Up until the 1940s, Point Dume was a windblown, treeless bluff covered by native chaparral. Post-World War II the bluff became slowly settled by independent-minded people, who planted trees and other non-native flora among their single-family homesteads. In 1968, Point Dume Elementary School opened, but closed in 1980. It reopened in 1996 and remains open today, now known as the Point Dume Marine Science Elementary School. By 2007, many of the simple homesteads were torn down to make way for mansions and mega-mansions behind walls, many with expansive ocean views, while other large homes were surrounded by mature trees.
