A Family Enterprise - Dairy Creek - San Luis Obispo California - Remains of Settlements on Waymarking.com

The following information was taken from the informational plaques located at the remains of the farm buildings.

Panel 1:
The Gilardi Home was built in 1928 and was soon graced by trim lawns, flower beds, and a fish pond. Enclosed by a wire fence the yard was filled with a profusion of flowers and shrubs, succulents, cacti, and fruit trees. When the federal government took over the land in 1941, the Gilardi house was relocated to Mainini Ranch, on the opposite side of Highway 1. The concrete Foundations, basement, and sidewalks mark the site of the house and garden.

To feed the ranch hands as well as their own families, the Gilardis and Guidettis raised other animals besides cattle. Chicken coops and rabbit hutches were located on the far side of the Gilardi house. Hogs and goats were kept in pens near the milking barn. Deer could be hunted in the local hills and oak thickets and steelhead trout swam in Dairy Creek, which ran year-round.

Both Families had wine cellars, where bottles and barrels of home made wine and grappa brandy were stored. They also made cheese and spicy Coteghino Sausage. Figs, oranges, and lemons grew in the yards, and vegetable gardens provided fresh produce. Tomatoes were also grown commercially on the flat terraces bordering Dairy Creek.

Panel Number 2

Giuseppe Gilardi's daughter Josephine married John Guidetti. They and their two sons, Joseph and John, lived in a wood frame house that lay directly behind you. (This is the middle of the 14th fairway) Josephine's brother Henry, his wife Teresa Cerini Gilardi, and their two daughters, Yvonne and Audrieene, lived in a Stucco house whose foundations you see before you.

Chorro Valley was one of the most productive dairy regions in all of San Luis Obispo County. Like most of the county's early dairies, Dairy Creek operated on a seasonal basis. The dairy year began in the autumn, with the arrival of the new crop of calves. The milking season lasted as long as winter rains and coastal fog kept the pastures. green. Cos grazed the hills above Dairy Creek. Border collies and other dogs helped the ranch hands round them up for the twice-daily milkings.

During the dry season, dairy operations switched from milking to farming. The Gilardis and Guidettis raised their own cattle feed: acres of the ranch were plowed for fields of barley, oats, hay, and sugar beets.

Panel 3

Dairy Creek was the site of an active dairy ranch for over fifty years. The first dairy herds were probably introduced sometime in the 1880s when the land was part of the vast Hollister Ranch. The name "Dairy Creek" appears on county maps dating back at least as far as 1895.

By 1904, Swiss immigrants Guiseppe Gilardi and Charles Walter owned Dairy Creek and managed a dairy herd of over one hundred Milking Shorthorns. The dairy remained in the family until 1941, when the land was taken by the federal government for a portion of Camp San Luis Obispo.

The main dairy buildings and the first ranch house lay to the east, on the opposite slope just above Dairy Creek. Newer family residences were located on this side. Except for the stone Cistern at the top of the knoll to your left, all of the dairy buildings were either moved or demolished in 1941. Only a few stone and concrete foundations mark the site where three generations of Swiss-Italian immigrants toiled to make the American dream a reality.

Dairy Creek golf course and the remains of these buildings and the Stone Cistern are now part of the Rancho El Chorro Regional park.

Terrain: Parking: Not Listed Recommended access: Not Listed

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