Central Coast | |
---|---|
Country | United States |
State | California |
Population | 2,249,558 (All 6 counties combined) |
The Central Coast is an area of California, roughly spanning the coastal region between Point Mugu and Monterey Bay. It lies northwest of Los Angeles and south of the San Francisco Bay Area, and includes the rugged, rural, and sparsely populated stretch of coastline known as Big Sur. [1]
From south to north, there are six counties that make up the Central Coast: Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz. [2] [3]
The Central Coast is the location of the Central Coast American Viticultural Area.
Geographically, the actual midpoint of the California coast lies north of Santa Cruz, near Año Nuevo State Park in San Mateo County. [4] Neither the popular use of the term Central Coast nor that of the California North Coast include the San Francisco Peninsula counties of San Mateo and San Francisco.
The Central Coast area was inhabited by Chumash, Ohlone, Esselen, Salinan, and other Native American people since at least 10,000 BC. [5] Many of these communities were coastal, where the people utilized marine resources and dwelt near freshwater inflows to the Pacific Ocean. For example, there were significant communities near the mouth of Morro Creek and Los Osos Creek. [6]
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sailed north along the coast and landed in Santa Barbara County in 1542. [7]
After the Spanish established the California missions in 1770, they baptized and forced the native population to labor at the missions. While living at the missions, the aboriginal population was exposed to diseases unknown to them, like smallpox and measles, for which they had no immunity, devastating the Native American population and their culture. Many of the remaining Native Americans assimilated with Spanish and Mexican ranchers in the nineteenth century. [8] : 264–267
Under Spanish law, the indigenous people were technically free individuals, but they could be compelled by force to labor without pay. With the help of the soldiers who guarded the mission, the Indians who lived near the mission were forcibly relocated, conscripted, and trained as plowmen, shepherds, cattle herders, blacksmiths, and carpenters on the mission. Disease, starvation, over work, and torture decimated the tribe. [9] : 114
The region is known primarily for agriculture and tourism. Major crops include wine grapes, lettuce, strawberries, and artichokes. The Salinas Valley is one of the most fertile farming regions in the United States. Tourist attractions include Cannery Row in Monterey, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the theatres, galleries and white sand beaches of Carmel-by-the-Sea, the golf courses of Pebble Beach and the Monterey Peninsula, the rugged coastline of Big Sur and Hearst Castle in San Simeon. Further south is Morro Rock and the port city of Morro Bay, which is adjacent to college town San Luis Obispo. The Santa Ynez Valley is home to the Central Coast Film Society, [10] which celebrates filmmakers, cinema and media arts that are from the region, also known as "Hollywood's Backyard."
The area is not densely populated. The largest city in the region is Oxnard in Ventura County, with a population estimated at 203,007 in 2013. [11]
University of California campuses are found in Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz, near the south and north edges of the region respectively. California State University, Monterey Bay, founded in 1994, uses facilities donated when Fort Ord was converted from military to civilian uses. California Polytechnic State University, in San Luis Obispo, was founded in 1901. California State University Channel Islands opened in Camarillo in 2002, as the 23rd campus in the California State University system.
The six counties that make up the Central Coast region had an estimated population of 2,348,601 according to the 2020 census. [12]
County | FIPS code [13] | County seat [14] | Established [14] | Formed from | Etymology [15] | Population [12] | Area [14] | Map |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
VenturaCounty | 111 | Ventura | 1872 | Santa Barbara | The city of Ventura, itself an abbreviation of San Buenaventura, Spanish for St. Bonaventure. | 843,843 | 1,846 sq mi (4,781 km2) | |
Santa BarbaraCounty | 083 | Santa Barbara | 1850 | Original | The city of Santa Barbara, itself Spanish for Saint Barbara. | 448,229 | 2,738 sq mi (7,091 km2) | |
MontereyCounty | 053 | Salinas | 1850 | Original | Monterey Bay, itself a Spanish compound meaning "royal mountain", from monte ("mountain" or "hill") and rey ("king"). | 439,035 | 3,322 sq mi (8,604 km2) | |
San Luis ObispoCounty | 079 | San Luis Obispo | 1850 | Original | The city of San Luis Obispo, itself Spanish for Saint Louis, the Bishop. | 282,424 | 3,304 sq mi (8,557 km2) | |
Santa CruzCounty | 087 | Santa Cruz | 1850 | Original | The city of Santa Cruz, itself Spanish for "holy cross" | 270,861 | 446 sq mi (1,155 km2) | |
San BenitoCounty | 069 | Hollister | 1874 | Monterey | The San Benito River and its valley, itself named in Spanish after Saint Benedict. | 64,209 | 1,389 sq mi (3,597 km2) |
The following cities had a population over 20,000 as of the 2020 census: [16]
Travel is almost entirely by private automobile. Because of its position roughly halfway between the major cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco, San Luis Obispo is home to America's first motel. The major highway is U.S. Route 101, which runs north–south from Los Angeles, through most of the major communities of the Central Coast, to San Francisco. State Route 1, a smaller but much more scenic route, connects the coastal communities, running through San Simeon, Morro Bay, and Big Sur. Amtrak maintains train service with the Coast Starlight and Pacific Surfliner routes along the Union Pacific Railroad Coast Line that also transports freight. There are no major airports, although Monterey, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo have regional airports with commuter service. Greyhound buses serve most of the region.
Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) operates bus services throughout Monterey County as far south as Big Sur on the coast and King City in the Salinas Valley. MST also offers connection service to San Jose Diridon Station, downtown Santa Cruz, and Paso Robles and Templeton in Northern San Luis Obispo County via regional routes. Santa Cruz Metro offers services within Santa Cruz County, including connections to San Jose and San Jose State and connection to MST service in Watsonville, heading south to Salinas.
State Route 1 (SR 1) is a major north–south state highway that runs along most of the Pacific coastline of the U.S. state of California. At 656 miles (1,056 km), it is the longest state route in California, and the second-longest in the US after Montana Highway 200. SR 1 has several portions designated as either Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), Cabrillo Highway, Shoreline Highway, or Coast Highway. Its southern terminus is at Interstate 5 (I-5) near Dana Point in Orange County and its northern terminus is at U.S. Route 101 (US 101) near Leggett in Mendocino County. SR 1 also at times runs concurrently with US 101, most notably through a 54-mile (87 km) stretch in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, and across the Golden Gate Bridge.
Monterey County, officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 439,035. The county's largest city and county seat is Salinas.
San Luis Obispo County, officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo.
San Luis Obispo is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway between the San Francisco Bay Area in the north and Greater Los Angeles in the south. The population was 47,063 at the 2020 census.
Area codes 805 and 820 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the U.S. state of California. The numbering plan area (NPA) includes most or all of the counties of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and the southernmost portions of Monterey County. 805 was split from area code 213 in 1957, and area code 820 was added to the NPA in 2018, creating an area code overlay.
The Santa Lucia Mountains or Santa Lucia Range is a rugged mountain range in coastal central California, running from Carmel southeast for 140 miles (230 km) to the Cuyama River in San Luis Obispo County. The range is never more than 11 miles (18 km) from the coast. The range forms the steepest coastal slope in the contiguous United States. Cone Peak at 5,158 feet (1,572 m) tall and three miles (5 km) from the coast, is the highest peak in proximity to the ocean in the lower 48 United States. The range was a barrier to exploring the coast of central California for early Spanish explorers.
The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) is a federally protected marine area offshore of California's Big Sur and central coast in the United States. It is the largest US national marine sanctuary and has a shoreline length of 276 miles (444 km) stretching from just north of the Golden Gate Bridge at San Francisco to Cambria in San Luis Obispo County. Supporting one of the world's most diverse marine ecosystems, it is home to numerous mammals, seabirds, fishes, invertebrates and plants in a remarkably productive coastal environment. The MBNMS was established in 1992 for the purpose of resource protection, research, education, and public use.
Central California is generally thought of as the middle third of the U.S. state of California, north of Southern California and south of Northern California. It includes the northern portion of the San Joaquin Valley, part of the Central Coast, the central hills of the California Coast Ranges and the foothills and mountain areas of the central Sierra Nevada.
The Coast Line is a railroad line between Burbank, California and the San Francisco Bay Area, roughly along the Pacific Coast. It is the shortest rail route between Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Though not as busy as the Surf Line, the continuation of the Coast Line southbound to San Diego, it still sees freight movements and lots of passenger trains. The Pacific Surfliner, which runs from the San Diego Santa Fe Depot to San Luis Obispo via Union Station in Los Angeles, is the third busiest Amtrak route, and the busiest outside of the Northeast Corridor between Washington D.C. and Boston.
The Diocese of Monterey in California is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese, of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in the central coast region of California. It comprises Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz counties.
California's State Assembly districts are numbered 1st through 80th, generally in north-to-south order.
Coastal California, also known as the California Coastline and the Golden Coast, refers to the coastal regions of the U.S. state of California. The term is not primarily geographical as it also describes an area distinguished by cultural, economic and political attributes.
Wings West Airlines was an American regional airline headquartered at McChesney Field (SBP), unincorporated San Luis Obispo County, California. The airline initially began scheduled passenger service as an independent commuter air carrier and then subsequently became an American Eagle affiliate of American Airlines operating turboprop aircraft on code sharing flights on behalf of American.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the U.S. state of California:
This timeline of the Portolá expedition tracks the progress during 1769 and 1770 of the first European exploration-by-land of north-western coastal areas in what became Las Californias, a province of Spanish colonial New Spain. Later, the region was administratively-split into Baja and Alta. The first section of the march was on the Baja California peninsula, and the northern section of the expedition's trail was in today's US state of California.
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