Arroyo Grande (Spanish for "Big Creek") is a town in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States.

[10] The earliest inhabitants of Arroyo Grande Valley were the northern or Obispeno Chumash Indians.

The Arroyo Grande area was still occupied by the Chumash at the time of contact with the first Spanish explorer, Juan Cabrillo.

During the colonial settlement of California, the Arroyo Grande Valley became separated into two major ranchos which were granted by the Mexican government around 1840.

[11] In 1862, the San Luis Obispo Board of Supervisors established the township of Arroyo Grande.

Businesses developed along a road called Branch Street to serve local agriculture.

The Swinging Bridge was originally constructed in early 1875 by the Short family, whose land was divided by the Arroyo Grande Creek.

Arroyo Grande is a small coastal town with historic, suburban, and rural elements located at 35°7′15″N 120°35′12″W / 35.12083°N 120.58667°W / 35.12083; -120.58667 (35.120878, -120.586799).

Arroyo Grande is located in a coastal ecosystem within the California Floristic Province, and the native habitats include coast live oak woodland, central coastal scrub, willow and mixed riparian along Arroyo Grande Creek and numerous tributaries, native bunch-grass grassland, coastal prairie, dunes and intertidal zone, and non-native and agricultural areas.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.8 square miles (15 km2), all of it land.

In the California State Legislature, Arroyo Grande is in the 17th Senate District, represented by Democrat John Laird, and in the 30th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Dawn Addis.