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Historical Morro Bay
Spooner History - by Joyce Cory
Pictures, postcards, memorabilia, historical information, and stories from earlier days in Morro Bay
Point Piedras Blancas, an Images of America book by Arcadia Publishing, co-authored by Carole Adams and John Boqacki.
Early Post Cards and Memorabilia
Natural History Museum (has many exhibits related to the history of Morro Bay)
The best book on the history of Morro Bay
(back in print 2001) is
Morro Bay's Yesterdays by Dorothy L, Gates and Jane H. Bailey
(Used copies can still be found. The Morro Bay Library has
several copies.
For sale at local book stores (Try the Coalesce Book Store, 845 Main Street, Morro Bay, California, 805-772-2880)
and the Natural History Museum.
Ask
around)
Issued in 2006, "Morro Bay (Images of America)" by Roger Castle and Gary Ream of The Historical Society of Morro Bay, is a very welcome addition to the limited printed information available about the history Morro Bay, CA, a California central coast treasure. This is a must-have volume for local residents and others interested in Morro Bay history, along with the earlier classic 1982 "Morro Bay's yesterdays: Vignettes of our city's lives & times" by Dorothy Gates and Jane Bailey. Both books provide extensive historical photos not available elsewhere.
Miscellaneous
- Historical
Outline
"Morro Rock, the ancient landmark towering 576 feet above the entrance to Morro Bay, was named by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo during his voyage of discovery up the California coast in 1542. The last in a chain of long-extinct volcanoes, Morro Rock soon became a landfall for Spanish galleons sailing the coastal waters. The captain of one of those vessels, Pedro de Unamuno, put into Morro Bay [see contest below] in 1587, claiming the land for Spain. Don Gaspar de Portola and his party camped near the rock during their march to Monterey, and a page from his journal of 1769 notes the rock was an island at high tide, "a little less than a gunshot" from shore."- Henry R. Wagner’s Spanish Voyages to the Northwest Coast of America in the Sixteenth Century (California Historical Society, San Francisco, 1929) reportedly includes an English translation of Unamuno’s account of his travels.
- Did Philippine
Luzones Indios really land in Morro
Bay in 1587? by Hector
Santos
(this interesting article questions the accuracy of the above widely repeated general claim more (specific) of a "1587 first landing" in Morro Bay) Related plaque at Morro Bay. - Did Pedro de Unamuno Really Land in Morro Bay
in 1587? Probably Not!
For a shortcut to this article, go to http://morro-bay.com/1587/
Lynne Landwehr's HistoryinSLOCounty.org
-- Just
what it says it is. One of the best local historical sites!!!-
morrobay.com has a nice history section
-
Wilmar Tognazzini's home page (respected Morro Bay old-timer and author of Telegram Tribune "One Hundred Years Ago" columns)
-
Photos
- Photo Gallery, fair-use from Morro Bay's Yesterday's by Gates & Bailey. (use by permission from Jane Bailey, 1-6-02)
- 1890's view of Morro Rock from where town is today
- 1890's view of Morro Rock from north of Morro Creek
- Pre-1933 aerial photo from north
- Pre-1933 aerial photo from east
-
1990's
aerial view for contrast
(note, harbor now is open only from the south side of the rock, whereas earlier the rock was an island, and usually entered from the north entrance) - Morro Rock Historical Landmark Plaque
- Historical Landmark, declared by the Filipino American National Historical Society, California Central Coast Chapter, Dedicated October 21, 1995 (text and photos) in Coleman Park in Morro Bay, regarding Unamuno's reported 1587 landing
- Further discussion (re-iteration) of Unamuno's reported 1587 landing.
- Examples of Archaeological and Prehistoric Sites in California; 8,000 Years of Change at Morro Bay: An Archaeological Perspective
- Random research into the possible derivation of the word "Morro," or "Moro," as Morro Bay was know in the 1800's:
-
HeritageShared.org
This is a great resource.
Heritage Shared's activities include educational programming, sponsoring
public events, historical research and interpretation, preserving and
exhibiting historical materials, and fostering cooperation among Central
Coast historical organizations. This site lists many useful
history-related links
http://heritageshared.org/docs/links.html including
- Cal Poly - Kennedy Library - Special Collections
- Central Coast History Foundation
- Dana Adobe Nipomo Amigos
- Estrella Warbirds Museum
- Friends of Hearst Castle
- 04/2010 This link was removed at request of another site owner.
- History in San Luis Obispo County by Lynne Landwehr
- History of San Luis Obispo’s Chinese
- Morro Bay Natural History Museum
- National Register of Historic Places: San Luis Obispo County
- Octagon Barn Restoration Page
- San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder
- San Luis Obispo County Historical Society (has a good book list)
- San Luis Obispo County Archaeological Society
- San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum
-
Native Sons of the Golden
West Parlors has a new NSGW Historical Preservation Foundation
website
-
(2006, have a major new "Morsels" Contributor!)
Manny Silva's
The Bloody Fifties: Law and Order in Early San Luis Obispo County -
History of the Caccia Home, 560 (5th St.) Morro Bay Blvd.
http://bayshorerealty.net/staff/history.htm
-
Here are two photos
Red Truhitte
sent in - he photographed these from the wall of
Kitty's Kitchen in Morro Bay
These show a drawing of John Greening's Carp Lake
(also known as Greening Lake and Green Lake) north of Morro Rock (from the
area known today as The Cloisters subdivision) in the 1800's, and an aerial
view of Morro Rock where a rail trestle to the rock connects the rock to the
land.
