La Mesa, city, San Diego County, southwestern California; incorporated 1912. It is a residential suburb of San Diego and a commercial center for a farming region in which citrus fruit, vegetables, and poultry are raised. Located in an area settled in 1869, the community, laid out in the 1880s, was called La Mesa Heights until 1912, when it was merged with La Mesa Springs and the shortened name was adopted. Population 50,308 (1980); 52,931 (1990); 54,749 (2000).
