County Past
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San Luis Obispo County, California

Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.

—newspaper titles
—digitized titles
38historic places
—earliest paper
1850formed
282,424pop. 2020
16cemeteries
—CW battlefields

At a glance

Summary

The National Register of Historic Places includes 38 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1971; 3 are also National Historic Landmarks. Most listings are in or near San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, Atascadero.

Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.

Newspapers

Library of Congress

Newspaper directory data for California is not yet loaded on this site. Browse San Luis Obispo titles at the Library of Congress.

National Register of Historic Places

NPS NRHP

24 of 38 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.

38 listed properties
PropertyCityTypeListed
Administration Building, Atascadero ColonyAtascaderoBuilding1977
Ah Louis StoreSan Luis OpispoBuilding2008
Angel, Myron, HouseSan Luis ObispoBuilding1982
Archeological Site 4 SLO 834AtascaderoSite1982
Arroyo Grande IOOF HallArroyo GrandeBuilding1991
Atascadero PrinteryAtascaderoBuilding2004
Bank of ItalyPaso RoblesBuilding1998
Brewster-Dutra HousePaso RoblesBuilding1982
Caledonia AdobeSan MiguelBuilding1971
Call-Booth HouseRoblesBuilding1988
Carrizo Plain Rock Art Discontiguous District NHLCalifornia ValleyDistrict2001
Corral de PiedraSan Luis ObispoSite1978
Dana AdobeNipomoBuilding1971
Eight Mile HouseSanta MargaritaBuilding1995
Guthrie HouseCambriaBuilding1980
Halcyon Historic DistrictHalcyonDistrict2017
Hearst San Simeon Estate NHLSan SimeonBuilding1972
Jack, Robert, HouseSan Luis ObispoBuilding1992
Lincoln SchoolPaso RoblesBuilding2001
MONTEBELLO (shipwreck and remains)CambriaSite2016
Mission San Miguel Arcangel NHLSan MiguelBuilding1971
Monday Club of San Luis ObispoSan Luis ObispoBuilding2016
Morro Bay State Park Trailer and Tent CampgroundMorro BayDistrict2014
Old Santa Rosa Catholic Church and CemeteryCambriaBuilding1982
Pacific Coast Railway Company Grain WarehouseSan Luis ObispoBuilding1988
Paso Robles Almond Growers Association WarehousePaso RoblesBuilding2016
Pereira Octagon BarnSan Luis ObispoBuilding2014
Piedras Blancas Light StationSan SimeonDistrict1991
Port San Luis SiteSan Luis ObispoSite1978
Powerhouse, TheSan Luis ObispoBuilding1993
Price, John, HousePismo BeachDistrict1988
Rancho Canada de los Osos y Pecho y IslaySan Luis ObispoSite1975
Robles, Paso, Carnegie LibraryPaso RoblesBuilding1998
San Luis Obispo Carnegie LibrarySan Luis ObispoBuilding1995
San Luis Obispo Light StationAvila BeachDistrict1991
Tognini and Ghezzi BuildingCayucosBuilding2025
Tribune-Republic BuildingSan Luis ObispoBuilding1993
William Shipsey HouseSan Luis ObispoBuilding2010

Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.

County formation

Newberry AHCB

San Luis Obispo was formed in 1850 (1850-02-18) from unknown / original county.

SAN LUIS OBISPO created from non-county area.

Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

Population by decade

Census

San Luis Obispo County population from 1850 to 2020 (Census historical series).

282k141k3361850188019201940196020002020
18501860188019001920194019501960198020002020
3361,7829,14216,63721,89333,24651,41781,044155,435246,681282,424

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.

Cemeteries & historical places

USGS GNIS

16 cemeteries and 11 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.

Cemeteries — 16 of 16 listed
NameLatLon
Adelaida Cemetery35.65636-120.87379
Arroyo Grande Cemetery35.12242-120.59299
Atascadero Pine Mountain Cemetery35.49658-120.65632
Cambria Cemetery35.57573-121.09903
Cayucos-Morro Bay District Cemetery35.43779-120.88593
Clark Memorial Park35.6566-120.3787
Halcyon Cemetery35.10608-120.5996
Los Osos Valley Memorial Park35.30455-120.80186
Old Mission Cemetery35.26609-120.66906
Paso Robles District Cemetery35.6421-120.70252
Quintana Cemetery35.35192-120.79018
Santa Margarita Cemetery35.39153-120.5893
Santa Rosa Cemetery35.56587-121.08096
Shandon Cemetery35.66943-120.35407
Sutcliffe Cemetery35.26318-120.67057
Templeton Cemetery35.57197-120.70213
Historical populated places — 11 of 11
NameLatLon
Asphalt Mines35.19359-120.61045
Dove35.45053-120.63295
Eaglet35.45608-120.62378
Maxwellton35.20164-120.61545
Musick35.20775-120.40016
Navajo35.37886-120.2821
Poloma35.45997-120.62739
Reeds35.17914-120.59211
Steele35.21442-120.61795
Summit35.06775-120.51211
Wolforts35.3783-119.9293

Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.

Historical markers

HMdb link

Marker text and photos from the Historical Marker Database (HMdb) are not embedded here. HMdb allows non-commercial reuse with attribution, but commercial/compensated use needs written permission; this is a commercial site, so we only link out.

Search HMdb for San Luis Obispo County, California

Terms: hmdb.org/copyright.asp. Linking is encouraged by HMdb.