2018 January PASO Magazine #201

San Miguel Reflections
By Lynne Schmitz
San Miguel is
CHANGING
San Miguel is experiencing
changes. New homes
are being built, Highway
101 from Camp Roberts to the
San Marcos bridges is undergoing
major reconstruction and
repairs, and a brand new store
was opened last July.
Peoples Self-Help Housing
of SLO County purchased two
large development sites on the
east side of 11th Street. Presently,
24 new homes have been
mostly completed and another
59 homes will be built as part of
the same project.
Ultimately 83 new families
will settle here with an influx
of children into Lillian Larsen
Elementary School.
In March of last year, CalTrans
began a major highway rehabilitation
project which will continue
through most of this year.
Work is being done to improve
the highway north of town
through Camp Roberts and the
10th Street bridge in San Miguel
is being reworked. At south
Mission Street, the southbound
lanes will be realigned closer to
the northbound lanes. The onramp
will then pass under two
bridges allowing cars to access
the highway more safely in the
right lane to go south. Two new,
higher bridges are replacing the
old ones at San Marcos Road.
As work progresses lanes are
detoured and traffic slowed for
safety. Remember that fines are
doubled in construction zones if
tempted to rush through. In July,
a Dollar General Store opened
on 10th and K Streets, a welcome
addition to local businesses.
The company serves smaller
communities nation-wide, and
the store features a large variety
of household necessities.
Downtown, a whimsical mural
entitled ‘Kow Party’ was placed
on the end wall of the San
Miguel Flouring Mill at 14th
Street just across the railroad
tracks. Well-known local and
international artist Steve Kalar,
scion of a pioneer family, created
the mural.
In mid-November, change
came to Mission San Miguel
which was founded and built
220 years ago in 1797 by Spanish
Franciscans of the Order
of Friars Minor (OFM) from
Majorca. It was ceded to the
Diocese of Monterey in July,
2016. The last Franciscan pastor
departed in November, 2017,
replaced by Diocesan priests.
The parish remains active. The
Gift Shop and the Retreat Center
are open. The missionaries
were likely the first vintners in
California, planting vineyards
as they founded and built the
missions.
The Mission grapes they propagated
for their sacramental
wine (and brandy) is a black
grape, quite sweet but low in
acidity. The vines are very hardy,
The variety survives today in a
few places, but wines made from
the Mission grape are by and
large poor in quality, although
methods were developed in the
early days to improve quality
and taste. The missionaries
planted a vineyard about five
miles northeast of the mission.
In the largest museum room,
a large wine vat survives with
a clay pipe near the bottom
through which the grape juice
would be dispensed into waterproofed
baskets. Today, the
town, which was once surrounded
by almond orchards,
is surrounded by vineyards producing
very fine wines.
January 2018, PASO Magazine 41