HCSLO is in a quaint bldg that was a Carnegie Library. Since the mid-'50s it's been THE place to go for anything re the history of not only SLO city, but also County. The staff are utter experts; Thomas Kessler, and exhibits manager Brittany are extremely proactive in ensuring that exhibits are consistently up-to-date.

I was astounded at how much history comes from our county; for example the USA is only a world empire because of the actions of SLO County's most famous resident, Wm Randolph Hearst. In 1898 he was a newspaper publisher in NYC; because of the way he reported the events in Cuba, the U S. declared war on Spain; by our winning that war the U.S. gained all 5 of Spain's overseas territories - three of which we still have (Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Northern Marianna Islands).

Also, following the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor our War Dept planned to move our submarine fleet to Morro Bay; that never happened because six months after Pearl Harbor we won the Battle of Midway.

The world's first motel was here in the City (last bldg on the right along northbound U S. 101), and the list goes on.