Morro Bay, along California's Central Coast, is among the most visually spectacular communities in America. It has a rich early history that stretches back to the adventures of the Chumash and Salinian Native Americans and visits by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo and the Manila Galleons of the 16th Century.

Its modern history begins with the tragic story of one of the town’s founding fathers, Reverend Alden B. Spooner. During the midst of a heavy arctic storm, on the night of February 5, 1877, the Reverend Spooner heard the call of duty. The steamboat Mary Taylor was overdue. Rev. Spooner wasn't feeling well, but he rowed out into the squall in his small boat. He was in the north channel, near Pilot Rock, when his craft capsized. His body was never found.

Prohibition stories of Canadian whiskey on the Rock abound as economically hard-pressed farmers, fishermen, and tugboat operators facilitated the landing of Canadian distillates near Morro Bay.

Miles Castle and other refugees from a failed land settlement for English immigrants in the Central Valley joined with Neil Moses, a colorful newspaper editor, Dorothy Gates, a college librarian and Dr. Jack Levitt, a physician from Minnesota, to form a literary society and journal and bring high culture to Morro Bay in the 1930s.

In the beginning this history was passed on from family to family during the evenings in this then remote fishing village. Much of this oral tradition was later gathered together by Dorothy Gates, Jane Horton Bailey, and others and preserved in print. As the community at large grew conscious of its rich past, community-based groups were formed. They continue today, gathering both artifacts and images to preserve Morro Bay’s history.

Excerpt from: "Images of America: Morro Bay" (Arcadia Publishing 2006) by Roger Castle and Gary Ream for the Historical Society of Morro Bay. PREVIEW/BUY

Velma and Gwen Sylva, shown here on the bluff above the wharf. Courtesy of Adel Sylva Costa.