It is named for Junípero Serra, a Majorcan (Spain) Franciscan friar who founded Mission San Diego de Alcalá.

[citation needed] The area was originally part of the Mission Rancho Lands of San Diego granted to the Catholic Church by the King of Spain.

[1] More modern development of the community began after the Korean War, when the Navy built its Cabrillo Heights housing project in the early 1950s.

The Escala development, along with Fenton Parkway (Costco) are part of Mission Valley (92108), but feed into the Taft Middle School service area.

In 2008, the Serra Mesa Community Council sued the city of San Diego for approving construction of Palladium at Aero, a large development that they said was out of scale with the neighborhood, without requiring an environmental impact report.

Residents of Juvenile Hall attend classes administered by the San Diego County Board of Education.

The San Diego Community College District operates its North City Campus at 8401 Aero Drive.

Ruffin Canyon Open Space Preserve is 84 acres (340,000 m2) of native habitat, running north and south nearly the length of Serra Mesa.