Sebastian Store

The Sebastian Store is a California Historical Landmark (#726) in San Simeon, California, United States. It is the oldest store building along the north coast of San Luis Obispo County. It was built in the 1860s at Whaling Point, one-half mile to the west of its current location where it was moved in 1878.^[1] The Sebastian family operated the store for 94 years.^[2]

Sebastian Store
Sebastian Store in 1989
Type	Historic store
Location	442 San Simeon Road, San Simeon, California
Coordinates	35°38′36″N 121°11′29″W
Built	1860s
California Historical Landmark
Reference no.	726[1]
Location of Sebastian Store in California Show map of California Sebastian Store (the United States) Show map of the United States

It was built in 1852 by Captain Joseph Clark (birthname Machado) ^[3] to provide goods and services to whalers and the surrounding community. It was moved from the point to its present location by George Hearst and operated by the Thorndyke family until 1914.^[4] According to a 2016 article on the "Cambria History Exchange", the store was established in 1852 by Juan Castro (son-in-law of John Wilson) who owned a portion of Rancho Piedra Blanca.^[5]

Aside from the Hearst family, other prominent customers were reported to include Thomas Edison, Calvin Coolidge, George Bernard Shaw and Winston Churchill.^[5]