SLOTHE

CULTURETHE

HISTORYTHE

FOODWhat makes this small town

along California’s central coast so unique?

Learn about the origins of San Luis Obispo from the mission to

the first motel.

SLO is establishing itself as one of the most prominent culinary

cities on the central coast.

EXPLORE

MAY 2016

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SSan Luis Obispo (Spanish for St. Louis, the Bishop) is a city in California, located roughly midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco on the Central Coast. Founded in 1772 by Spanish Fr. Junípero Serra, San Luis Obispo is one of California’s oldest communities. The city, referred to locally as San Luis or SLO, is the county seat of San Luis Obispo County and is adjacent to California Polytechnic State University.

Earliest human inhabitants of the local area were the Chumash peoples. One of the earliest villages lies south of San Luis Obispo, and reflects the landscape of the early Holocene when

ALL THE

HISTORYestuaries came farther inland. These Chumash people exploited marine resources of the inlets and bays along the Central Coast and inhabited a network of villages including sites at Los Osos and Morro Creek.

San Luis Obispo was also a popular stop on both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1 with the

By: John Jacobs

Cal Poly’s first women’s basketball team.

Recognize this street? Historical San Luis

Obispo looks slightly different from the SLO

we know today.Photo: The Tribune

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HISTORYrise of car culture. Due to its popularity as a stop, it was the location of the firstmotel, the Milestone Mo-Tel.

Among San Luis Obispo’s historical buildings is the former San Luis Obispo Carnegie Library, located at 696 Monterey Street. The San Luis Obispo Carnegie Library was built in 1905 with a grant of $10,000 from Andrew Carnegie, who funded the establishment of 142 California libraries in the early 1900s. The Romanesque style building was designed by architect W. H. Weeks of Watsonville, California and was built by contractor Joseph Maino of San Luis Obispo. ∽

Traditional house on Higuera.

ALL THE HISTORY

Photo: The Tribune

Photo: The Tribune

MMadonna Inn is a famous local

landmark. Established by Alex

Madonna in 1958, the inn is famously

eccentric. The Fremont Theater, a

historic Art Deco theater from the

1940s, still plays first run movies on the

huge screen. Murals adorn the walls

of the main theater while neon swirls

light the ceiling. The Palm Theatre

boasts solar heating and is home to the

San Luis Obispo International Film

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CULTURE

Festival. Another destination

is Bubblegum Alley. Since

about 1960, people have been

sticking chewed gum on

the walls of this alley. The

doctor’s office on the corner of

Santa Rosa and Pacific streets

is one of very few commercial

buildings designed by Frank

Lloyd Wright. San Luis also

has a Carnegie Library which

is now home to the San Luis Obispo

County Historical Museum.

A sculpture of a child and bear at

the Mission in downtown San Luis

Obispo. A fish was added after the

photograph was taken. Lots of

mystery surrounds the “underground

city”, or the series of tunnels that

exists beneath the city. One of the

largest Mardi Gras parades West of

the Mississippi used to be held in

By: Sarah Marshall

The charm of San Luis Obispo wcan be

seen everywhere from Thursday Farmer’s

Market to the famous Madonna Inn.

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San Luis Obispo, but it has been canceled recently

because of difficulties related to crowd control and

alcohol consumption.

Cal Poly’s open house, Poly Royal, was held

annually from 1933 to 1990. It was canceled in

1945 due to war rationing. It began as a show-and-

tell for students to display their projects. It traces its

origins to the 1904 Farmer’s Institute and Picnic

Basket. By the 1980s, as the college became “the

most popular...university in the 19-campus CSU

system”, Poly Royal began drawing over 100,000

people from throughout the state, including

126,000 people in 1985. Concerts, parties,

and other entertainment were added and it

earned $3–4 million in revenue for the city

every year.

Following a “mini-riot” in 1989 at an off-

campus apartment during Poly Royal,

the events in 1990 would cancel the event

“indefinitely.” Two nights of rioting on April

28–29 led to 127 arrests, over 100 injuries and

Local vendors set up stands full of fresh

produce along Higuera Street every Thursday for Farmer’s Market.Photo: San Luis Obispo Collection

5SMALL TOWN CULTURE

14 police injuries on top of “several hundred

thousand dollars” worth of damage. A liquor

store near campus, Campus Bottle, was

destroyed by revelers demanding alcohol. The

second night was much larger than the first

as people were leaving a concert on campus

and parties off-campus were broken up and

revelers flooded the streets. Mayor Dunin

called the events “the worst experience in the

history of San Luis Obispo.” After a meeting

between Mayor Dunin and University

President Warren Baker the following

Monday, Poly Royal was canceled from

that point forward. The name Poly Royal

returned in 2001 as “Open House Presents

Poly Royal”, a scaled down version that

was designed for students and parents. San

Luis Obispo has been home of several other

events, including a stop on the way of the

Olympic Flame Relay, the Tour of California

bicycle race, Cinco de Mayo celebrations, an

annual Mozart festival, held every July, and

a long-standing Christmas Parade. Another

attraction is the development of Edna Valley

into a well-known wine region. Just south

of the city, people can spend an afternoon

wine tasting several wineries in the area with

a very short drive. The wine region extends

north beyond Paso Robles (30 miles north)

and south to Santa Ynez (70 miles south).

During Summer months, local residents and

visitors congregate in the Mission Plaza for a

free outdoor concert every Friday evening.

The event is called Concerts in the Plaza. Other

noteworthy events include the San Luis Obispo

International Film Festival, Festival Mosaic, and

the Plein Air Festival.

San Luis Obispo hosts a Farmer’s Market every

Thursday night from 6-9PM on Higuera Street,

between Osos and Nipomo Streets. During this

weekly event, the street is closed to vehicle traffic

while vendors sell food and goods and various

visual and music artists perform for the crowds.

Since June 2000, the first Thursday of every

month is The Bike Happening (also known as

Bike Nite) in San Luis Obispo. People gather

after the Farmer’s Market at the Mission Plaza

with their bikes. The bikers then go around on

multiple circuits on the main streets of downtown

adhering to the traffic laws (for the most part).

The ride is considered a fun/social ride meant to

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encourage people to get back on their bikes and to have fun. Each Bike Happening

has a theme and a large portion of the crowd is in some costume adherent to the

theme.

One of the cultural focal centers of San Luis Obispo is the Christopher Cohen

Performing Arts Center built on the Cal Poly Campus, which was constructed

utilizing the donations of local businesses and individuals. The Performing Arts

Center consists of multiple venues, including the original Spanos Theatre. The

largest venue, Harmon Hall, seats 1,300. Many high school and college programs

are scheduled. Local artists perform plays, music and dance. The addition of the

Performing Arts Center attracts many touring performances which are usually not

found in communities of comparable size to San Luis Obispo. The Summer of 2007

was the opening concert of the Forbes Pipe Organ, which was built elevated into

a side wall of Harmon Hall and required the donation of a further $3 million for

purchase and installation. ⁓ Article credit: Wikipedia

Local band performing at

Concerts in the Plaza.

Photo: San Luis Obispo Collection

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