Region of California in the United States
Central Coast
|
---|
|
|
Location of the Central Coast in
California
(The lighter shaded area includes
South Coast
counties that are included in some definitions)
|
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
Ano 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.
History
[
edit
]
The Central Coast area was originally inhabited by
Chumash
,
Ohlone
,
Esselen
,
Salinan
, and other Native American people since at least 10,000
BC
. 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
.
[5]
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo
sailed north along the coast and landed in Santa Barbara County in 1542.
[6]
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.
[7]
: 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.
[8]
: 114
Overview
[
edit
]
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,
[9]
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.
[10]
Education
[
edit
]
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.
Population
[
edit
]
The six counties that make up the Central Coast region had an estimated population of 2,348,601 according to the 2020 census.
[11]
Counties by population
[
edit
]
County
|
FIPS
code
[12]
|
County seat
[13]
|
Established
[13]
|
Formed from
|
Etymology
[14]
|
Population
[11]
|
Area
[13]
|
Map
|
Ventura County
|
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
km
2
)
|
|
Santa Barbara County
|
083
|
Santa Barbara
|
1850
|
Original
|
The city of Santa Barbara, itself Spanish for
Saint Barbara
.
|
448,229
|
2,738
sq mi
(
7,091
km
2
)
|
|
Monterey County
|
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
km
2
)
|
|
San Luis Obispo County
|
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
km
2
)
|
|
Santa Cruz County
|
087
|
Santa Cruz
|
1850
|
Original
|
The city of Santa Cruz, itself Spanish for "holy cross"
|
270,861
|
446
sq mi
(
1,155
km
2
)
|
|
San Benito County
|
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
km
2
)
|
|
Major cities
[
edit
]
The following cities had a population over 20,000 as of the 2020 census:
[15]
- Oxnard
- 202,063
- Salinas
- 163,542
- Thousand Oaks
- 126,966
- Simi Valley
- 126,356
- Ventura
- 110,763
- Santa Maria
- 109,707
- Santa Barbara
- 88,665
- Camarillo
- 70,741
- Santa Cruz
- 62,956
- Watsonville
- 52,590
- San Luis Obispo
- 47,063
- Lompoc
- 44,444
- Hollister
- 41,678
- Moorpark
- 36,284
- Goleta
- 32,690
- Seaside
- 32,366
- Paso Robles
- 31,490
- Santa Paula
- 30,657
- Monterey
- 30,218
- Atascadero
- 29,773
- Soledad
- 24,925
- Marina
- 22,359
- Port Hueneme
- 21,954
Transportation
[
edit
]
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.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
California Central Coast Tourism
. Centralcoast-tourism.com. Retrieved on 2013-10-01.
- ^
"Archived copy"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on October 24, 2014
. Retrieved
October 18,
2014
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link
)
- ^
Brent, Jon (May 13, 2014).
"Covered California enrollment beats projections by wide margin on Central Coast"
.
Kionrightnow.com
. Retrieved
November 7,
2017
.
- ^
"Coastal Geographic Center of California"
.
- ^
Map, The Megalithic Portal and Megalith.
"Morro Creek"
.
The Megalithic Portal
. Retrieved
November 7,
2017
.
- ^
Kathleen Thompson Hill and Gerald Hill (2004)
Santa Barbara and the Central Coast: California's Riviera
, Globe Pequot, pages
ISBN
0-7627-2810-8
- ^
Henson, Paul; Donald J. Usner (1993).
"The Natural History of Big Sur"
(PDF)
. University Of California Press. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on June 17, 2010
. Retrieved
August 12,
2016
.
- ^
Pritzker, Barry M. (2000).
A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples
. Oxford [u.a.]: Oxford University Press.
ISBN
978-0-19-513877-1
.
- ^
"Central Coast Film Society"
.
CENTRAL COAST FILM SOCIETY
.
- ^
"Oxnard (city) Quick Facts"
.
United States Census Bureau
. Archived from
the original
on 7 September 2012
. Retrieved
7 August
2015
.
- ^
a
b
"Explore Census Data"
.
United States Census Bureau
. Retrieved
October 8,
2021
.
- ^
"EPA County FIPS Code Listing"
.
EPA.gov
. Retrieved
February 23,
2008
.
- ^
a
b
c
National Association of Counties.
"NACo - Find a county"
. Archived from
the original
on June 5, 2008
. Retrieved
April 30,
2008
.
- ^
Sanchez, Nellie Van de Grift (1914).
Spanish and Indian Place Names of California: Their Meaning and Their Romance
. San Francisco: A. M. Robertson.
OCLC
4268886
.
- ^
"U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts"
.
United States Census Bureau
. Retrieved
August 14,
2021
.
External links
[
edit
]
35°36′N
121°06′W
/
35.6°N 121.1°W
/
35.6; -121.1
|
---|
Counties
| |
---|
Cities and towns
100k-250k
| |
---|
Cities and towns
25k-100k
| |
---|
Cities and towns
10k-25k
| |
---|
Sub-regions
| |
---|