The community’s name was suggested by a resident in the 1880s who said that the environment reminded her of her native country of Switzerland.

The small commercial district along Alpine Blvd. has seen some suburban development in recent decades, and it is surrounded by large stretches of less densely populated rural areas that began in the late 19th and early 20th century. Horse ranches and small farms are still common, along with open chaparral hillsides and riparian canyons.

Before its modern settlement, the area was part of the home of the Kumeyaay Indians, whose ancestors had lived here possibly as long as 12,000 years.