The Pacific Coast Railway right-of-way was established on October 12, 1881, in Arroyo Grande. The railway ran from Avila to San Luis Obispo and Edna in the north, then through Arroyo Grande to Nipomo, Santa Maria, Orcutt, Los Alamos, and Los Olivos in the south. From 1876 to 1942, this railroad was a major influence in the development of agriculture and commerce on California's central coast. In the early morning darkness of April 1, 1886, a group of local masked vigilantes on horseback lynched Peter Hemmi and his son Julius on the Pacific Coast Railway bridge for the murder of rancher Eugene Walker of the upper Arroyo Grande Valley because of a long standing property dispute.