Arroyo Grande

History

The earliest inhabitants of Arroyo Grande Valley were the northern or Obispeno Chumash Indians. The Arroyo Grande area was still occupied by the Chumash at the time of contact with the first Spanish explorer, Juan Cabrillo. During the colonial settlement of California, the Arroyo Grande Valley became separated into two major ranchos, which were granted by the Mexican government around 1840.

In 1862, the San Luis Obispo Board of Supervisors established the township of Arroyo Grande. Businesses developed along a road called Branch Street to serve local agriculture. A railroad depot was built in 1882. The city of Arroyo Grande was incorporated on July 10, 1911.

Arroyo Grande experienced rapid growth in the 1970s and 1980s, partially due to the expansion of the wastewater treatment plant, under an EPA Clean Water Grant, that removed a growth constraint. This federal grant program required the preparation of an Environmental Impact Report, which provided much of the initial environmental database for Arroyo Grande.

The Village
The downtown area of Arroyo Grande is known as “The Village”. It is where visitors and residents gather for events, festivals, and farmers’ markets. In the center of Centennial Park is the Swinging Bridge. The Swinging Bridge was originally constructed in early 1875 by the Short family, whose land was divided by the Arroyo Grande Creek. The bridge spans a total length of 171 feet and is suspended 40 feet above the creek. It is owned and maintained by the city of Arroyo Grande and is the only one of its kind in California.

The Village corridor includes historic buildings dating back to the 1800s.

Geography
Arroyo Grande is a small coastal town with historic, suburban, and rural elements located at 35°7′15″N 120°35′12″W (35.120878, -120.586799).

Arroyo Grande is located in a coastal ecosystem within the California Floristic Province, and the native habitats include coast live oak woodland, central coastal scrub, willow and mixed riparian along Arroyo Grande Creek and numerous tributaries, native bunch-grass grassland, coastal prairie, dunes, and intertidal zone, and non-native and agricultural areas.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.8 square miles (15 km2), all of it land.