[2][5] Wilber Judson Harlan filed the first patent for land in the area in 1885; his family continue to own the Lodge.

[9] The land may have first been occupied the Salinan Playano subtribe who are believed to have lived as far north as Slates Hot Springs, easterly over the Santa Lucia Mountains and Junipero Serra Peak, inland towards Soledad and as far south as what is now San Simeon.

[14] His father died when he was 21, and Wilber moved to Santa Cruz, California where his half-sister Hester Ann lived with her husband C. J. Todd.

In 1885, Harlan homesteaded in Big Sur and filed his claim of 167 acres (68 ha) in the San Francisco Land Office.

George volunteered to meet the new teacher at the King City rail road station in the Salinas Valley.

He brought her to the coast on a two-day horseback trip that included an overnight stay in Wagon Caves# in the upper San Antonio River valley.

George Harlan rode his horse Trixie to carry mail from Jolon to Lucia Post Office from 1922 to 1934.

Travelers on horseback switched to wagons stored there for the purpose of transporting goods to market and provisions home.

In 1878, Jolon had two grocers, a butcher, a blacksmith, a harness maker, a general merchandise store, post office, and Wells Fargo station.

[19] When the Southern Pacific Railroad was extended in 1886 to Soledad, travelers could then ride their wagons or a stage 37 miles (60 km) north.

[24] Lucia Lodge included a general store and a restaurant facing the ocean that served lunch and dinner year round and breakfast only in the summer.