Nov 30
Automobile engines were what put the roar into the Roaring 20s. In San Luis Obispo a palace to the newfangled automobile was constructed between two monuments of the railway, it was called Exposition Park. The roundhouses for the Southern Pacific and the Pacific Coast Railway were near opposite ends of South Street. The narrow gauge …
Jul 18
Pismo Heights is the neighborhood above Judkins Middle School. Many of the street names are from San Joaquin valley towns. This photo ran in the November 26, 1992 South County edition of the then Telegram-Tribune but the image looks to be from the late 20s or early 30s. The print also had a penciled note …
Jun 13
Why is the screaming head such a durable image in advertising? Why is it such an eye stopper? Seeing is more than absorbing raw visual data. It is sensory reasoning, distinguishing faces from the background, identifying features and expressions. Upwards of 30% of the brain is devoted to decoding the world around us. Yet for …
Apr 06
Today the playground is buried under Lopez Dam. Santa Manuela Schoolhouse was built in 1901 and served the families of the Lopez Canyon region until closed in 1957. When the dam was built in the late 1960s the South County Historical Society rescued the schoolhouse from demolition. It now sits at one end of the …
Mar 23
Author Doug Jenzen has generously agreed to share with Vault readers an introduction to his new book on the South County. He will be at a book signing at the Dana Adobe Saturday, March 24. He is donating all the book royalties to restoration of the historic structure. (The automated watermark incorrectly says these are …
Mar 12
A giant woman dances in a skimpy outfit amid windmills. Stylish to be sure but why are over 20 chorus girls singing, dressed in Dutch costumes complete with wooden shoes. Starved for entertainment — is the first phrase that springs to mind. It was the era before television. Movies were in black and white and …
Mar 05
Steve Zegar was the first man to drive up the grassy sides of Hearst’s Enchanted Hill, before there was a Castle, or even a road. Now that is someone with a story. A story that had to wait decades to be told. Zegar maintained his relationship with Hearst and newspaper and movie mogul’s friends by …
Feb 06
Here is a quirky design lost to history. Ship on a stick, or sticks. The rock is familiar but today there is a more solid causeway leading out to it. This is a digital scan of postcard for sale on the internet with a postmark of 1931. The inscription reads “Morro Rock, higher than Woolworth …
Oct 21
Click here to view the embedded video. The specter of death has hovered over auto racing from its earliest days. Though many of the advancements in automotive engineering can be traced to lessons learned in the crucible of competition, the knowledge has had a price in human lives. From hydraulic brakes to crumple zones many …
Oct 10
OLD CUESTA ROAD–A photo from the California Division of Highways — now Caltrans — which once reported 71 hazardous curves on the highway north of San Luis Obispo. The auto road was built in 1915 and improved in 1923, the photo is from about 1922. Small government advocates would love to turn the clock back …
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