Los Osos Community Park, located at 2180 Palisades Avenue, is a county park in Los Osos, California. The park includes The Red Barn, a skate park, tennis courts, the historic Los Osos Schoolhouse, and picnic areas.
County webpage: https://slocountyparks.com/day-use-parks/los-osos-community-park/
History of the site
The land, 6.3 acres, was donated by developer John Curci, and dedicated for a park in June 1973. Former owners of the parcel included the Morro Land Company, Morro Palisades Company, Morro Bay Oil Company, and the Sunshine Beach. The property was formerly part of Lot 79 (either part A or B of the S. B. Call section) of the Rancho Los Osos, and likely later part of the Sunshine Beach proposed development. Curci's company later donated the land for the Sweet Springs Nature Preserve.
While the county provided guidelines, Los Osos community organizations and representatives on the citizens' park committee decided what would go in the park.1,2
The 100-year-old Los Osos Schoolhouse was moved to the location (from Los Osos Valley Road near Turri Road).
Red Barn history
The red barn was a remnant of the farm which once occupied the land, and was reinforced and renovated. Research suggests that the barn was owned by Arnold Heim, a Swiss geologist and explorer, who purchased the property in 1913 from the Morro Bay Oil Company to develop a eucalyptus plantation. His property was nearby the Bay View Eucalyptus Grove of William Alston Hayne, who built up his land from approximately 1908 to 1913. Photos from Heim's archives suggest the barn was present as early as 1914.
See photos of the Red Barn at the Arnold Heim archive in the ETH Library in Zurich, Switzerland.
Citations
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San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune (San Luis Obispo, California), April 15, 1975: 9.
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San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune (San Luis Obispo, California), June 13, 1973: 8.
