Spend any amount of time here and it quickly becomes apparent why Father Junipero Serra chose San Luis Obispo to build a mission. SLO proudly and enthusiastically embraces the past and makes it easy for visitors to take it all in with a simple foot tour around downtown. With the map on page 17, you can experience San Luis Obispo through the last two and a half centuries. + Mission Plaza, 1968 Mission Plaza is the center of San Luis Obispo’s history and an ideal spot to begin your tour of historic SLO. A gathering spot for the community, as well as many community events and festivals year-round. Through a nearby
+ Jack House, 1875 Pioneering rancher and banker Robert Edgar Jack built this home, which has been preserved as a museum of Victorian life circa 1880. + St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 1867 One of the first Episcopal churches in California, St. Stephen’s houses a pipe organ donated by Phoebe Apperson Hearst. + Myron Angel Home, 1883 This red Victorian was the home of Myron Angel, one of the driving forces behind the establishment of Cal Poly. A publisher of The Tribune in the 1880’s, Angel wrote a history of SLO County that was published in 1883.
footbridge, the plaza adjoins to the creekwalk and provides access to shops on Higuera Street. + Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, 1772 Considered by many to be the most beautiful in the mission series, this mission was the fifth of the 21 California missions built. + San Luis Creek The mission’s earliest source of water, San Luis Creek can be found in many spots throughout town including at Mission Plaza and along the creekwalk downtown. + Judge Walter Murray Adobe, 1849 At one end of Mission Plaza you will find the adobe home of Walter Murray, an Englishman who came to California with Stevenson’s Regiment of New York Volunteers in 1846. Murray printed the first editions of San Luis Obispo’s local newspaper, The Tribune, in this building. + History Center of SLO County, 1905 One of the roughly 3,000 public libraries built worldwide by steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie, this building became the County Historical Museum in 1956.
MISSION SAN LUIS OBISPO DE TOLOSA
+ The Creamery, 1906 SLO County once was home to the largest dairy industry in the United States. This full-service creamery did not close until 1974. It now houses art galleries, shops and restaurants.
+ Historic Railroad District, 1894 The Southern Pacific Railroad route connected Los Angeles to San Francisco and brought the city into the industrial age. The district is now a busy neighborhood, which includes the train station, railroad museum, and many restaurants and businesses. + Dallidet Adobe, 1853 Pierre Hypolite Dallidet, who established the first commercial vineyard on the Central Coast, built this home. The adobe contains many original furnishings and is surrounded by gardens. + Ramona Depot, 1889 The Southern Pacific Railroad Company built the depot to serve the luxurious Ramona Hotel. The elegant Victorian burned to the ground in 1905, leaving only the depot, which now shelters the horse-drawn carriage that carried passengers between the hotel and the train station. + Kundert Medical Building, 1956 Designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, this building is a popular stop on many architectural tours of SLO. + Fremont Theatre, 1940 SLO’s Art Deco movie palace is fully restored, with all of its original features. Its ceiling is painted with sea nymphs on horseback and its marquee is a neon showpiece at night. CONTINUED ON PAGE14 visitslo.com
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