Camp San Luis Obispo
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Camp San Luis Obispo, formerly called Camp Merriam, was established in 1928 and is called the original home of the California National Guard. The camp is in San Luis Obispo County, which is on the Central Coast of California. State Route 1 passes through the camp about halfway between the cites of Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo. The camp originally comprised 5,800 acres (23 km²), and a further 9,159 acres (37 km²) was acquired in the early 1940s.
Cuesta College opened for classes in 1965 on a southwest portion of the camp rented from the California National Guard. The Cuesta College Board of Trustees purchased 160 acres (0.6 km²) of the camp and 20 adjoining acres for a permanent campus. The land was on the other side of Chorro Creek from the temporary campus. Construction was started in 1970 and the transfer from the temporary site was completed in 1978.
El Chorro Regional Park was created in 1972 when over 700 acres (2.8 km²) of the camp were given to San Luis Obispo County. The park contains barbecue facilities, a baseball field, volleyball courts and camping sites. Dairy Creek Golf Course is located in the southwestern portion of the park. An area in the northern portion of the park is off limits due to the discovery of unexploded munitions.
Salinas Dam, which forms Santa Margarita Lake, was built to supply water to Camp San Luis Obispo. The lake now supplies water to the city of San Luis Obispo, although it is still owned by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, O'Connor Way, which runs through the southwest of the camp, was closed to through traffic. The road is a shortcut for those traveling between southern San Luis Obispo and Cuesta College or Morro Bay. As of 2006, the road is open to through traffic only during the day. Barriers have been placed to prevent vehicles from leaving the road and the entrances to various sections of the camp are now more securely gated.
