Virtual Tours

Historic By-Ways Tour
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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, Sebastians 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 Hearsts 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 Beales death, the property was administered by a foundation. Today the crumbling house and terraced gardens have a new owner, Michael OMalley, and the property is undergoing a conservation effort that will stabilize it without sacrificing its unique character. When the work is completed, Beales 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 blacksmiths 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.