Goodwin Ranch

Remnants of the Goodwin Ranch stand northwest of the boardwalk. Guy L. Goodwin, born in Santa Maria in 1887, graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1909 and worked in his father's oil fields. After his father's death in 1923, Guy joined his brother Don in managing real estate and ranching, and he took a special interest in the Carrizo Plain. He hired a young cowboy, Dewey Werling, to manage the cattle ranch, and although Dewey was only 17, he proved a capable cattleman who kept the ranch operating through the Depression years. The ranch continued to supply grain and cattle during the critical food shortage years after World War II. Today the ranch house is owned by the Bureau of Land Management and is to be preserved as part of the history of the Carrizo Plain National Monument by the BLM, The Nature Conservancy, and the California Department of Fish and Game.

California · United States