William Randolph Hearst Memorial State Beach at San Simeon occupies a sheltered cove below Hearst Castle and reflects a long coastal history. The area was home to the Chumash before the 1800s, later saw Mission San Miguel in the mid-1830s, and briefly supported a Portuguese whaling village in the early 1850s before drought drove it away. In the later 19th century, George Hearst acquired nearly 50,000 acres, establishing the family landscape that still shapes the area. Long used for trade and shipping, the cove now serves public recreation and wildlife watching, with the state beach created largely through Hearst family land donations and sales in the early 1950s.