The Life of John Michael Price

John Michael Price was born on September 29, 1810, in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England, His father, John Price, was 19 and his mother, Mary Wingate, was 17. 

He married Maria Andrea Carlon on May 13,  1844. They were the parents of 7 sons and 8 daughters.

In 1842, John Price went to work for Isacc Sparks as the major domo of his Huasna Rancho, with a salary of $20 dollars a month. He was also given his wages in horses, cattle, and a part of Spark’s Rancho of Pismo which was west of his Huasna property.

In 1850, it appears that Sparks gave John Price El Pizmo Rancho instead of paying him further wages in gold, as the deed shows a cost of $1 for the property. Isaac Sparks is reported to have said, “I never want to keep a partner who is smarter than I am. Had I kept John Price a few years longer, he would have had all I owned. How much better to sell it to him.”

Price lived and worked on the rancho until his death in 1902.

Price built up sizeable horse and cattle herds, which he moved onto the rancho. Mallagh owned a section of Rancho Pismo around the cave landing area (now Pirate’s Cove), where he established a wharf business. Price purchased some of that property in 1854.

A portion of the southern part, which is now Grover Beach and Arroyo Grande, was sold to Francisco Branch. This sale left Price with Shell Beach, Pismo Beach area, and a large section running back into Price Canyon.

In 1875, Price took the first step toward founding the community of Pismo Beach when he built a hotel on the road from Arroyo Grande to the People’s Wharf in Avila Beach. The hotel was not a success and Price had the hotel moved to the beach in 1884.

In 1881, Price leased oceanfront land to the Meherin brothers to build a wharf and a warehouse. This wharf at the end of Main Street was successful as was the hotel in its new location next to the wharf operation. The school district was founded in 1888, and the Post Office was also established then.

In February 1886, Price hired R.R. Harris to survey and design a map of the subdivisions of part of the Ranchos El Pismo and San Miguelito. In April of 1886, Harris also mapped out and drew a plan for a town to be called “El Pizmo.” A year later, the Pizmo Beach Company again subdivided part of the community and recorded a map of the “Town El Pizmo.” now known as Pismo Beach.

The Pismo Beach Hotel was sold to A.E. Pomeroy and Charles Stimson in 1887. They enlarged the hotel and renamed it the El Pizmo Inn. The hotel was sold and resold many times. In early times, the area was thought of as a place to spend several months, relaxing and enjoying the surroundings. Early advertisements for the El Pizmo Inn encouraged visitors to come and enjoy the “fine duck hunting and the pleasant surroundings.”

The 1900s were wild times in Pismo Beach. Pismo was noted for having many saloons, along with several notorious brothels.

On Aug. 13, 1887, Price sold a portion of the ranch (for $1) to Francis Mora, Bishop of Monterey and Los Angeles Band successors for use as a Catholic burial ground, and the place became known at St. Patrick’s Cemetery.

John Price died on June 7, 1902, in Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo, California, United States, at the age of 91,

Maria Andrea Carlon Price was a native of California. She was born on Jan. 11, 1829. Maria was the daughter of Joseph Antonio Zeferino Carlon. Her mother was Maria Dominga Cota. Her grandfather Don Filipe’ de Golcoacha, the commandante’ of the Santa Barbra Presidio.

When she was a child her mother died and her father relocated the family to Arroyo Grande. Andrea later moved to Rancho Manuela to live with her sister Manuela and brother-in-law Francis Branch. 

Rancho Santa Manuela was a 16,955-acre Mexican land grant in present-day San Luis Obispo County, California given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Francis Ziba Branch. The grant encompassed present-day Arroyo Grande.

Andrea Carlon Price became the wife of John M. Price who she married on May 13, 1844 at Misión de San Luis Obispo,

She died Aug.10, 1912, at the age of 83,



Images of America: Pismo Beach by Effie McDermott; History of San Luis Obispo County, California 1883, published by Thompson and West, Author: Myron Angel; La Vista, Volume 4, Number 1, June 1980, San Luis Obispo County Historical Society, The San Miguel Mission Murders, by Ralph J. Leonard; The Central Coast Magazine, On the Road, The Life and Times of John Michael Price….and His House by January Harries, 1988; Community: Yesterday and Today, The Price Family Homestead. Part One: The Tri-Gabled Adobe. Part Two: The Anniversary House by Janet Penn Franks, 2005; Price: Wanderer bought Pismo rancho for $1 in gold, built adobe home by Doris Olsen, 1976; Articles by Jean Hubbard, Past President of the South County Historical Museum. First Price House a Huasna Cabin, 1991 Don Juan Michael Price: Pismo Founder Was Given Spanish Name. Price Played a Major Rule in Transition. Grand Old Dame Will Soon Celebrate her Centennial. Pismo Founder Nearly Sent Packing in Chains, 1990; A Peek Into Pioneer Life: by Emily Woodward; John Michael Price, Founder of Pismo Beach, For the San Luis County Historical Society by Ralph J. Leonard; John Michael Price (Juan Miguel Prais): A Biography by Ralph J. Leonard