Tierrasanta, Spanish for "holy land," or "holy ground", is a community within the city of San Diego, California. The symbol of Tierrasanta is an encircled Conquistador cross, similar to one atop Montserrat (mountain) near Barcelona, Spain, though it no longer holds any religious meaning. The community is referred to as "The Island in the Hills" by locals and on welcome signs, as there are only four roads that lead to Tierrasanta, all which end within the community. History Tierrasanta was originally part of the Mission San Diego de Alcalá ranch, which was active during the late 18th and 19th centuries. The U.S. military purchased the land in 1941 as Camp Elliott, a Marine Corps training facility. The Marines moved out in 1944 and the land was transferred to the Navy. It was deactivated in 1946. In 1961, the U.S. Government sold the area that is now Tierrasanta and a portion of neighboring Mission Trails Regional Park to the City of San Diego. In the following year, the Elliott Community Plan was issued to serve as a roadmap for development going forward, and in 1971 Tierrasanta was founded. The current Tierrasanta community plan was first issued in 1982, and included both the currently developed area and much of what is now Mission Trails Regional Park. Meanwhile, the first master plan for what was to become Mission Trails Regional Park was issued in 1976 with the aid of numerous public agencies, planning groups, and a 45-member Technical Advisory Committee. Tierrasanta's population had reached about 24,000 by 1980 and when the 1982 Plan was issued the area called Tierrasanta Norte, in the northeastern part of town, had yet to be fully developed. Tierrasanta has been almost fully built out since the early 1990s, and in 2010 had a population of 30,443 (ZIP code 92124). Some 2,300 homes grouped in the southwest portion of town are part of the Murphy Canyon military housing complex. Tierrasanta was one of the first master planned communities in San Diego. The original Community Plan called for an eastward extension of Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, with connections to Jackson Drive on the south and Route 52 on the north. However, there long was opposition to the plan due to expected increased high speed traffic. The 2019 Master Plan Update to the Mission Trails Regional Park apparently settled the issue when it declared the plan to no longer be implementable due