March 16, 1824: San Luis Obispo troops rushed to La Purisima to crush an Indian rebellion.

March 21, 1840: Rancho Guadalupe was granted to Jose Teodoro de Arellanes and Diego Olivera by Governor Juan Alvarado.

March 1861: Congress passed law providing for regular mail Service in California. Mail was to be delivered three times a week (between Monterey and Los Angeles once a week) on horseback, as far as San Diego.

March 5, 1863: Juana Estudillo, after stepping in to bail Antonio Arellanes out of certain foreclosure, acquired the Rancho Guadalupe, as well as part of the Casmalia and El Cojo Ranchos.

March 28, 1873: The Guadalupe Post Office was established with John Dunbar as its first Postmaster.

March 7, 1877: Juan Pacific Ontiveros died.

March 18, 1881: A heavy sandstorm in Guadalupe blew down trees and buildings.

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March 1891: Santa Maria Union High School became one of the first high schools to be inaugurated under the Union High School Act passed by the legislature.

March 1901: The Ladies Literary Club sent its first letter to Andrew Carnegie asking for his help in building a community library.

March 31, 1901: The Southern Pacific Railroad completed its coast railroad line between San Francisco and Los Angeles, via San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara

March 2, 1906: The Ladies Literary Club changed its name to the Minerva Library Club of Santa Maria.

March 12, 1906: Santa Maria Realty Company (the predecessor of the Santa Maria Gas and Power Company) was organized with Madison Thornburgh as President, Thomas B. Adam as Vice President and John Walker as Secretary.

March 8, 1907: Ken Kitasako, Manager of Pismo Oceano Vegetable Exchange from 1955 through 1976, was born in Palo Alto. HAPPY 101st KEN!

March 1908: The Pacific Coast Railway electric line reached Guadalupe.

March 1, 1909: Southern Pacific Railway Company advertised special rates to run from through April 30. From Boston: $51.45, and from Kansas $25. “What better way to bring your friends to California!”

March 1910: Oil was first carried through the Avila pipelines.

March 11, 1911: Rain brought flooding conditions to Santa Maria.

March 15, 1915: Leland Stokes became Postmaster of Guadalupe.

March 9, 1918: The Auto Club of Southern California opened a branch office at the northwest corner of Broadway and Church Streets, operating independently from the San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara offices.

March 1919: Fire broke out in the back of Minami's Hotel.

March 1926: Santa Barbara's first radio station was opened byCapt. G. Allan Hancock in a studio located at the Santa Maria Valley Railroad office building at Jones and McClelland.

March 9, 1929: Organization of the Hancock Foundation College of Aeronautics was announced.

March 15, 1929: 250 young men applied for admission at the new air school.

March 23, 1929: Fred Clark came in third in the national A.A.U. diving board championship competition.

March 1933: Paul Nelson, manager of the city's Plunge, suffered burns to his face when an accumulation of gas exploded in a water heater at the city water works plant.

March 3, 1933: The Governor of California ordered a 3-day bank holiday, but allowed patrons access to their safe deposit boxes.

March 5, 1933: President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered a 4-day bank holiday.

March 1937: Henry E. “Pat” Stubbs, first elected Congressman from California's Tenth Congressional District, died in Walter Reed Hospital. Stubbs was a former pastor of Santa Maria's First Christian Church.

March 1939: Former President Herbert Hoover visited the Santa Maria Club and spent the night across the street at the beautiful Santa Maria Inn as a guest of the Inn's owner, Frank McCoy.

March 31, 1939: A kickoff dinner to help raise funds for the Sisters Hospital was held at the social hall of the Methodist Church. Our Lady of Perpetual Help Hospital opened in May of 1940. The building became Marian Residence in 1967 when the new Marian Hospital opened.

March 1941: The United States Army acquired approximately 86 thousand acres of land comprised of portions of 5 Mexican land grants: Casmalia, Guadalupe, Mission de la Purisima, Rancho Lompoc and Todo Santos Y San Antonio. A sixth grant, Jesus Maria, was transferred virtually intact.

March 1942: Japanese people living on the Central Coast were picked up by Immigration Authorities and sent to Internment Camps.

March 1944: The Federal Government ordered construction of Prisoner of War Camps to house hundred of German military members captured overseas. On the evening of June 16, the first trainload of POWs arrived at Camp Cooke.

March 18, 1949: Dave Boyd, longtime custodian of Santa Maria Union High School, was made an honorary member of FFA.

March 25, 1949: Parking meters became official in Guadalupe.

March 8, 1952: Paul Nelson, famed manager and swimming coach at the Santa Maria Plunge, died.

March 17, 1958: The new city pool on South McClelland was named the “Paul Nelson Pool.” The pool was dedicated on April 17.

March 15, 1959: His Eminence, Cardinal McIntyre, dedicated the new St Mary's Church.

March 1963: St Louis de Montfort Church was built to ease the ever growing Santa Maria/Orcutt growth.

March 24, 1963: Groundbreaking took place for the Orcutt Presbyterian Church on Patterson Road.

March 16, 1964: KCOY TV, Channel 12, went on the air and began serving the Central Coast. The CBS station was built by the Leach and Carter Construction Company at the Southwest corner of Donovan and North McClelland Streets in Santa Maria. Co-owners of the new station were Mr. and Mrs. Ed Zuchelli, Mr. and Mrs. James Ranger, Mr. and Mrs. Mili Acquistapace, and Mr. and Mrs. Burns Rick.

March 27, 1966: Marjorie Hall, well known Santa Maria dance instructor, who had been critically injured after being stuck by an auto on March 17, died in Sisters Hospital.

March 4, 1967: The 4-story 125-bed Marian Hospital opened on a 10-acre site donated by Capt. G. Allan Hancock.

March 19, 1968: First services were held at the new St. Joseph's Church, located on Thompson Avenue in Nipomo. The original St. Joseph's Church, located at the corner of Tefft and Thompson Road, had been built in 1903.

March 2, 1971: The 127-foot-tall Richfield Tower, located for 44 years at the Arco Station at 2236 South Broadway was torn down.

March 11, 1982: Richard Wilkanoski became the first baby born at the new Marian Hospital medical facility.

March 1988: Robin Ventura played with the United States Olympics team in Seoul, Korea, batting .409 for the gold medal winning squad.

March 12, 1988: A major fire broke out at the Hitching Post in Casmalia. (The Hitching Post was known as the Casmalia Hotel until 1920.)

March 1, 1992: The Nature Conservancy took over the management of Oso Flaco Lake from the State Parks and Recreation Department.

March 15, 1994: Melby's Clock, formerly located at 109 W. Main St., was designated as an “Object of Historical Merit” by the City Manager's Office.

March 31, 1995: Unocal (Union Oil) donated 107 acres of land, east of Highway 101 south of Santa Maria Way, for the Elks Rodeo's new home. Less than three months later, the first rodeo was held on the property.

March 2000: The Vaqueros de Los Rancheros organization celebrated its 60th anniversary.

March 1, 2001: With Jim Glines serving as its first President and Chief Executive Officer, and William Hares serving as the Chairman of the Board, the Community Bank of Santa Maria opened its doors for business at 1493 S. Broadway. One year later, the bank moved to its permanent quarters in the Santa Maria Shopping Center.

March 30, 2002: The Santa Maria Times announced that Gary Leffew would be inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame on August 10.

March 4, 2004: Quarterback Mark Brunell (St. Joseph High School graduate) signed a contract with the Washington Redskins.

March 2005: Long time Hancock College Men's basketball coach, Bob White announced his retirement from coaching, but would stay on as a full-time mathematics instructor.

March 25, 2006: Hancock's Bulldog Field was dedicated as the John Osborne Field. Osborne was a longtime baseball coach and athletic director at the college.

Shirley Contreras lives in Orcutt and writes for the Santa Maria Historical Society. Contact her at 934-3514 or at shirley2@pronet .net. Her book “The Good Years,” a selection of stories she's written for The Times since 1991, is on sale at the Santa Maria Valley Historical Society on South Broadway.

February 24, 2008