RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Otay ...

Otay is located in San Diego County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Otay, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1870.

Otay is 580 feet [177 m] above sea level.<2>.

Time Zone: Otay lies in the Pacific Time Zone (PST/PDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Otay: 619 & 858<3>

Communities near Otay ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Otay.

  • San Diego
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Chula Vista
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • El Cajon
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • National City
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • La Mesa
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Santee
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santee
    • Santee is located in San Diego County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 57,770 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Santee <4>
  • Imperial Beach
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Lemon Grove
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Coronado
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Bonita
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Otay. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Otay.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Otay. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Otay.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Otay. See our Newspapers Page for Otay.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Otay ...

Looking for more information about Otay? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Otay, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Otay.

Adding Otay to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Otay in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Otay was in the book titled List of Post Offices in the United States (1870).

We also found Otay in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Otay.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of California's counties, including San Diego, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Otay - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 619 code has been Overlayed with the 858 area code. New phone numbers in the Otay area will be assigned with one of these codes: 619 or 858. As a result, placing a call in the Otay area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.