Moro Bay, California
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Counterclockwise: Skyline of Morro Bay, Morro Bay State Park Museum of Natural History, Morro Bay harbor, Morro Strand State Beach, Shell Shop in Morro Bay, Morro Rock and Morro Bay State Park.
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 Location in San Luis Obispo County and the state of California |
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 Morro Bay
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| Coordinates: 35°21′57″N 120°51′00″W / 35.36583°N 120.85000°WCoordinates: 35°21′57″N 120°51′00″W / 35.36583°N 120.85000°W | |||||||||
| Country |
 United States
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| State |
 California
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| County | San Luis Obispo | ||||||||
| Founded | 1870 | ||||||||
| Incorporated | July 17, 1964 | ||||||||
| Government | |||||||||
| • Mayor | Jamie L. Irons | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| • Total | 10.32 sq mi (26.73 km2) | ||||||||
| • Land | 5.30 sq mi (13.73 km2) | ||||||||
| • Water | 5.02 sq mi (13.00 km2) 48.63% | ||||||||
| Elevation | 62 ft (19 m) | ||||||||
| Population (2010) | |||||||||
| • Total | 10,234 | ||||||||
| • Estimate (2016) | 10,648 | ||||||||
| • Density | 2,007.92/sq mi (775.31/km2) | ||||||||
| Time zone | Pacific Time Zone (UTC−8) | ||||||||
| • Summer (DST) | Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−7) | ||||||||
| ZIP codes | 93442–93443 | ||||||||
| Area code | 805 | ||||||||
| FIPS code | 06-49362 | ||||||||
| GNIS feature ID | 1661062 | ||||||||
| Website | www |
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Morro Bay is a waterfront city in San Luis Obispo County, California located along California State Route 1 on California's Central Coast. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,234, down from 10,350 at the 2000 census.
The prehistory of Morro Bay relates to Chumash settlement, particularly near the mouth of Morro Creek. At least as early as the Millingstone Horizon thousands of years before present, there was an extensive settlement along the banks and terraces above Morro Creek.
The first European land exploration of Alta California, the Spanish Portola expedition, came down Los Osos Valley and camped near today's Morro Bay on September 8, 1769. Franciscan missionary and expedition member Juan Crespi noted in his diary that "we saw a great rock in the form of a round morro".
Morro Rock later gave its name to the town. The descriptive term is common to the Spanish, Portuguese and Italian languages, and the word is part of many place names where there is a distinctive and prominent hill-shaped rock formation. Note that the similar Spanish descriptive word "moro" indicates a bluish color rather than a shape.
The first recorded Filipinos to visit America arrived at Morro Bay on October 18, 1587, from the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza; one of whom was killed by local Native Americans while scouting ahead.
While governed by Mexico, large land grants split the surrounding area into cattle and dairy ranchos. These ranchos needed shipping to bring in dry goods and to carry their crops, animals, and other farm products to cities. Thus, Morro Bay grew.
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