On Oct. 15, 2025, the Encinitas City Council approved a contract to update and repair the Encinitas “Gateway” sign. The portion of the staff report titled “Background” offers some information but begins with “Since 2001 the Encinitas Gateway sign…”
And while not specifically incorrect, it’s not the whole story.
The original “Encinitas” sign was erected in 1928. It was about 40 feet long and 10 feet tall, and it read simply “ENCINITAS” in all capital letters. It was illuminated with incandescent light bulbs.
The local Chamber of Commerce installed the sign as part of a beautification campaign to attract tourists and shoppers to downtown Encinitas. It was suspended from cables attached to wooden poles over the narrow, dusty, two-lane Coast Highway 101.
The sign remained in place until 1937, when it was removed to accommodate road widening, leaving Encinitas with only a small roadside welcome marker.
By the late 1990s, Encinitas had incorporated as a city and grown eastward, with new shopping malls and businesses along the El Camino Real corridor. A group called DEMA (Downtown Encinitas Mainstreet Association), under the leadership of Peder Norby, made a renewed push to beautify and highlight downtown Encinitas, which had, in truth, become a bit rundown.
According to Encinitas native Dan Dalager — whose family owned and ran Dalager’s Sharpening Service on 2nd Street from 1959 to 2007 — downtown Encinitas still had dirt alleys and no real storm drain system along Highway 101 as late as the early 2000s. Dalager recalls ponding that could last for weeks after a good rain, and says some local smarties would even pretend to fish in them.
So, in the late 1990s, with Norby and DEMA pushing the issue and the City Council offering no objections, meetings were held. Many meetings were held. In addition to infrastructure improvements, Encinitas was going to get a new “Gateway” sign at roughly the same location as the old one on Coast Highway 101. It was a tough sell, but it was eventually agreed upon.
Various choices were made to ensure the new 80-foot-long replacement sign closely resembled the original 1930s-era sign. I remember one planning meeting in particular where there was a huge, loud disagreement over the lettering for the replacement sign.
The problem came down to the font, which included a nonstandard letter “C” that looked more like a capital “G” with the crossbar missing. This was an issue. No existing font included that oddly shaped “C,” and nobody wanted the rest of the sign to use lettering that didn’t mimic the original.
Tempers were getting hot until one lone voice finally piped up and said, “Everybody knows there’s never been any normalcy in Encinitas.” After the laughter died down, it was decided that having no “normal C” would remain part of the Encinitas gateway sign — just as it has remained part of Encinitas’ local culture.
Now the sign — beloved as an iconic symbol representing all of Encinitas rather than simply a downtown marketing device — is nearly 25 years old and showing its age. The lighting system allows letters to burn out, and some corrosion is appearing.
The City Council did approve a contract to upgrade the lighting to modern standards and provide ongoing maintenance, ensuring our city will have a sign we can all be proud of.
However, the contract states that the letters on the sign must be replaced.
I have placed calls to Mayor Bruce Ehlers and to the vendor’s contact person, but haven’t heard back from either as of this writing. Let’s hope they will take the time to ensure that good ol’ Encinitas will continue to have no normal C.
Happy New Year, everybody.
Jerome Stocks is a former mayor and city councilman of Encinitas.
