The history of Santa Maria, California, starts with the native Chumash people, who lived there for several thousand years before the Spanish Empire colonized the region in the 18th century. Later, it was a part of the Mexican Empire, California Republic, and finally, the United States. The city was incorporated in 1905, when it had a population of 3,000. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 109,707.
18th century
In 1769, Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portola explored the Santa Maria Valley on an expedition in California from San Diego to Monterey. The native inhabitants at the time were the Chumash people. They had established settlements in the valley and on the coast. The valley had rich resources of water and wild game. Spanish settlement around the area began in 1772, when they established Mission San Luis Obispo to the north, at a location that would become the city of San Luis Obispo. The Mission La Purisima Concepcion was established near the future site of Lompoc, southwest of the valley, in 1787. Spanish expeditions to Monterey traveled on a dirt road through the valley that would become the California Mission Trail. The trail linked all 21 of the eventual missions in California. The Spanish called the valley "El Llano Large de Laguna", or the "long valley of the lagoon".Montoya 2011, p. 8.
19th century
Under Mexico In 1821, Mexico declared their independence from the Spanish Empire, and the land of the Santa Maria Valley became a part of Mexico. The California missions became secularized, and the missions' lands were "broken up into large ranchos and granted out for individual landownership." The grants were given to former Mexican soldiers and their descendants, for their service in the Mexican War of Independence. Many people came to the area hoping to get the free land. Santa Maria-style barbecue has its roots from these days. The first of these settlers were William Benjamin Foxen and his wife, Eduarda, who were granted the 8,874 acre Rancho Tinaquaic in 1837.
Joining the United States
California eventually joined the United States as a territory. Settlers in the region were beginning to tap water by the time California became a state in 1850. Beans and grains were the most popular crops at that time. Enough settlers turned the Mission Trail from a dirt path into a stagecoach trail. The first town in the valley was La Graciosa, near present-day Orcutt. It had a school, and its post office, store, and stagecoach were located in one building. The town would later dissolve after the land was sold and the owners decided to redevelop.Montoya 2011, p. 9. In 1856, ranchero Juan Pacifico Ontiveros and his wife Martina bought the Rancho Tepesquet. They drove their 1,000 cattle from further south to the ranch. He named his house Santa Maria, after the Virgin Mary, and named a nearby waterway the Santa Maria Creek, later known as the Santa Maria River.
George and Henry Stowell, were brothers who were some of the valley's original settlers. The Stowell family is "one of the largest and most influential families in the town's history". The two made their way to the West Coast in the early 1850s, working as excavators in Northern California, before moving south in the 1860s. The two lived in San Luis Obispo and other places in the area before settling in the valley; George bought 160 acres of farming land one mile south of what would later be Main Street. George's grandson, George Stowell Hobbs, was the city's longest serving-mayor at 22 years.
After the federal government's Homestead Act of 1862, more people took the government's offer of settling on cheap land in the valley. By 1869, there were 100 settlers in the valley. In 1874, a town site was plotted, when the city was named Central City, or Grangeville. Four quadrants of land were put together to form the intersection of Broadway and Main Street, which became the town center.
Notable figures The four quadrants were owned by Isaac Fesler, Isaac Miller, John Thornburgh, and Rudolph D. Cook:
Isaac Fesler, who owned the northwest corner, moved to the city by wagon train in 1865. In the 1870s, he sold his land to the Kaiser Brothers, who ran a mercantile store for a few years before they sold their property to a bank, which would become the First Bank of Santa Maria. Another part would become a part of the Pacific Coast Railway. Isaac Miller owned the northeast corner. He devoted large portion of his land to fruit orchards, but the operation failed during a dry spell in the 1870s. He operated a business venture known as the Miller and Lovett store, which he sold and became Kriedal and Fliesher Merchandise. John Thornburgh moved to the city in 1870. Thornburgh set up one of the town's first co-operative stores at the intersection, which included the town's first post office. He also donated the land that the First Methodist Church was built on. His second wife, Minerva (nicknamed "Aunt Minerva") formed the Ladies Literary Society, which was renamed to the Minerva Library Club in 1906 in her honor. The club was "one of the oldest, continuously operating women's clubs in California". Rudolph D. Cook made his way to the West Coast in the 1850s, and initially settled in Sonoma. In 1852, he built California's first threshing machine and harvest the first piece of grain grown in the state. In 1864, he lost his crops due to dry weather and headed to Los Angeles by wagon train. He heard about land available in the Santa Maria Valley, and moved there. He built the city's first house, and in 1870, funded the first school.
The streets of the intersection were 120 feet wide. The name of the town was first recorded as "Grangerville" at the Santa Barbara County seat 1875. The town later changed its name to Central City, because of its location between Guadalupe and Sisquoc, but they had to change their name by 1882 as their mail was getting sent to Central City, Colorado, which was already established. By 1882, the town had a blacksmith, wagon and machine shop, steam-fed mill, lumberyard, and the Hart House hotel, built by immigrant Reuben Hart. The Hart House had a barbershop, reading room, retail shops, and a bar.Montoya 2011, p. 22.
Early pioneers to the town were immortalized in various street names, such as "Battles, Blosser, Cook, Fesler, Jones, Miller, Oakley, Stowell, Thornburgh, Miller, Tunnel, and a host of others". Some of the other settlers were:
Charles Bradley, who came to America in 1868. He settled at a site now known as Bradley Canyon, and moved to another site owned by T.A. Jones. Bradley's homesteading prospered, and he added on more land, become one of the most prosperous landowners in the valley with 2,720 acres. He was also one of the first president of the Bank of Santa Maria, and purchased the Hart House, renaming it the Bradley House. After he died, his family would become even wealthier once oil was discovered on their property. Garrett Blosser, born in 1869, who moved to Santa Maria when was a baby. He would be elected the city's constable in 1898, served as the deputy sheriff under Nat Stewart for 18 years, was the first city marshal, and was a member of the city's Hesperian Lodge, Fraternal Order of Eagles and Odd Fellows. When he died, the Santa Maria Times said he was "one of the valley's landmarks, so to speak, and helped build up the town in more ways than one." George Washington Battles came to the valley in the fall of 1868, after leading many cross-continental trips of those who were interested in joining the California Gold Rush. Battles organized a petition calling for the organization of the town's first school district. The county would not allow a school district until the town's citizens built a school house, obtained a teacher, and paid the teacher's salary for a year. The site for the school changed multiple times, but in 1870, Pleasant Valley School was founded, with 15 kids enrolling. The first teacher was Joel Miller. Samuel Jefferson Jones moved from Ohio to California via the first transcontinental railroad in 1869. His hand drawn sketches and photographs of the valley are important historical references.
In 1875, the Ramona Foxen and her husband, Frederick Wickenden, established the Chapel of San Ramon and its cemetery on a knook overlooking the valley. The chapel would later be dedicated as a Santa Barbara County and California state landmark.
Late century development The city's first waterworks was built in 1880, and in 1882, the Pacific Coast Railway depot from San Luis Obispo to Central City was built. In 1882, the city changed their name to Santa Maria. By this time, various ethnic groups had immigrated to the area, including Spanish, Mexican, English, Scottish, Irish, Japanese, Swiss-Italian, and Portuguese people. Advanced irrigation methods lead to the growing of "flower seeds, strawberries, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, and many other fruits and vegetables".
One of the early drivers of the town's economy, besides agriculture and oil, was the Betteravia Sugar Mill, which refined sugar beets. The town of Betteravia, now a ghost town, was a company town, built for the factory and the workers of the Union Sugar Factory. Union Sugar was incorporated in September 1897 by a union of farmers from San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties,Montoya 2011, p. 44. and the first sugar from the factory was produced on September 20, 1899. At one time, the town contained 60 cottages, a church, a hotel, a church, and a schoolhouse. In the early 1900s, many pioneers from Japan moved to Santa Maria to work in the industry, in spite of America's anti-Asian immigration laws. The Union Sugar Factory closed the factory in early 1960s, and the facility was shuttered after an explosion in 1988. The remnants of the town are "barely visible today".
The Santa Maria Times formed in 1882. The Bank of Santa Maria was founded in 1890Montoya 2011, p. 19. or 1906, and later became the Security-First National Bank. It was demolished in the late 1960s and turned into a gas station.
In March 1891, the California State Legislature passed the Union High School Act, which gave the right for adjoining districts to create a "union high school" district. The Santa Maria Union High School, covering Santa Maria, Gary, Guadalupe, Los Alamos, Orcutt, and Sisquoc, opened for the 1891 fall semester in a brick grammar school on Main Street. 44 students were enrolled then, 14 freshmen, 9 "middlers", 18 juniors and 3 seniors. The first principal was George Russell, who was paid $80 per month. The numbers of students began growing, so in 1902, more than $400,000 in bonds were passed to tear down the building and created new school buildings. The school became accredited by the California State University that year. In 1903, the school's colors (red and white) and mascot (saints) were adopted. That year, the first sport at the school started, baseball. Additional construction was done in December 1905, doubling the school's size.
20th century
In 1901, Pinal Oil Company was founded. It had 22 oil wells in production by 1903, being the major oil company in the valley. In 1911, it merged with Dome Oil Company to form Pinal Dome Oil Company, which was bought out by Union Oil in 1917.Montoya 2011, p. 17. In 1902, the Southern Pacific Railroad connected Santa Maria to Los Angeles. In 1907, the Santa Maria Gas & Power Company was formed. The Santa Maria Valley Railroad was constructed in 1912, which linked the oilfields at Guadalipe and Roadamite.