 to 24, 24.3% aged 25 to 44, 26.3% aged 45 to 64, and 16.1% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 39.0years. For every 100 females, there were 110.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 114.9 males age 18 and over.

The census reported that 98.6% of the population lived in households, 1.4% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized. Of residents, 0.0% lived in urban areas and 100.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 969 households, out of which 34.9% included children under the age of 18, 49.4% were married-couple households, 7.3% were cohabiting couple households, 21.1% had a female householder with no partner present, and 22.2% had a male householder with no partner present. 22.4% of households were one person, and 10.0% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.01. There were 688 families (71.0% of all households).

There were 1,036 housing units at an average density of , of which 969 (93.5%) were occupied and 6.5% were vacant. Of the occupied units, 73.3% were owner-occupied and 26.7% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2%, and the rental vacancy rate was 3.3%. Features Campo is home to three museums: the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum which also offers historic train rides, the Motor Transport Museum at the historic Feldspar Mill, and the Gaskill Brothers' Stone Store.

A CDF fire station is located at 31577 State Route 94. The 1998 Cameron Corners, California 7.5-minute quadrangle plots the station near Dewey Place and SR 94.Cameron Corners, California 7.5-minute quadrangle, U.S. Geological Survey, 1998. A Southern California Automobile Association map, believed to be c. 1910–1930, shows a business named "Dewey Store" in Cameron Corners. The business is plotted on the north side of SR 94 just east of County Road S1. This may be a variant name of Dewey Place.

There is a county road maintenance station on Forrest Gate Road and a county fire station at Jeb Stewart and Parker roads.

Large employers in the area include US Department of Homeland Security Border Patrol and the San Diego County, California Probation, Juvenile Ranch Facility, (population 250).

According to a September 9, 2004 San Diego Union Tribune article, foster care activist Father Joe Carroll proposed building a foster camp for children here. The proposed name was, "Promiseland Ranch," and the proposed facility would encompass about . Although the project was approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2008, it has since been abandoned for lack of funds.

Campo is near the official southern terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail, a recreational hiking and equestrian trail extending north to the Canada–United States border.

Transportation An unnamed private air strip is at 332 degrees off true north at .Morena Reservoir, California 7.5-minute quadrangle, U.S. Geological Survey, 1997. The name of the field is not listed in the National Geographic Names Data Base or U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Location Identifiers (7350.7U) dated 09/01/2005 (2005-09-01). On the topographic map, it measures about in length and runs almost due north–south at the intersection of Lake Morena Drive and Hauser Creek Road.

The town is along the line of the former Southern Pacific (originally the San Diego and Arizona Railway). Freight operations are currently embargoed (not offered) by the Carrizo Gorge Railway (currently the Pacific Imperial Railroad), while passenger operations are operated by the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum. The Railroad Museum shows an address of 750 Depot Street and is located near (NAD83) .Campo, California 7.5-minute quadrangle, U.S. Geological Survey, 1997.

Tribal areas There are at least two tribal areas included in the nearby Campo Indian Reservation. One is about due north of Campo and adjoining Cameron Corners. A point inside the reservation is (NAD83) ) and the area is roughly on each side. The reservation government is the Campo Band of Mission Indians. Another tribal area is about east along State Route 94 in the Campo Valley. It extends to the north and beyond Interstate 8. The eastern portion of the reservation is about in an east–west dimension and includes the community of Live Oak Springs. The tribal government has been reported in the news media to provide wireless Internet service to members over a cooperative tribal government microwave backbone from Pala.U.S. Geological Survey, National Geographic Names Data Base.Tierra Del Sol, California 7.5-minute quadrangle, U.S. Geological Survey, 1997.List of California tribal governments on Senator Barbara Boxer's web site.Live Oak Springs, California 7.5-minute quadrangle, U.S. Geological Survey, 1997.

Schools 31360 State Route 94: federal records report three schools in Campo. The schools are: Rancho Del Campo High School - Juvenile Ranch (Detention) Facility (9–12) Campo Elementary School (K-8) Campo Continuation (at the old Campo Elementary School) Hillside Alternative Junior/Senior High (7–12) Cottonwood Community Day (7–12) Mountain Empire Junior/Senior High (7–12)

About north in Cameron Corners, Campo Elementary (K-6) is located at 1654 Buckman Springs Rd. This is considered in Campo for postal addresses.US Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics, 2005.

See also

Tecate, California Manzanita, San Diego County, California Camp Lockett

Notes

References

Further reading

External links San Diego County Probation Department description of the Juvenile Ranch Facility (JRF) Sheriff's Department description of Campo juvenile facility. San Diego Railroad Museum, Campo The Motor Transport Museum Campo Water Maintenance District Lake Morena Views Mutual Water Company Lake Morena's Oak Shores Mutual Water Company Mountain Health Community Center