San Luis Obispo began as a settlement around the fifth mission that the Franciscans established in Spanish Alta California between 1769 and 1823. The mission is named after Saint Louis, Bishop of Toulouse. El Camino Real (The Royal Road) is the path that connected twenty-one missions, four presidios, and two pueblos from San Diego to Sonoma. San Luis Obispo County was created in 1850 as one of California's twenty-seven original counties.
Atascadero Historical Society Museum California Missions Cambria Historical Museum Camp Roberts Camp San Luis Obispo Central Coast Veterans Memorial Museum Conservation Corps State Museum Dallidet Adobe & Gardens Dana Adobe El Camino Real Estrella Warbird Museum History Center of San Luis Obispo County Jack House & Gardens Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa Mission San Miguel Arcangel Nine Sisters of San Luis Obispo Paso Robles Pioneer Museum Piedras Blancas Light Station Piedras Blancas Lighthouse Point San Luis Lighthouse Rios-Caledonia Adobe Santa Margarita Historical Society South County Historical Sites Templeton Historical Museum