Historical Society of Morro Bay

The Historical Society is proud to have submitted a Draft Historical Preservation Ordinance to the City of Morro Bay! The submission represents the culmination of two years of work lead by the Historical Society and enriched by a broad range of community members from residents, the fishing industry, the City, tourism, retirees, home owners, renters, and leaders. We are pleased with the result and hope that it will help current and future generations in our community preserv...e and protect historical resources especially now as many are proposed to be demolished. The Historic El Morro Elementary School Site is one of those being threatened. The school site contains arguably some of the Largest examples, most beautiful, and Oldest examples of community buildings along the North Coast and in our community. But, they don't have to all go away. The HSMB supports "Preservation and Progress", but they must coexist. You will see as the Historic Preservation Ordinance is vetted further through the City and Community that this is the underlying theme. Meanwhile, the HSMB will work closely with members of our community, the City and other organizations with the goal of preserving and protecting the historical El Morro Elementary School site for our community. If you would like to assist or attend a community meeting please contact HSMB at http://historicalmorrobay.org/contact/ or here on FB

Built in 1934, Santa Maria's City Hall and the 1936 El Morro Elementary School have a strong resemblence. Both were designed by Louis N. Crawford, Santa Maria's first architect, His signature smooth stucco exterior finish, high nobel bell towers and grand arched entrances give a California mission feeling. Santa Maria City Hall caught the eye of Life Magazine and appeared in the April 1940 issue. The designs of Mr. Crawford's buildings are still relevent and beautiful today. The School and City Hall have two other sisters known to have been designed by Mr. Crawford that are still utilized today, Cambria School and Cayucos School. What were your impressions of entering El Morro Elementary for the first time as a student or staff? How were/are you impressed by Mr. Crawford's timeless design of these historical buildings?

The Historical Society Morro Bay is researching the history of El Morro Elementary School and knows that the community is deeply concerned about the possible demolition of some of the architecturally significant and historically important buildings that are at the school site. Of great interest to our community are the Main School Building with Historic Bell Tower designed by Louis N. Crawford who also designed the Santa Maria City Hall and several other renowned buildings, t...he Original One Room School House built by the PWA in 1935 and was the location where Botso Koresheli taught music to world famous Conductor Kent Nagano and developed what is now the SLO Symphony, and the 2 Mid Century Modern "Butterfly Effect" buildings designed by renowned American Architect Frank Wynkoop, A.I.A who designed historically significant buildings in Monterey and Bakersfield. If you have photos or memories of the school from when you were an El Morro Elementary Falcon or were staff or perhaps any information that the HSMB may review please contact us here on FB or find us on our web site at: www.historicalmorrobay.org

Morro Bay should go on high alert about the possibility of losing some of its largest, oldest and most important historic buildings at El Morro Elementary School in the heart of downtown. The Historical Society is committed to preserving them if possible, but we are late to this game. SLCUSD is planning to tear down all or most of the historic El Morro Elementary School to make way for manufactured homes. This plan is in fairly advanced state, and the school district is conv...inced it has legal authority to move forward, even with the glaring lack of public discussion about the project and the recognition of its Historic significance. Read the attached documents for background. Stay tuned for more. We are researching the issues, and will need your help. Contact us at www.Historicalmorrobay.com or message us here on FB. You can see a link to the SLCUSD plan and their legal outline in these two links: Legal Outline https://go.boarddocs.com//Morro%20El%20Legal%20Presentatio SLCUSD Proposed Development and Demolition: https://go.boarddocs.com//Board%20Report%20V-2%20Village%2

Morro Bay State Park is one of Morro Bay's Historical treasures and is a National Historic Landmark. Check out the incredible hidden history and the story behind the building of Morro Bay State Park!

Watch the Botso Movie NOW! Thanks to the generosity of Tom Walters and the managers of Botso:The Man from Tbilisi, you can now watch the amazing story of one of Morro Bay's most beloved citizens. This documentary is available free to stream until May 15th. All you have to do is click on this link to go to the webpage where you can watch the story of the amazing life of Botso Korisheli in an award winning documentary. On that webpage just click on the arrow icon in the middle... of the screen to start to watch online. We're going through hard times. Botso did too, and became stronger for it. It's always a good story, and especially now. Be safe and keep your spirits up! We at HSMB are thinking about you. About Botso We were just thinking about Botso. The reason is that world famous conductor Kent Nagano came to mind, and Botso was one of Kent's music teachers when he was growing up in Morro Bay. There are so many ways Botso left footprints on our lives and times here in Morro Bay, showing us how to do it!