Paso Robles

According to anthropologists Randall Milliken and John R. Johnson, Northern Chumash communities inhabited the area at Spanish contact, and Salinan communities later lived in the upper Salinas corridor. Spanish missions displaced residents of the region's villages. The modern town developed around mineral springs and the railroad and incorporated in 1889. Agriculture, military activity at nearby Camp Roberts, and later suburban growth contributed to its expansion.

Paso Robles is a center of the surrounding Paso Robles wine region. Wine production and tourism have reshaped its economy, while housing costs and water availability have become local concerns. The city hosts the California Mid-State Fair and has a municipal airport, an Amtrak station, and the North County campus of Cuesta College.