Gorda (
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
for "Fat") is a
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
in
Monterey County
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.
Montere ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
.
It is located south of Cape San Martin,
at an elevation of .
It is one of the three small settlements of filling stations, restaurants, and motels located along
State Route 1 on the
Big Sur
Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of California between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery. Big Sur ha ...
coast. The
ZIP Code is 93920, but mail must be addressed to Big Sur, and the community is inside
area code 805
Area codes 805 and 820 are telephone area codes in the U.S. state of California. 805 was split from area code 213 in 1957. They include most or all of the California counties of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, plus the southernmost por ...
.
History
![View of sea](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/View_of_sea.JPG)
The fresh springs in Gorda were used by Native American tribes. The first Europeans arrived in 1878, when a stagecoach stop was built. The settlement expanded with the Gold Rush in nearby
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
during the 1880s. A post office operated at Gorda from 1893 to 1923, moving in 1910.
Government surveyor James M. Hill described the town in February, 1921 as "a small ranching settlement on the coast about midway between Monterey and San Luis Obispo."
Road-side services include a small hotel and cottages, restaurant, gas station, deli, espresso bar, and convenience store. In 1979, the town attracted national attention after most of the land was purchased by
Kidco Limited Ventures, a corporation owned by four minor children from
Ramona, California
Ramona is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California. The population was 20,292 at the 2010 census.
The name ''Ramona'' also refers to an unincorporated community (with some plans to incorporate) that includes both the ...
who were heirs of the family that owned the
Cessna Aircraft
Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing ...
company. After funding the company, $500,000 was invested as a
tax shelter
Tax shelters are any method of reducing taxable income resulting in a reduction of the payments to tax collecting entities, including state and federal governments. The methodology can vary depending on local and international tax laws.
Types of ...
to purchase the town's land. At the time, Dickie Cessna was 14 years old and the other three siblings were June (16), Bette (13) and Nene (11). The Cessna children were paid for rights to a movie about these events and the comedy film ''
Kidco
''Kidco'' is a 1984 American comedy film directed by Ronald F. Maxwell and starring Scott Schwartz, Clifton James, Charles Hallahan, Maggie Blye, and Vincent Schiavelli.
Although the premise sounds far-fetched, the film was based on the 197 ...
'' was released by 20th Century in 1984.
Mud Creek slide
![Mud Creek slide](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Mud_Creek_slide.png)
On May 20, 2017, the largest slide in the
Big Sur Coast Highway
Big Sur Coast Highway is a section of California State Route 1 through the Big Sur region of California that is widely considered to be one of the most scenic driving routes in the United States, if not the world. It is both a National Scenic ...
's history at Mud Creek buried more than a quarter-mile of Highway 1 southeast of Gorda. The highway was closed for more than a year. This had a considerable negative economic impact for tourism between Monterey and Morro Bay. A CalTrans study concluded that rerouting the highway around the slide was preferred over other alternatives. The only route in and out of Gorda beginning in the south was via a lengthy detour over the narrow, winding
Nacimiento-Fergusson Road
Nacimiento-Fergusson Road is the only road across the Santa Lucia Range on the Central Coast of California, connecting California State Route 1 and the Big Sur coast to U.S. Route 101 and the Salinas Valley. The road is well-paved and maintai ...
. On August 2, 2017, CalTrans decided to rebuild the highway over the slide instead of clearing it. It was reopened on July 18, 2018 at a cost of $54 million.
Etymology
Gorda is derived from the Spanish word for "fat" or "well-fed".
High fuel prices
Gorda is occasionally mentioned as having the highest gasoline prices in the United States. This is due in part to the cost of a diesel generator that provides electricity to the gas station and town. It's also due to the limited availability of fuel in the area and the distance from suppliers, who must deliver fuel to Gorda from as far as
Santa Maria and
Paso Robles
Paso Robles ( ), officially El Paso de Robles (Spanish for "The Pass of Oaks"), is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Salinas River approximately north of San Luis Obispo, the city is known for its hot ...
, from away.
[ In 2008, the price was $6.70 per gallon.] In October 2021, the prices were $7.59 for unleaded and $8.49 for premium gas. On March 10, 2022, the price of unleaded was reported to be $9.159 and the price of premium gas was $10.159.
Geography
Under the Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
, "dry-summer subtropical" climates are often referred to as "Mediterranean". This climate zone has an average temperature above in their warmest months, and an average in the coldest between . Summers tend to be dry with less than one-third the rainfall of the wettest winter month, and with less than of precipitation in a summer month.
Climate
Government
At the county level, Gorda is represented on the Monterey County Board of Supervisors by Supervisor Dave Potter.
In the California State Legislature
The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legisla ...
, Gorda is in , and in .
In the United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
, Gorda is in .
References
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in California
Unincorporated communities in Monterey County, California
Populated coastal places in California
Big Sur