San Miguel

San Miguel (Spanish for “St. Michael“) is a unincorporated community in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,172. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined San Miguel as a census-designated place (CDP). San Miguel was founded by the Spanish in 1797, when Mission San Miguel Arcángel was established by Fermín de Lasuén. San Miguel is a tourist destination with historic architecture and vineyards, as part of the Paso Robles wine region.

The area of San Miguel and the rest of the southern Salinas Valley was inhabited by the Salinans, an Indigenous Californian nation.

The Spanish founded the settlement at San Miguel on 25 July 1797, when Fermín de Lasuén established Mission San Miguel Arcángel, under the authority of the Franciscan Order. The site of the mission was specifically chosen due to its proximity to the large number of Salinan villages in the area. The interior of the mission church features murals executed under the direction of the famed artist Esteban Munrás in the 1820s.

The mission’s location between Mission San Luis Obispo and Mission San Antonio de Padua provided a stop on the trip that had previously taken two days. In 1803, the mission reported an Indian population of 908, while its lands grazed 809 cattle, 3,223 sheep, 342 horses and 29 mules. That year’s harvest included about 2,186 fanegas of wheat and corn (A fanega was about 220 pounds or 100 kilograms). Most of the mission burned, while still being developed, in 1806. It was rebuilt within a year.

The Rios-Caledonia Adobe was built in 1835 just south of Mission San Miguel as a home for the overseer of mission lands.^[3]

On July 15, 1836, following the Mexican secularization of the missions, Mission San Miguel Arcángel was acquired by Ygnacio Coronel, a noted Californio ranchero and politician.

In 1846, Governor Pío Pico sold Mission San Miguel Arcángel for $600 to Petronilo Ríos and William Reed. Reed used the Mission as a family residence and a store. In 1848, Reed and his family were murdered, leaving the Mission vacant for a period of time. The Mission was a stopping place for miners coming from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and, consequently, was used as a saloon, dance hall, storeroom and living quarters.

In 1859, President James Buchanan returned the mission to the Catholic Church. In 1878, after 38 years without a resident priest, Padre Philip Farrelly became the first pastor of Mission San Miguel Arcángel since the secularization. In 1928, Mission San Miguel Arcángel and Mission San Antonio de Padua were both returned to the Franciscan Order, which led to their restorations and repairs.

The 2003 San Simeon earthquake caused severe damage to the sanctuary at Mission San Miguel. The Catholic Church considered closing the parish due to the extensive damage and the estimated $15 million cost of repair; however, the work has since been completed and the mission has since reopened.

In 2011, San Miguel’s local business community formed the San Miguel Chamber of Commerce in order to promote the village’s tourism and agricultural industries.^[4]