Cerro Romauldo is a 1300 feet (396 m) hill in San Luis Obispo, California

San Luis Obispo, California

San Luis Obispo is a city in California, located roughly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the Central Coast. Founded in 1772 by Spanish Fr. Junipero Serra, San Luis Obispo is one of California’s oldest communities...

. The hill is the fifth in a series of volcanic plug

Volcanic plug

A volcanic plug, also called a volcanic neck or lava neck, is a volcanic landform created when magma hardens within a vent on an active volcano. When forming, a plug can cause an extreme build-up of pressure if volatile-charged magma is trapped beneath it, and this can sometimes lead to an...

s called the Nine Sisters

Nine Sisters

The Nine Sisters or the Morros are a chain of nine volcanic peaks and hills between Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo, California. They are popular with photographers and rock climbers. Their volcanic origin makes them of significant geological interest. They support a wide variety of plant, animal,...

. Until 1964 the hill was officially known as Romualdo Peak.

The hill is named for a Chumash man who received the 117 acre (0.47348262 km²) Rancho Huerta de Romualdo

Rancho Huerta de Romualdo

Rancho Huerta de Romualdo was a Mexican land grant in present day San Luis Obispo County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado and in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to Romualdo. The name means Romualdo's vegetable garden...

 Mexican land grant from Pío Pico

Pío Pico

Pío de Jesús Pico was the last Governor of Alta California under Mexican rule.-Origins:...

, the last Mexican Governor of California. Huerta de Romauldo means Romauldo's kitchen garden or orchard in Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

. He sold the land to Captain John Wilson in 1846.

In the 1890s, rock from Cerro Romauldo was used in the construction of the Southern Pacific Railroad

Southern Pacific Railroad

The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....

.

Cerro Romauldo is owned by the State of California, and is used by the California National Guard

California National Guard

The California National Guard is the component of the United States National Guard in the U.S. state of California. It comprises both Army and Air National Guard components and is the largest national guard force in the United States with a total authorized strength of 22,900 soldiers and airmen...

for fitness training.