The Chumash Indian village of Mishopshnow, discovered by Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo on August 14, 1542, was located one-fourth mile southwest of here. Fray Juan Crespi of the Gaspar de Portola expedition named it San Roque on August 17, 1769. After Portola's soldiers observed the Indians building wooden canoes, they called the village La Carpinteria, meaning The Carpenter Shop.