Rock walls may seem like a boring subject, but one in La Jolla deserves particular attention because it is somewhat of an enigma and is definitely a historical curiosity. The wall is located on Coast Boulevard at the foot of Cuvier Street on the back side of the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art. Reaching 400 feet long and standing 21 feet in height at its tallest point, it is built of smoothly worn rocks gathered from the beach. Standing above it on the adjacent Coast Boulevard sidewalk, one is afforded beautiful ocean views of the north shore toward Oceanside and, more immediately, a fine, sandy little beach with some intriguing rock formations, including one frequently photographed piece of topography the ocean has carved out over the years to look like a bench. People often stop to enjoy these views and the wall itself has become a popular spot for rock climbers to test their abilities. Surfers have named the little beach “Wipe Out” for obvious reasons. Now for the curious stuff. For a while there was a legend of a La Jolla doll lady who made little shrines in the wall’s niches to place some of her precious toys. The wall originally had 50 niches for lights set eight feet apart as beacons for boats and ships at sea. The lights were removed during the blackouts of World War II and almost all of the niches were filled in. It seems nobody has thought about restoring the lights over the years. And now for the real enigma. How and when did La Jolla’s “great wall” get there? A postcard in the La Jolla Historical Society archives shows the wall in the process of being built. The estimated date written on the back is 1908-1910. A wood frame has been constructed where the wall is to be built in the postcard picture and three men are standing at the bottom of the cliff on a large pile of rocks as if looking ahead to long days of labor. When the rock wall was built circa 1910, it prevented erosion and provided protection for the largest and grandest house in La Jolla at the time – Ellen Browning Scripps’ revered South Moulton Villa that stood atop the hill where the present-day museum is located. Scripps probably had the wall built herself or provided funding to build it. True to her native British heritage, she had a predilection for cobble walls and her property was defined by the stone walls surrounding it — stretching along Coast Boulevard from Cuvier Street to Eads Avenues, up Eads to Prospect Street, and from Prospect back to Cuvier. Many of those walls remain intact and the La Jolla Historical Society is working toward their preservation. The landmark rock wall by the ocean has retained its character over the years. Standing over it, walking along the sidewalk by it and enjoying the views around it have provided pleasure to many over many years – the wall is around 100 years old. The last few months, the wall has brought special enjoyment to myself and my one-year-old dog, who is able to jump on his hind legs, put his front paws on top of the wall’s ledge and look out over the ocean. He does so every day, straining at the leash until we arrive at the spot. He closely observes everything in sight from the ledge, sometimes for as long as five minutes — and believe me, that’s a long, concentrated effort for a Samoyed. — Carol Olten is the historian at the La Jolla Historical Society.