"Seeped in Calfornian History" National City Things to Do Tip by lmkluque

National City Boulevard, known to us as, "The Miracle Mile of Cars," spans the north-south length of National City. It is fitting that the whole focus of this road is the car.

The area of land that is now National City, was origianally an Indian Rancheria. Apusquele, of the Hamacha Tribe called it home. In 1769 the ranch was used by Mision de Alcala and named "La Purisma Conception." A dirt rut, used by Spanish explorers, Missionaries and Pioneers for a hundred years to travel the north-south route was called, "El Real para de Frontera" which is the earliest known name of National City Boulevard.

By 1796, Spanish soldiers from the Presidio took the land and called it "El Rancho Del Rey." Later, Pio Pico, govenor of Alta California granted land--that included the area of National City--to his brother-in-law, Don Juan Froester who called it "El Rancho de la Nacion." In 1866 it was registered by U.S. President Andrew Johnson as "National Ranch."

Two years later Frank Kimball and his brothers bought the land and named it, "National City" with the plan of creating a new town along the well established route they called, "National Street."

The first Ford dealership opened in the early 1920s and by then the steet was called, "National Avenue." Also during this time Hollywood greats such as Clack Gable, Jean Harlow and Gary Cooper, graced National Avenue with their glorious cars as they motored south to gamble and drink in Mexico--prohibition, remember?

It seems this historic byway continued to be a living museum of travel as California became the center of the New Car Culture. In an advertisment of the Acme Chevrolet car dealership, the term "Miracle Mile of Cars" was coined and from then on used to denote the location of an ever growing new and used car dealership center.

It was 1987 when National Avenue became National City Boulevard and to this day the "Miracle Mile of Cars" has become an international market for automobiles from around the globe.

Address: National City Boulevard
Directions: From the north end of the city to the south end.
Website: http://www.mileofcars.com