About Cambria

The primary economic activity of Cambria is tourism. Located on the Pacific Ocean, the area has both rocky cliffs and beaches. The town and adjacent hills are known for the extensive Monterey pines that give the area a particular character.

There are many bed and breakfast inns and hotels, especially along Moonstone Beach Drive. One visiting author described seeing "many impressive homes of highly imaginative design" and encouraged a casual tour of the residential district.

The beach is home to various sea life such as seals and sea otters and tide pools filled with sea anemones, sea urchins, sea stars, crabs, snails, and more. The beach was named after the moonstones that wash ashore there. Moonstone Beach Boardwalk is a 1.5 mi (2.4 km) walk with several beach access points and benches to allow for sea life observation and beach combing.

Cambria is a seaside village in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles along California State Route 1 (Highway 1). The name Cambria, chosen in 1869, is the Latin name for Wales. Cambria is situated amidst Monterey pines in one of only three such native forests. Previously, the town had gone by the names of Slabtown, Rosaville, San Simeon, and Santa Rosa. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined the unincorporated community as a census-designated place (CDP). The CDP had a population of 5,678 at the 2020 census, down from 6,032 at the 2010 census.

History:
The earliest human settlement of this area is known to be associated with prehistoric habitation by the Native American Chumash peoples, who harvested along the coastal area, with emphasis upon sites that were close to rivers.

Cambria is located on the Rancho Santa Rosa Mexican land grant given in 1841 to Julian Estrada.

Settlers were drawn to the area because of the fertile land, streams, and lumber. Additionally, miners were attracted to the area by the 1862 discovery of cinnabar, an ore from which mercury can be extracted. For a while, Cambria was a boom town, with $280,000 worth of mercury shipped out of San Simeon between 1867 and 1870.

During several years Cambria was a booming mine town, and prospectors flooded the area. More than 150 claims were filed in the early 1870s. The most successful of these claims, the Oceanic Quicksilver Mining Company, at one time employed 300 and was the largest mine in the area and the sixth largest in the world. Three furnaces were built, seven tunnels completed, and their stock price jumped to $30.00 per share. Hopes were high, and Cambria residents dreamed of imminent wealth. Unfortunately, by 1878, mercury prices started to fall and Cambria's first economic boom ended. As mercury prices fluctuated, Cambria's mining thrived and dwindled. During the boom of 1876, $282,832 worth of quicksilver was produced; four years later, production had decreased to only $6,760. A devastating fire in 1889 virtually ended the mercury business and Cambria settled into a quiet dairy community

Cambria has benefited greatly from the building of Hearst Castle. During the high unemployment years of the Great Depression, many Cambria citizens found welcome employment in construction. Additionally, Cambria provided supplies, services, and accommodations for many who came to build the Castle, creating prosperity in Cambria in an otherwise less prosperous decade.

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