Adventure 051, Site 041 – Morro Rock

Capture California, the Game-2012

Adventure: 051, Site 041 – Morro Rock

California Landmark Number: 821

Team: Thing One, Thing Two

Date:  September 18, 2012

Location:

Latitude: 35° 22.232′ N

Longitude: 120° 51.899′ W

Address: North of Morro Bay, at the end of Embarcadero St

Description:

You would think that something as large and prominent as Morro Rock would not be a hard thing to find. We saw the rock already, but had a hard time finding the plaque—it is right at the base of the rock, in a large parking lot. We thought the plaque was closer to town. But the plaque does describe how sailors would use this rock as a navigational aide for their safe passage.



Morro Rock is one of the nine morro's surrounding the San Luis Obispo/Morro Bay area. These morro's are remnants of early volcanic activity. The effect is that you feel surrounded by mountains in this area. Morro Rock is just the most pronounced, being by the ocean.



NO. 821 MORRO ROCK - An important mariner's navigational landfall for over three hundred years, Morro Reef was chronicled in the diaries of Portolá, Fr. Crespí, and Costanso in 1769, when they camped near this area on their trek to find Monterey. Sometimes called the 'Gibraltar of the Pacific,' it is the last
Location: Located in city park, foot of Morro Rock, on Embarcadero Rd, 0.4 mi NW of Morro Bay
• In 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the Portugese explorer, sighted and named Morro Rock.
• In 1769, Gaspar de Portola, Father Juan Crespi, and some sixty other men and one hundred mules marched north on an overland expedition from San Diego, to find Monterey Bay, camping at one point near Morro Rock.
• The Rock was quarried periodically from 1889 to 1963. In 1966 the State of California obtained title to it, and in 1968 was declared a state landmark, and Morro Rock is now a nature preserve.



References:

• Morro Rock History and its Sisters
  
• Wikipedia
  
• HMDB.org
  

Overall Landmark References:

• David Schmitt's California State Historical Landmark (Schmitt)
  
• Wikipedia: California's National Landmarks (WCNL)
  
• State of California's California Historical Landmarks (CHL)
  
• Wikipedia: California State Landmarks (WCSL)
  
• State of California Historical Resources (CHR)
  
• National Registry of Historical Places (NRHP)