Lompoc, CA

Lompoc ( LOM-poke; Chumashan Purisimeño: lumpo'o̥) is a city in Santa Barbara County, California. Located on the Central Coast, Lompoc has a population of 43,834 as of July 2021. Lompoc has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Chumash people, who called the area lumpo'o̥, meaning 'in the cheeks' in the local Purisimeño language. The Spanish called the area Lompoco after Fermín de Lasuén had established Misión La Purísima in 1787. In 1837, the Mexican government sold the area as the Rancho Lompoc land grant. Following the U.S. conquest of California, multiple settlers acquired the Lompoc Valley, including William Welles Hollister, who sold the land around the mission to the Lompoc Valley Land Company, which established a temperance colony which incorporated in 1888 as Lompoc. Lompoc is often considered a military town because it is near Vandenberg Space Force Base.