Nipomo is in central California, along route 101, in San Obispo County. It is reputed to have the best climate in America. Nipomo was founded in the mid 1800s by William G. Dana of Boston. Dana, a ship’s captain. His journeys brought him to California, where he met, wooed, and wed Maria Josefa Carrillo of Santa Barbara. The couple had many children, several died in infancy, but thirteen of their offspring grew to adulthood. As children, they were taught to speak both English and Spanish; and also learned to speak the Chumash dialect. This was not easy because the Chumash language contains many long words and is very complicated.

Origin of name: Nipomo (the Indian word ne-po-mah meant "foot of the hill,”). This was originally the name of the Chumash. It meant "shell bead people."

The Dana clan brought the people of the area closer by means of their popular fiestas. U.S. Army Captain John C. Fremont (the “Pathfinder”) and his men visited the rancho on their to Santa Barbara in 1846. Captain Dana held a barbecue and presented thirty horses to Fremont and his soldiers.

Birth of a City

In what was to make history as one of the largest Mexican land grants in San Luis Obispo County, the governor of Mexico deeded the Rancho Nipomo to William Dana in 1837. By the 1880s, William Dana’s children and grandchildren had erected homes on the 38,000 acre ranch. Streets were developed and named, land was marketed to the public. and a town took shape.


The Dana Adobe
Captain Dana constructed a stage coach stop in 1839, which became a favorite rest stop for tired travelers. The Dana Adobe, situated on el Camino Real, between the missions of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara soon evolved into the exchange center for California’s first mail service.

About the Chumash
Although the town itself was founded by William Dana, the Chumash Indians were actually the first to settle in the area. The Chumash, famous for their basketry and their traditional legends, have resided in or near Nipomo for at least nine centuries.

In the 1800s, the Chumash people constructed wooden huts covered with grass. As primitive as this may sound, some of these homes were very grand and many were spacious enough to shelter a large extended family.

The Chumash were hunters and fishermen. men hunted and fished. They hunted with bows and arrows and fished from their canoes with nets and harpoons. The women cooked, cared for the children, collected herbs from the forests, and pounded corn into meal on a mortar for bread. Both men and women participated in artwork, basketry, and the retelling of stories and legends.

Today

The population of Nipomo today is about 12, 520. Hundreds of Blue Gum Eucalyptus trees were sowed on the Nipomo Mesa in 1908. These groves still exist today, in the same neat rows in which they were planted at the turn of the century.