Lucia, California

The land may have first been occupied the Salinan Playano subtribe who are believed to have lived as far north as Slates Hot Springs, easterly over the Santa Lucia Mountains and Junipero Serra Peak, inland towards Soledad and as far south as what is now San Simeon. The shell middens left behind indicate that indigenous people lived in the area in numbers along the coast. Their main diet during the summer consisted of fish and shell fish, evidenced by the fine particles of shell present in the soil for a depth of several feet in areas where the Indians camped. The Salinan named the peak Pimkolam.[10][11][12] The tribe's name is taken from the Salinas River, as the tribe did not appear to have a name for themselves.[13][14]

Wilber Judson Harlan was born on December 14, 1860 in Rushville, Rush, Indiana.[15] His father died when he was 21, and Wilber moved to Santa Cruz, California where his half-sister Hester Ann lived with her husband C. J. Todd. He worked in a local nursery and on a threshing machine crew in the Salinas Valley. In 1885, Harlan homesteaded in Big Sur and filed his claim of 167 acres (68 ha) in the San Francisco Land Office.[15][16][17]

Wilber Harlan grew up on a ranch owned by his parents George and Esther Harlan on Lopez Point, a mile north of Lucia. His future wife first arrived in the Big Sur area from San Jose in 1913 to become a school teacher at the Redwood School. George volunteered to meet the new teacher at the King City rail road station in the Salinas Valley. He brought her to the coast on a two-day horseback trip that included an overnight stay in Wagon Caves# in the upper San Antonio River valley.[18] They married and settled on the land.[15][16]

When Esther was ready to give birth, she left the coastal family ranch and visited her mother in Campbell, California until the baby was born. She returned south a week after her son Stan's birth. On the final leg of the trip, over the narrow mountain trails, he was placed in a five-gallon kerosene can, which had one side cut out and lined with blankets, then placed and tied on the pack saddle of George's favorite mule, Big Jack. [19]

The Harlan home in Lucia, California was also the post office and a branch of county library. The home was built in 1901 and burned on December 12, 1926.

Elizabeth and Gabriel Dani were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who had been married in Utah in 1847.[20] They had three children in Utah including Ada born in Parowan, Beaver County on January 13, 1867. The family moved to Sutter's Mill, California, where Gabriel worked in the mines. They then took a ship to Wilmington in southern California. A son Gabriel was born there in 1869. In 1871 they moved north again to San Juan Bautista where they had two more sons.

Dani Family. (L-R) daughter Mary Elizabeth, father Gabriel, daughter Lucia, and mother Elizabeth

In 1875, the Dani family homesteaded on the coast on a bench of level land about 1,000 feet (300 m) above the sea surrounded on three sides by virgin forests of redwood, tanbark oak and bay laurel.[21] The Harlan family's land bordered theirs to the south. They built a home and the first school house along the coast. Four more children were born there from 1878 to 1885.[22] They raised cattle and cultivated orchards of citrus fruit as well as apples, pears, peaches, plums and apricots. While earning cash to get through the winter, Gabriel worked on a ranch in the Salinas Valley. He lost his left arm in an accident on a threshing machine.[23]

Ada Amanda Dani married her neighbor Wilbur Harlan on July 7, 1889. They had 11 children. On March 8, 1900, the post office was opened in the home of Elizabeth and Gabriel Dani.[24] Ada's sister Violet Lucia Dani (1878-1947) was the first postmaster and the post office was named for her, which became the place name for the settlement.[23] While Lucia was postmaster, it served about 65 local residents.[24]

Elizabeth and Gabriel remained on the coast until 1905 when they moved to San Lucas where Gabriel died on June 2, 1908.[23] After his death, his widow Barbara and their daughter Lucia moved to Monterey. They lived there until Barbara died in 1926. Their daughter Lucia never married.[23]

In 1906, Ada became the second postmaster. She was succeeded by her daughter Lulu May Harlan who served until. George Harlan rode his horse Trixie to carry mail from Jolon to Lucia Post Office from 1922 to 1934.[24] Ada's brother Isiah "Ty" Dani ran the ranch after their parents moved to King City in 1905. He sold the land to Gordon Moore around 1925.[21]

The Harlan house burned down on December 12, 1926.[24] The post office was closed in 1932.[24] Soon after, the Dani house burned down.[24] The Benedictine Order of Camaldolese monks acquired the Lucia Ranch property in 1958.[24] The hermitage became known as the Immaculate Heart Hermitage.[24]

The Lucia Lodge is situated below the old homestead overlooking the sea.

Due to the difficult terrain and lack of access, settlement of the Big Sur region was primarily concentrated in the north near the Big Sur River and in the south near Lucia. About two or three dozen individual homesteads dotted a 25 miles (40 km) stretch of coast between the two in the 1890s. The California coast south of Posts and north of San Simeon remained one of the most remote regions in the state, rivaling at the time nearly any other region in the United States for its difficult access.[25]

The northern and southern regions of the coast were isolated from one another. The northern residents used a rough dirt road to transport cattle and products to and from Monterey, but counted on a steamship to deliver goods once a year that could not be transported on a wagon. The families on the south coast, including the Harlans, Danis, Gamboas, and Lopezes, used a foot trail to herd cattle, pigs, goats, and even turkeys to market several times a year. The trail climbed 4,621 feet (1,408 m) over the steep Santa Lucia Mountain Range to near Cone Peak and then followed what is today known as the Carrizo Trail. From Cone Peak the trail ran easterly along a ridge until it finally descended to Wagon Caves on the north fork of the San Antonio River.

Before the completion of the coast highway, Wagon Cave was used as a resting point and overnight camp site for those traveling to and from the coast. Travelers on horseback switched to wagons stored there for the purpose of transporting goods to market and provisions home. From the Caves there was a 18 miles (29 km) wagon road to Jolon. In 1878, Jolon had two grocers, a butcher, a blacksmith, a harness maker, a general merchandise store, post office, and Wells Fargo station.[26] When the Southern Pacific Railroad was extended in 1886 to Soledad, travelers could then ride their wagons or a stage 37 miles (60 km) north. The families brought back supplies necessary to sustain their remote lives.[27][26]

William Randolph Hearst developed an interest in acquiring more land to add to the ranch his father George Hearst had purchased, but Harlen refused to sell.[28]