Regional Overview

LOCATION

The Santa Maria Valley is conveniently located 75 miles north of Santa Barbara, 170 miles north of Los Angeles and 270 miles south of San Francisco at the intersection of California State Highway 101 and Highway 166. With an elevation of 206 feet, Santa Maria’s incorporated area encompasses roughly 21 square miles. An adopted sphere of influence extends its geographic reach by 24 square miles.

For a city map listing Santa Maria Valley attractions, please click here.

For a map showing Santa Maria’s central location in State of California, please click here.

TRANSPORATION

Rail: Amtrak offers daily service into Guadalupe from the Pacific Surfliner train: one direct route to Los Angeles daily. From San Luis Obispo: four daily schedules north to San Francisco and south to Santa Barbara and Los Angeles; early afternoon trains depart from San Luis Obispo, (800) 872-7245.

Highways: Santa Maria is bisected by California State Highway 101 and Highway 166. State Highway 154, located only 20 miles to the south, completes Santa Maria’s transportation grid.

Bus: 6 northbound, 5 southbound daily schedules are provided by Greyhound Bus, (805) 925-8841. Local bus service provided by Santa Maria Area Transit, (805) 928-5624. North intercity service by Central Coast Area Transit, (805) 541-2228.

Air: The Santa Maria Public Airport which is now an International Airport is served by SkyWest United Express, (800) 293-1437, which provides daily service to Los Angeles with connecting flights to all major cities worldwide and Allegiant Air (1-800-432-3810) with direct flights from Santa Maria to Las Vegas three times a week. The airport has two runways: 6,300 and 5,270 feet which will be expanded to 8,000 feet by 2008, a terminal building, a brand new 4,100 square foot baggage claim area, restaurant, hotel, museum, hangars, fuel, tie-downs, offices and landing aids. For more information visit their web-site at www.santamariaairport.com.

TRANSPORTATION FEATURES

Santa Maria Public Airport District

The Santa Maria Public Airport/Capt. G. Allan Hancock Field is owned and operated by the Santa Maria Public Airport District. The Airport is located on 2,526 acres of land within the City of Santa Maria and is 3 miles south of the center of the City. The Community of Orcutt abuts the Airport to the south and east.

The Airport is classified as a Commercial Service Primary Airport in the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems. The designated role of the Airport is to serve short-haul air carrier routes of less than 500 miles.

Runway 12L-30 is retained at 6,300 feet and a width of 150 feet to handle commuter business jet, other large aircraft and general aviation aircraft expected to use the Airport during the planning period. Runway 2-20 is retained at 5,129 feet and width of 75 feet to handle occasional commuter business jet aircraft and general aviation aircraft.

Santa Maria Valley Railroad

The Santa Maria Valley Railroad is a privately owned shortline railroad which has served the Valley since 1911. Through their connection with the Union Pacific Railroad at Guadalupe, the Santa Maria Valley is connected to the entire nation wide rail network.

The Railroad offers public loading and unloading facilities including a team track, yard area and ramps. “Heavy cars” rated at 286,000 pounds can also be handled.

Climate

Just 12 miles from the Pacific coastline, Santa Maria enjoys a smog-free climate with mild temperatures throughout the year. Ocean breezes cool the valley in the summer and exert a warm influence in winter. Hazy morning fog is prominent in the summer months.

POPULATION

City of Santa Maria 137,190
Santa Maria Valley – 119,000, which includes the unincorporated area of Orcutt, Guadalupe, Sisquoc, Tepusquet, Gary and Casmalia.

ALL-AMERICA CITY

In 1998, Santa Maria won the coveted All-America City Award from the National Civic League. The award honors community collaboration in solving problems and making the city a better place to live and work.

HISTORY

The beginnings of Santa Maria Valley’s development date back to the adventurous era of Spanish land grants and ranchos. After Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo arrived in the Valley in 1542, and the Portola exploration party passed through in 1769 during its search for the Monterey Bay, two sites were eventually chosen to the north and southwest for missions built by the Spanish church. Mission San Luis Obispo (1772) and La Purisima Concepcion (1787) were catalysts for early settlement, and flourished until 1821 when Spain granted Mexico independence and the missions were secularized. Lands were broken up and for the first time individuals were granted land ownership.

When Benjamin Foxen purchased Rancho Tinaquaic in 1837, he and his Spanish Bride, the former Eduarda Osuna, built a small adobe on the property. The Foxen family lived for many generations on the rancho where Benjamin was called “Don Julian” by Eduarda’s people. One of Foxen’s daughters, Ramona, married Englishman Frederick Wickenden. Their early adobe still stands. Ramona longed for a nearby church as the drive to the Santa Inez Mission proved to be quite a task with their many small children. Ultimately, the death of Benjamin Foxen inspired the construction of the San Ramon Chapel in 1875. Today, the chapel, which may still be seen along Foxen Canyon Road, has been dedicated as County Landmark No. 1 and as State Landmark No. 877.

Santa Maria Valley’s first town was La Graciosa, which included a store, post office and school located near present-day Orcutt. However, in 1877, H.M. Newhall was granted the land on which the town was built, and summarily ejected one and all.

While the nineteenth century saw California gain statehood, the Santa Maria Valley blossomed as one of the most productive agricultural regions in the state. The area’s multi-ethnic population also grew as Swiss-Italian dairymen, and Filipino, Portuguese and Japanese farmers joined the already established English, Irish, Scottish and Mexican settlers. Between 1869 and 1874, four of the Valley’s prominent settlers, Rudolph Cook, John Thornburg, Isaac Fesler and Isaac Miller, farmed the land at the corners of Broadway and Main Streets. In 1874, these individuals each donated a square-mile of land where their properties met to form a four-mile city center. The township was surveyed in the fall of 1874, and the surveyor’s maps were accepted and recorded at the county seat on April 12, 1875. First christened Grangerville, and later Central City, the name was ultimately changed to “Santa Maria” on February 18, 1885 because mail was often mistakenly sent to Central City, Colorado. The city remained limited to four square miles until 1954. Since then, annexations have increased its size to roughly 21 square miles.

Rich, gushing oil was discovered in the Santa Maria Valley in 1904 near what is now Orcutt. When exploratory crews struck a huge gusher, they lovingly nicknamed it “Old Maud,” and for the next 80 years, the oil industry flourished. Development intensified in the 1930s, and, by 1957, as many as 1,775 oil wells were producing $64 million worth of oil annually.

Santa Maria Chamber of Commerce and Visitor & Convention Bureau

Economic Development Commission

614 S. Broadway
Santa Maria, CA 93454
Phone: (888) 738-6274
(805) 925-2403
Fax: (805) 928-7559
Chmbrchief@aol.com