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 countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
located in
San Luis Obispo County, California
San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a County (United States), county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo ...
. It was founded in 1889 near Cuesta Peak and
San Luis Obispo
; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...
along today's State Route 58. The town's name comes from the Mexican
Alta California
Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...
land grant of
Rancho Santa Margarita
Rancho Santa Margarita was a Ranchos of California, Mexican land grant in the Santa Lucia Range, Santa Lucia Mountains, in present day San Luis Obispo County, California, San Luis Obispo County, central California.
The List of Ranchos of Cali ...
. It is home to the Santa Margarita de Cortona Asistencia site. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Santa Margarita as a
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
(CDP). The population was 1,259 at the 2010 census.
History
Santa Margarita was named for the 13th-century Saint Margaret of Cortona (1247–1297).
Santa Margarita Valley, with its year-round running streams and abundant acorns, was a meeting place for northern Chumash and southern Salinan around 6500 BCE. The de Anza Expedition traversed the Cuesta Grade into the valley in 1776. After Fr. Junipero Serra founded the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, he realized that an ''assistancia'' (sub-mission) was needed. The Santa Margarita de Cortona Asistencia was founded circa 1775, and was named for the Italian Saint, Santa Margarita de Cortona. The Spanish El Camino Real trail past it is the city's present-day main street.
In 1841, following Mexico's 1822 independence and 1830s mission secularization, Joaquin Estrada became the owner of the
Rancho Santa Margarita
Rancho Santa Margarita was a Ranchos of California, Mexican land grant in the Santa Lucia Range, Santa Lucia Mountains, in present day San Luis Obispo County, California, San Luis Obispo County, central California.
The List of Ranchos of Cali ...
. Estrada was famed for his "Rancho Hospitality" with rodeos, BBQs and fiestas. After downturns in the economy and personal debts, Estrada sold the Rancho to the Martin Murphy family in 1860.
Patrick Murphy worked to restore the Rancho to a working agricultural ranch. On April 20, 1889, the Southern Pacific Railroad reached Santa Margarita from Templeton. A "Grand Auction" was held to sell lots for the new town of Santa Margarita along the El Camino Real. While construction down the Cuesta Grade took place, the railroad terminus was in Santa Margarita. This created a boom time in the community. All freight had to be loaded for stage transportation up and down the Cuesta Grade. Town boasted a hotel, restaurants, taverns, blacksmiths, and ice cream parlors. Once the "gap" was closed from Santa Margarita to San Luis Obispo in 1894 the town grew quiet.
Margarita Town saw a renaissance in the roaring 1920s. The El Camino Real was one of the primary roads for seeing California. The town offered a motor inn, hotel, six gas stations, garages, pool halls, restaurants, fraternal organizations, taverns and a baseball team.
The Depression hit the town and surrounding areas hard. The War Department took land from local farmers to build a reservoir on the Salinas River which created Santa Margarita Lake to provide water for Camp San Luis. The war ended before the work was completed and Santa Margarita Lake is now a County Recreation Area.
After Highway 101 bypassed Santa Margarita in 1956, the town was quiet once again. Today, it's a small town of 1,300 people. It is a quiet artist and family community.
Geography
Located in the foothills of the Santa Lucia Mountains, it is one of the most rural communities in
San Luis Obispo County
San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo.
Junípero Serra fou ...
. Santa Margarita Lake, a major water source for San Luis Obispo, is located several miles southeast of the town on the headwaters of the Salinas River. It is served by ZIP code 93453 and
area code 805
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 ...
.
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the CDP covers an area of , all of it land.
Demographics
The 2020 United States census reported that Santa Margarita had a population of 1,291. The population density was . The racial makeup of Santa Margarita was 1,003 (77.7%)
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 3 (0.2%)
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 62 (4.8%) from other races, and 207 (16.0%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 264 persons (20.4%).
The whole population lived in households. There were 538 households, out of which 149 (27.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 271 (50.4%) were married-couple households, 36 (6.7%) were
cohabiting
Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become incr ...
couple households, 126 (23.4%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 105 (19.5%) had a male householder with no partner present. 138 households (25.7%) were one person, and 54 (10.0%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.4. There were 352
families
Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...
(65.4% of all households).
The age distribution was 286 people (22.2%) under the age of 18, 73 people (5.7%) aged 18 to 24, 347 people (26.9%) aged 25 to 44, 373 people (28.9%) aged 45 to 64, and 212 people (16.4%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 41.1years. For every 100 females, there were 97.1 males.
There were 564 housing units at an average density of , of which 538 (95.4%) were occupied. Of these, 380 (70.6%) were owner-occupied, and 158 (29.4%) were occupied by renters.
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
Weather Underground
The Weather Underground was a far-left Marxist militant organization first active in 1969, founded on the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan. Originally known as the Weathermen, or simply Weatherman, the group was organized as a f ...