The Palomar Monthly Meeting had its inception in 1965 as the Friends North County Worship Group, under the care of the La Jolla Meeting. Those members of the La Jolla Monthly Meeting living in North San Diego County felt the need to establish a group of like minded persons, and on March 20, 1966 the first meeting of area Friends was held at the Carlsbad home of Gretchen Tuthill.

On September 1, 1969, the name of the Meeting was changed to the Palomar Friends Worship Group. Again, in May 1971, the group's name was changed, this time to the Palomar Preparative Meeting, with an assurance that the La Jolla Meeting Committee on Ministry and Oversight would serve as Oversight Committee.

The Palomar Friends group has been active in a number of social/political activities. They actively protested the war in Vietnam and the draft through letters to elected officials, distribution of literature, vigils at the San Clemente White House, and the support of the civil right of military men. Other activities included donations to striking farm workers organized by Cesar Chavez, and Charles Evers, the black mayor of Fayette, Mississippi. The Friends also circulated petitions for prison reform, gun control, and against the Trident missile and the B-1 bomber.

On November 18, 1973, the Quarterly Meeting granted monthly meeting status to the Palomar Meeting.