Bishop

Bishop Street

Bishop Peak was named by the padres at Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa because the three sharp points on the summit reminded them of a bishop's miter or headdress. They called the mountain Cerro Obispo. Bishop was quarried extensively in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The first quarry-- owned by Dr. G.B. Nichols of San Luis Obispo--opened in 1897. It was operated by the City Street Improvement Company of San Francisco. Rock from the quarry was used to build the breakwater at Port Hartford (now Port San Luis). To facilitate the removal and transport of the huge blocks of rock, the Pacific Coast Company built a four-mile long spur track from the depot southwest of San Luis Obispo out to the quarry site. 

The second quarry-- located on the southeast corner of the mountain at about 1,000 feet-- operated during the early 1900s. Some of the rock from this quarry became walls within the city of San Luis Obispo-- one on the corner of Santa Rosa and Palm Street, the other on the corner of Chorro and Buchon Streets. This quarry also produced rock that was used on three buildings, the First Presbyterian Church on the corner of Marsh AND Morro, the Carnegie Library, and a private home at 1318 Chorro Street.

The cut rock quarries on Bishop Peak were not worked after 1915. Today most of Bishop Peak remains privately owned.