San Simeon, California

History

Humans first settled the local area at least 11,000 years ago. Prehistorically, the local area was inhabited by the Chumash people, including a large village south of San Simeon at Morro Creek.

In 1542 the coastal exploration of Juan Cabrillo discovered the bay and named it the Bay of Sardines.

The first European land exploration of Alta California, the Spanish Portolà expedition, traveled northwest along the coast in September 1769. On September 11–12, the party passed the future location of San Simeon. At Ragged Point, which is about 15 mi past San Simeon, the party turned inland across the Santa Lucia Range.

San Simeon was founded as an asistencia ("sub-mission") to Mission San Miguel Arcángel, founded in 1797, and located to the east across the Santa Lucia Range. The Bay of San Simeon is mentioned in the records of San Miguel Mission for 1830. San Simeon was named for Rancho San Simeon, although the town-site is actually north of that rancho, on the former Rancho Piedra Blanca, a Mexican land grant given in 1840 to José de Jesús Pico. In 1865, Pico sold part of the rancho to George Hearst, the father of William Randolph Hearst.

The first Europeans to settle in the immediate area near the bay of San Simeon were Portuguese shore whalers under the command of Captain Joseph Clark (born Machado) from the Cape Verde Islands, around 1864. In 1869, Captain Clark built a wharf near the point for his whaling station. A small community grew near the 1869 wharf, but the waves near the wharf were too high, and the wharf was abandoned. In 1878, Hearst built a new wharf, and the small community moved near the new wharf. A general store (later Sebastian's Store) was built near the Clark wharf, and then relocated near the 1878 wharf. Shore whaling continued on the point until the mid-1890s. It ceased for a short time, started up again in 1897, and continued until about 1908 when it ceased for good.

In 1953, the Hearst Corporation donated the William Randolph Hearst Memorial Beach, including the Hearst Pier, to San Luis Obispo County. It is currently part of Hearst San Simeon State Park. The present-day San Simeon pier was built in 1957.

Geology

The name San Simeon also refers to some geologic structures of the area, particularly elements of the coastal Jurassic-age landforms and ophiolite rock formations.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the census-designated place covers an area of 0.8 square miles (2.1 km2), all of it land. The original townsite of San Simeon is at San Simeon Bay, and was the important 19th-century shipping point with the successive wharves that were built. San Simeon Acres, about 4 mi south of the original townsite at the mouth of Pico Creek, about halfway between old San Simeon and Cambria, was established in the 1950s. Most of the development at San Simeon Acres was in the 1960s to the 1980s. Many motels and cafes serve visitors to Hearst Castle, Big Sur and the beaches.

Climate

San Simeon and the Hearst Castle area has a mild warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb) featuring warm, dry summers & cool, wet winters that is moderated by its relative proximity to the Pacific coastline. NOW Data has readings from the San Simeon weather station since December 1999.

|Jan record high F = 84 |Feb record high F = 83 |Mar record high F = 85 |Apr record high F = 95 |May record high F = 94 |Jun record high F = 102 |Jul record high F = 101 |Aug record high F = 102 |Sep record high F = 109 |Oct record high F = 100 |Nov record high F = 89 |Dec record high F = 80

|Jan avg record high F = 74.6 |Feb avg record high F = 73.9 |Mar avg record high F = 76.8 |Apr avg record high F = 81.9 |May avg record high F = 84.6 |Jun avg record high F = 91.0 |Jul avg record high F = 91.9 |Aug avg record high F = 94.7 |Sep avg record high F = 96.1 |Oct avg record high F = 90.9 |Nov avg record high F = 83.1 |Dec avg record high F = 72.1 |year avg record high F = 100.3

|Jan avg record low F = 36.5 |Feb avg record low F = 34.5 |Mar avg record low F = 36.4 |Apr avg record low F = 37.3 |May avg record low F = 41.3 |Jun avg record low F = 44.7 |Jul avg record low F = 47.3 |Aug avg record low F = 48.2 |Sep avg record low F = 46.9 |Oct avg record low F = 46.4 |Nov avg record low F = 40.0 |Dec avg record low F = 35.5 |year avg record low F = 32.4

|Jan record low F = 28 |Feb record low F = 25 |Mar record low F = 32 |Apr record low F = 34 |May record low F = 38 |Jun record low F = 42 |Jul record low F = 45 |Aug record low F = 46 |Sep record low F = 42 |Oct record low F = 42 |Nov record low F = 32 |Dec record low F = 32

|access-date = September 3, 2023 |access-date = September 3, 2023

Demographics

|align-fn=center 1850–1870 1880-1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

San Simeon first appeared as a census designated place in the 2010 U.S. census.

For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined San Simeon as a census-designated place (CDP). The 2020 United States census reported that San Simeon had a population of 445. The population density was 558.3 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of San Simeon was 141 (31.7%) White, 1 (0.2%) African American, 10 (2.2%) Native American, 10 (2.2%) Asian, 0 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 213 (47.9%) from other races, and 70 (15.7%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 296 persons (66.5%).

The whole population lived in households. There were 187 households, out of which 50 (26.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 74 (39.6%) were married-couple households, 10 (5.3%) were cohabiting couple households, 46 (24.6%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 57 (30.5%) had a male householder with no partner present. 71 households (38.0%) were one person, and 41 (21.9%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.38.

The age distribution was 106 people (23.8%) under the age of 18, 37 people (8.3%) aged 18 to 24, 87 people (19.6%) aged 25 to 44, 123 people (27.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 92 people (20.7%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 43.5years. For every 100 females, there were 102.3 males.

There were 292 housing units at an average density of 366.4 /mi2, of which 187 (64.0%) were occupied. Of these, 79 (42.2%) were owner-occupied, and 108 (57.8%) were occupied by renters.

Infrastructure

The San Simeon Community Services District provides water and sewerage. The wastewater treatment plant is operated by a private company under contract with the district. The facility also processes sewage for Hearst Castle.

Education

It is in the Coast Unified School District. It also includes surrounding rural areas.

References

References

1. "San Simeon".
2. {{GNIS. 248966
3. C. Michael Hogan (2008). "[http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18502 Morro Creek]". ''The Megalithic Portal'', ed. A. Burnham.
4. (1974). "Where the Highway Ends". Williams Printing Co..
5. Bolton, Herbert E.. (1927). "Fray Juan Crespi: Missionary Explorer on the Pacific Coast, 1769–1774". HathiTrust Digital Library.
6. (1997-05-01). "The Lands Of Misson San Miguel". Word Dancer Press.
7. "Shore Whaling at San Simeon Bay".
8. [http://cambriahistory.org/?p=818 History of Sebastian's Store]
9. (2006). "The Portuguese Shore Whalers of California, 1854–1904". The Portuguese Historical Museum.
10. [http://www.slostateparks.com/hearst_memorial/default.asp W.R. Hearst Memorial Beach] at California State Parks
11. "San Simeon History & Timeline". San Simeon Chamber of Commerce.
12. (2008). "Ophiolites, Arcs, and Batholiths: A Tribute to Cliff Hopson". Geological Society of America.
13. (2004). "San Simeon Acres".
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27. "1990 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - California".
28. "2000 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - California".
29. "2010 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - California".
30. "San Simeon CDP, California; DP1: Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics - 2020 Census of Population and Housing".
31. "San Simeon CDP, California; P16: Household Type - 2020 Census of Population and Housing".
32. Tanner, Kathe. (December 8, 2023). "A tiny SLO County CSD considers calling it quits, plagued by lawsuits, regulatory hurdles". The Tribune.
33. Velie, Karen. (February 7, 2023). "State cites San Simeon for failures at wastewater facility".
34. Velie, Karen. (2024-07-10). "Hearst Castle agreement with San Simeon throws wrench into divestiture".
35. Geography Division. (December 18, 2020). "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: San Luis Obispo County, CA". [[U.S. Census Bureau]].