Central Coast · CA
Avila Beach
A fishing pier since 1873, and a town rebuilt from clean sand.
- Population
- 1,576 (2020 census)
- Harford Pier
- 1873
- Lighthouse
- 1890
Then
- 1873
The Harford Pier at Port San Luis begins serving fishing boats.
- 1890
The Point San Luis Lighthouse is built after a string of wrecks.
- Late 1990s
Unocal cleans up decades of oil seepage beneath town. Several blocks of Front Street are razed and rebuilt.
Now
Tourism is the main industry, but the Harford Pier still works. Diablo Canyon, California's last nuclear plant, is about six miles up the coast.