Fallbrook is a CDP in northern San Diego County, California. Fallbrook’s downtown is not on any major highway route. It is 5.5 miles west of Interstate 15 or 6 miles north of State Route 76. Fallbrook is situated immediately east of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Camp Pendleton. It once housed a stagecoach stop for the stage that ran from Temecula to San Diego. Fallbrook is known for its avocado groves and claims the title “Avocado Capital of the World.” It is often called or known as “The Friendly Village.” The Avocado Festival is held in the downtown strip annually and frequently draws large crowds.
The community of Fallbrook began in the area known today as Live Oak County Park. The first permanent recorded settlement was in 1869, when the Vital Reche family settled here. They named the new community FallBrook after their former homestead in Pennsylvania. The present town site was plotted in 1885.The original Fallbrook School, though closed as a school in 1939, still serves the community as the Reche Clubhouse. One of the community’s churches was constructed in 1890 and is still in use today. Oak trees were the original primary trees in Fallbrook. Furthermore, Olives became a major crop by the 1920s and continued through World War II, but were eventually phased out in favor of the present avocado and floral industry. There are over sixty wholesale and retail nurseries in the community. Incorporation votes occurred in 1981 and 1987, but both votes failed.
The Holy Resurrection Skete in Fallbrook, California, is under the jurisdiction of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America. The skete is associated with Saint Herman of Alaska Monastery in Platina, California, like other sketes in California (Saint Xenia Skete in Wildwood, California) and Ouzinkie, Alaska (Saint Nilus Island Skete and Saint Archangel Michael Skete on Spruce Island). Fallbrook is a center for the arts with longtime residents fostering a creative atmosphere and newcomers bringing additional talents to the area. In the 1940s and 1950s it was the home of film director Frank Capra who raised olives on his Red Mountain Ranch. He served on the Board of the local water district and produced a short subject film about a water rights controversy with the federal government titled “The Fallbrook Story.” In the mid-2000s. Fallbrook gained popularity among Hollywood celebrities.
