Guadalupe is a small city located in Santa Barbara County, California. Take a look below for 15 fun and awesome facts about Guadalupe, California, United States.
1. According to the U.S. Census of 2010, the city has a population of 7,080.
2. Guadalupe is economically and socially tied to the city of Santa Maria, which is about 10 miles (16 km) to the east.
3. It is located at the intersection of Highway 1 and Highway 166, immediately south of the Santa Maria River, and 5 miles (8 km) east of the Pacific Ocean.
4. The first European land exploration of Alta California, the Spanish Portolà expedition, camped near today’s Guadalupe on September 1, 1769.
5. Franciscan missionary and expedition member Juan Crespi noted in his diary that they found “a very large lake”.
6. The lake has since mostly filled in, leaving a low-lying plain traversed by the Santa Maria River and several tributaries.
7. When Mission La Purisima was established in 1787, the area became part of the mission’s pasture land.
8. In 1840, following secularization of the mission, the area became part of the Rancho Guadalupe land grant.
9. Rancho Guadalupe was settled by pioneers of many unique backgrounds, such as European, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, and Mexican.
10. The small town was incorporated as the city of Guadalupe on May 19, 1946.
11. The city name honors Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is the Catholic title given to the Virgin Mary.
12. There is a beach near Guadalupe at the end of Main Street that is part of the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes. Oso Flaco Lake in Nipomo is also a part of this dunes complex and is a few miles north of Guadalupe; it features a boardwalk that goes over the lake and leads to the Guadalupe beach.
13. South of Guadalupe on Highway 1 and right on Brown Road is Point Sal Road, which was closed down due to heavy storms in the past years, but it has now become a scenic hiking trail through the coastal mountains. At the end of the 5 mile trail, which passes through Vandenberg Space Force Base, is the isolated Point Sal State Beach. Between Guadalupe Beach and Point Sal Beach is the even more isolated Paradise Beach, near Mussel Rock.
14. Parks in the area include Jack O’Connell Park, where the Bulldogs youth football team practices. LeRoy Park, the community center for the city and the home of the local Boys & Girls Club, sits near the town’s northern city limit, and is the oldest community park in Santa Barbara County; the land was donated in 1871 by the LeRoy family, and the park is currently undergoing a major revitalization project.
15. The Guadalupe Wrestling Club was established in 1979 for the youth and has produced numerous state champions over the years. The Guadalupe Police Department runs the Gladiator’s club, which provides peer-to-peer mentoring for fifth and sixth grade youth. The Boys & Girls Club and the Riverview apartment tutoring program provide places for children to go after school.
