Selwyn
Ghost town · San Diego County, California

Selwyn is a ghost town in San Diego County, California. It is one of 19 former communities in San Diego County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 12th among the 58 California counties with a vanished settlement on record.
The U.S. Geological Survey lists Selwyn as a historical populated place on the La Jolla topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 32.8637° N, 117.1917° W.
Key facts
| USGS quadrangle | La Jolla |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 246 ft |
| Nearest living town | San Diego, CA |
| Distance to it | 4.7 miles |
| GNIS feature ID | 1666568 |
| Coordinates | 32.86366, -117.19170 |
What's there now
Selwyn is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is San Diego, CA (population 1,385,061), about 4.7 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 246 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.
Nearby places
- Linda Vistaghost town · San Diego County · 1.4 mi
- Elviraghost town · San Diego County · 3 mi
- Ladrilloghost town · San Diego County · 3.6 mi
- Poway Groveghost town · San Diego County · 9.1 mi
- Ballast Point Lightlighthouse · San Diego County · 12.5 mi
- Tent Cityghost town · San Diego County · 13 mi
- Altaghost town · San Diego County · 13.1 mi
- Old Point Loma lighthouselighthouse · San Diego County · 13.6 mi
- New Point Loma Lighthouselighthouse · San Diego County · 14 mi
- Rock Havenghost town · San Diego County · 15.9 mi
- Mussey Groveghost town · San Diego County · 17.2 mi
- Coronado Heightsghost town · San Diego County · 18.6 mi
Questions
Where is Selwyn?
Selwyn is in San Diego County, California, at 32.8637, -117.1917.
How many ghost towns are in San Diego County?
San Diego County, California has 19 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.
- USGS Geographic Names Information System (Domestic Names) — GNIS Domestic Names, feature record (public-domain)
- U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line and ACS — Census Gazetteer + ACS 5-year population (public-domain)
Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.