Editing Lompoc, California (section)

==History==
[[File:La Purisima Mission, Lompoc, California LCCN2013631431.tif|left|thumb|[[Mission La Purísima]] was founded in 1787 by the Spanish,  under the leadership of [[Fermín de Lasuén]].]]
Before the Spanish conquest, the area around Lompoc was inhabited by the [[Chumash people]]. The [[Original Mission La Purísima]] was established in 1787 near what is now the southern edge of the city. [[Purisimeño language|Purisimeño]], a Chumashan language, was spoken in the region during the mission period.<ref>{{cite web | title = Purisimeño | work = Survey of California and Other Indian Languages | access-date = July 22, 2012 | url = http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/~survey/languages/purisimeno.php }}</ref> After an [[1812 Ventura earthquake|earthquake]] destroyed the mission in 1812, it was moved to its present location {{convert|1|mi|km}} northeast of the present city. After independence from the [[Spanish Empire]], the [[First Mexican Empire]] was established in 1821. The Mexicans secularized the [[Spanish missions of California|Spanish missions]] in 1833, and La Purisima Mission fell into ruins.

In 1893, a [[diatomaceous earth]] mine, formerly owned by Johns Manville, World Mineral, and Celite corporation, now [[Imerys]] Inc., opened in the southern hills in Miguelito Canyon. It became (and still is) the largest marine diatomite mine in the world, and at one time was the largest employer in the valley.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Abramson|first=Mark|date=July 24, 2005|title=Lompoc mining company Celite sells to Imerys for ,217M|url=https://santamariatimes.com/news/local/lompoc-mining-company-celite-sells-to-imerys-for-217m/article_b8320b09-8508-5cad-8247-0f648acc31ec.html|access-date=July 20, 2021|work=Santa Maria Times|language=en}}</ref> While owned by Johns Manville, the mine employed more than 900 people at its peak, and built housing for its employees onsite and in town; the houses in town are next to JM park, which was donated to the city by the mine. Another diatomaceous earth company, Grefco, operated here from the 1940s until 1998.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://lompocrecord.com/news/local/owner-has-plans-for-grefco-site/article_476e612e-e5ac-11e0-b0f6-001cc4c002e0.html|title=Owner has plans for Grefco site|last=Sakata|first=John|date=September 23, 2011|work=Lompoc Record|language=en|access-date=February 9, 2020}}</ref> The remnants of its mine at the northeast end of town were torn down in 2001.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://santamariatimes.com/news/local/lompoc-landmark-falls/article_7a5e5633-0e89-5fc9-8a62-51709905cd92.html|title=Lompoc landmark falls|last=Zimmer|first=Shane|date=June 4, 2001|work=Santa Maria Times|language=en|access-date=February 9, 2020}}</ref>
[[File:Lompoc Veterans Memorial Building front view.jpg|thumb|left|Lompoc Veterans Memorial Building, built in a [[Spanish Colonial Revival architecture|Spanish Colonial Revival style]] in 1936, is a [[National Historic Landmark]].]]
In 1909, the [[Sibyl Marston (ship)|Sibyl Marston]]—at the time, the largest steam schooner built on the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]]—sank nearby while carrying {{convert|1100000|board feet|m3}} of lumber. Many of the older Lompoc homes were built with lumber from the shipwreck. The wreckage can still be seen south of [[Surf, California|Surf Beach]].<ref name="Record-Nisperos">{{Citation  | last = Nisperos  | first = Neil    | title = Merchant steamer ship visible at Surf Beach  | newspaper = Lompoc Record | date = January 29, 2006 | url = http://www.lompocrecord.com/news/local/article_d46d2a35-dbcb-5dfe-90a9-51a1891c7023.html | access-date = June 9, 2013}}</ref>

The coastal branch of the [[Southern Pacific Railroad]] opened around 1900 and eventually replaced ship transportation. A paved road linked Lompoc to [[Buellton, California|Buellton]] and the rest of California around 1920. In 1923, the [[Honda Point disaster]], the U.S.'s largest peacetime naval accident, occurred just off the coast; nine U.S. destroyers ran aground, killing 23 people. During the [[Great Depression]], La Purisima Mission was restored by the [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] (CCC). During [[World War II]], the coast west of Lompoc was the site of Camp Cooke, a [[United States Army]] training camp where large units could practice maneuvers.

Lompoc grew slowly until 1958, when the [[United States Air Force]] announced that the former Camp Cooke would be a test site for the [[Thor (rocket family)|Thor]] family of [[intermediate-range ballistic missile]]s and the first operational base for the [[SM-65 Atlas]], an [[intercontinental ballistic missile]]. The city then began to grow rapidly to provide housing for thousands of civilians and contractors employed at what was soon renamed Vandenberg Air Force Base. It was the Air Force's first missile base.
[[File:Old movie theater in Lompoc, California LCCN2013631444.tif|thumb|left|The [[Mission Revival]] style Lompoc Theatre was built in 1927.]]
The [[Space Shuttle program]] was slated to begin launches from Vandenberg in the late 1980s, and the city experienced a boom in restaurant and hotel construction in anticipation of tourists coming to see shuttle launches. However, when [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|the Challenger exploded]] during take-off from [[Cape Canaveral]] in 1986, the West Coast shuttle program was terminated, sending Lompoc into a severe [[recession]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Corwin|first=Miles|date=February 26, 1986|title=Shuttle Blowup Casts Pall Over Lompoc Area's Sudden Growth|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-02-26-mn-31-story.html|access-date=July 20, 2021|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}</ref>