Editing El Cajon, California (section)

==Name==
[[File:Miguel_Pedrorena.jpg|thumb|left|upright|El Cajon takes its name from [[Rancho El Cajon|Rancho El Cajón]], which was owned by the family of Don [[Miguel de Pedrorena]], a [[Californio]] ranchero and signer of the [[California Constitution]].]]
''El Cajón,'' Spanish for "the box", was first recorded on September 10, 1821, as an alternative name for ''sitio rancho Santa Mónica'' to describe the "boxed-in" nature of the valley in which it sat. The name appeared on maps in 1873 and 1875, shortened to "Cajon", until the modern town developed, in which the post office was named "El Cajon".

In 1905, the name was once again expanded to "El Cajon" under the insistence of California banker and historian [[Zoeth Skinner Eldredge]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Gudde|first=Erwin G.|title=California place names : the origin and etymology of current geographical names|year=2004|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley, Calif.|isbn=978-0-520-24217-3|pages=58, 119|edition=4th ed., rev. and enl.}}</ref>