Virtual Tours
Historic
By-Ways Tour
Page 1
Sebastian's
General Store
1 - San Simeon: From Hwy 1, take San Simeon State Beach Exit west;
follow road north.
By
the 1860s, San Simeon Bay had gained local importance as a shipping
point, handling barrels of whale oil, cheese, butter, and other
agricultural products of the Central Coast. Grant, Lull and Company, who
also operated a general merchandise store in Cambria, built this
false-front store in 1872. George Hearst (a U.S. senator and father of
Castle builder William Randolph Hearst) acquired 1,000 of the
surrounding acres in 1865 and built the large warehouse (connected to a
pier by a narrow-gauge track) across the street in 1878. At its peak,
San Simeon Bay boasted two hotels, saloons, stores, a blacksmith shop,
livery stable, butcher shop, school, and stage depot. Most of these
businesses were gone by 1910, but this rustic store survived. The
Sebastian family, who bought the building in 1914, operated the store
for more than 70 years. A remnant of a shipping industry that once
served whalers, dairymen, miners, and ranch hands, Sebastian’s General
Store today provides for the needs of the many visitors to the area.
Just Get to the Point…
San Simeon was home territory for a native Indian population and was
later part of a sprawling Mexican land grant, the Piedra Blanca Rancho.
In the 1860s a small community of Chinese seaweed harvesters lived on
the bay, and a shore-based whaling station, manned by Portuguese whalers
from the Azores, was located on San Simeon Point. When shore-whaling
ended, Japanese settlers started an abalone drying business at the same
location. The 12 acres of the Point were excluded from Hearst’s
original purchase of the rancho but were eventually purchased by his
widow, Phoebe, in 1894. Today there is little evidence of the
communities that once occupied the Point and the Bay.
Nit
Wit Ridge
2 - Cambria: From Main Street in Cambria's West Village, turn onto
Cornwall, then drive or walk up Hillcrest Drive 0.25 miles.
Scavenging
for discarded items to use as construction materials, local eccentric
Arthur Beale began creating his whimsical house in 1928. Also known as
Captain Nitt Witt and der Tinkerpaw, Beale fashioned a fantasy world
using broken and salvaged pieces the community no longer wanted.
Following Beale’s death, the property was administered by a
foundation. Today the crumbling house and terraced gardens have a new
owner, Michael O’Malley, and the property is undergoing a conservation
effort that will stabilize it without sacrificing its unique character.
When the work is completed, Beale’s folk art legacy will be preserved
for all to enjoy.
The gracefully decaying Bianchini House (1882), on the corner of Burton
Drive and Center Street, is also on the verge of restoration, while
across Burton Drive the Squibb House (1877) stands as a delightful
example of old Cambria restored. On Center Street, a sagging red frame
building was once a meeting place and Taoist temple for the Chinese
residents of Cambria.
Harmony Valley Creamery Association
3. Harmony: Located in "downtown" Harmony, 8 miles north of
Cayucos on Highway 1.
The
Excelsior Cheese Factory, a large two-story wooden structure outfitted
with “all the best appliances used in the cheese factories of New
York,” was established on this site c.1870. At its peak the factory
produced 1,200 lbs of cheese a day, but production was erratic and
finally ceased altogether. In 1908 the factory got a new lease on life
when M. G. Salmina built the present structure and opened for business
as The Diamond Creamery. The Harmony Valley Creamery Association was
formed in 1913 with 22 charter members, all Swiss-Italian dairymen. By
1936 membership had reached 400 and the Harmony plant grew to include a
co-op store stocking supplies for the dairymen and a market for products
manufactured by the creamery. The association was affiliated with the
Challenge Creamery and Butter Association until 1956. Cheese and butter
making ceased in 1958 as the dairy farms changed to beef cattle,
although for a short while bulk milk continued to be pasteurized at the
plant.
For many years, Harmony has been a home for craftsmen working in glass
and pottery. Buildings that once housed the creamery operation now
reverberate with the hum of glass-blowing furnaces and pottery kilns.
The land that initially supported dairy cattle is now being given over
to viticulture and a winery, but the magic of the place remains.
"Little Italy" in Cayucos
4. Cayucos; Cayucos straddles Highway 1 about 7 miles north of Morro Bay
The
Cayucos Trading Post building dates back to at least 1895, when it was a
blacksmith’s and the small attached building to the south was a
woodworking shop. By the 1870s Cayucos was a bustling market center and
shipping hub for the dairies and farms that dotted the nearby coast and
valleys. Italian-speaking Swiss dairymen, most of whom had emigrated
from Canton Ticino, worked on or owned the majority of these dairies. On
“steamer day” they thronged into town to ship their butter, to have
farm equipment repaired, and to buy supplies. The second generation
continued speaking Italian, and often it was the only language heard on
the streets of Cayucos.
The
Cass House (1876), barn, warehouse, and pier near the north end of Ocean
Boulevard are reminders of the early importance of Cayucos as a port.
Captain James Cass came to Cayucos from England in 1867 and was
responsible for building the wharf which opened up the coast to markets
north and south. During the early 1900s the construction of roads
eventually brought an end to the coastal steamer trade.
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County Map of Areas and Sites on This Tour
