Virtual Tours
Living
on the Land Tour
Page 2
Templeton Livestock Market
5 - Templeton: Take Hwy 101 south from Paso Robles for 3 miles or
north from Atascadero 5 miles to the Main Street exit. Head east on
Main Street toward Historic Templeton for 1 mile. The Templeton
Livestock Market is located on the left just behind the long
street-front building which houses the "Hoover's Beef Palace
Restaurant" and several other businesses.
Established in the late 1940s by Walter Goodell, the Templeton
Livestock Market provided county ranchers with an auction site for
breeding bulls and locally raised livestock. In 1966 partners Dick
Nock, Bob Lewis, and Al Santos purchased the livestock market. To
improve service to county ranchers, the group built additional
corrals and holding pens. Brothers Jan and Gary Davis with Duane
Baxley purchased the market in 1983. Cattle auctions are held each
Saturday all year long. Hereford, Red Angus, and Black Angus
breeding bulls and miscellaneous other categories of cattle –
weaned steers, weaned heifers, pairs (cows with calves), bred
heifers, and bred cows of various breeds – are offered for sale in
the red rectangular auction building with its associated livestock
pens and corrals. From fifty to one hundred thousand cattle change
hands each year. A small animal auction of hogs, goats, sheep, drop
calves, and the occasional horse occurs the first Sunday of each
month.
York Mountain Winery
6 - Templeton: From Hwy 101 take Hwy 46 miles west 7.2 miles to York
Mountain Road, turn right, and proceed 1.6 miles to the winery. From
Hwy 1 take Hwy 46 13.6 miles east to York Mountain Road, turn left,
and proceed .6 miles to the winery.
York Mountain Winery nestles into its wooded site at the western end
of the Paso Robles wine district, where distinctive soils and
climate are ideal for growing premium Chardonnay, Cabernet
Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, and Zinfandel varietals. First dug into the
side of the hill in 1882, the ivy covered brick and wood winery
building exhibits a Spartan charm. Native stone walls flank the
entrance to the winery which is now, unfortunately, closed to the
public until the un-reinforced masonry walls can be rehabilitated
for earthquake safety. Some of the original winemaking equipment
remains on view outside the winery. Andrew York came to California
to find gold but stayed to found a winery. Between 1882 and 1970
three generations of the York family made wine here. Ownership then
passed to the Goldman family, and then in 2001 to David and Mary
Weyrich. The Weyrichs plan to restore the winery and continue its
tradition of small-scale production under its own appellation,
perpetuating York Mountain’s claim as the oldest continuously
operating commercial winery in San Luis Obispo County. Visit the
temporary tasting room located in the parking lot of the historic
winery.
Spooner Ranch House
7 - Montana de Oro State Park: From Hwy 101 at San Luis Obispo, take
Los Osos Valley Road west 15 miles through Los Osos (LOVR becomes
Pecho Road) and along the coast to the ranch house.
In 1892 Alden B. Spooner, Jr. built this ranch house overlooking the
sea. He first leased the land, then in 1902 bought it outright.
Eventually his Pecho Ranch and Cattle Company spread over 8,000
acres. The Spooners planted grain and field crops, ran dairy and
beef cattle, and slopped hogs with creamery waste. During the
1920s-30s they leased ocean terrace land to Japanese pea farmers.
Except for the highest slopes, every acre visible from the ranch
house was under cultivation. At least 18 outbuildings, a
water-powered creamery, and a cliffside loading chute for coastal
steamers once clustered near Spooner’s cove; now only the ranch
house and a concrete creamery (1915) remain.
A. B. Spooner typified the progressive farmer-dairymen who
transformed SLO agriculture at the turn of the 19th century. They owed
their success to technological innovation, better access to distant
markets, and lucky timing. In the 1890s mechanical cream separators
increased butter and cheese production; World War I European famine
created a high demand for beans; meanwhile ever-cheaper sea and rail
transportation carried local products far afield. The Spooner family
sold out in 1942. The ranch changed hands several times until the
1960s, when it became Montaña de Oro State Park. Since then former
fields have reverted to chaparral. Exhibits in the ranch house, now
the state park Visitor’s Center, show how Pecho Ranch looked in its
heyday.
Froom Ranch
8 - San Luis Obispo: The Froom Ranch is located at 12165 Los Osos
Valley Road, 0.4 miles west of the junction with Hwy 101. It is
visible at the end of an unnamed but posted private road to the south.
The ranch is not directly accessible; the best view is from the
Nursery parking lot of the Home Depot store.
Nestled against the Irish Hills at the southeast end
of Los Osos Valley, today the historic Froom Ranch sits all but
obscured behind the bulk of a big box store. The oldest, now derelict
ranch buildings date from the early 20th century. The milking barn —
the only round-end barn in the county — originally stood on the
eastern end of the ranch, and was later moved to its present location.
The larger residence, woodshed, wash room, storeroom, and bunkhouse
joined the ranch complex in 1915. Picturesque in setting and
appearance, until recently the Froom Ranch has been a popular subject
for local landscape artists. Originally swampy Los Osos Valley had
been drained early and developed by family farmers and ranchers into
prime grazing and row-crop land. Canadian immigrant John Froom came to
the valley in the 1880s. He first worked this ranch as a hired hand,
leased it in 1890, acquired ownership through marriage in 1904, and
ran cattle on its 500 acres until his death in 1929. His son Bill
continued the family tradition until his retirement; the new owner,
Alex Madonna, agreed to postpone property development until Froom had
lived out his natural life on his ancestral turf. The future of the
Froom Ranch is uncertain. It stands today as an artifact of changing
times and shifting land use priorities, a symbol of progress and of
loss.
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County Map of Areas and Sites on This Tour
