Chapel of San Ramon

The Santa Maria Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) which straddles the boundary of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties in California's multi-county Central Coast AVA. It was established on August 5, 1981, by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) as California's second oldest AVA. A portion of the AVA crosses the Cuyama River into the southernmost corner of San Luis Obispo County. The east–west orientation of the 152.3 square miles (97,483 acres) with a wide, open valley and rolling hills means cool winds and fog flow in freely from the Pacific Ocean, settling most noticeably in lower-lying areas. The result is a mild Mediterranean climate that lengthens the growing season and contributes to the eventual sugar/acid balance in the grapes from Santa Maria Valley's 7,500 acres (3,000 ha) cultivated vineyards. On January 28, 2011, the AVA was granted an 29.4 square miles (18,790 acres) expansion to its southern boundary.

Sisquoc (Chumash for "quail") is a census-designated place in Santa Barbara County, California located east of U.S. Route 101 about 15 miles (24 km) southeast of Santa Maria and 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Garey. The ZIP Code is 93454, and the community is inside area code 805. Sisquoc has a fire station, a church, a Preschool-8 school and a store. It has a micro-climate with mild weather year-round. The population was 183 at the 2010 census. The town is at the intersection of Palmer Road and Foxen Canyon Road, at the southwestern edge of the floodplain of the Sisquoc River. The predominant land use on the plain is agriculture, while the hills to the south and west contain the Cat Canyon Oil Field, with Greka Energy and ERG Resources, LLC being the largest operators. Sisquoc is an agricultural area. It is well known for vineyards and strawberry fields. The terrain is hilly, and there are mountains in the distance. Wildlife near Sisquoc includes bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions, rabbits, and gophers. There is one closed store in town called the Sisquoc store, and a fire station. There is one school in town called Benjamin Foxen, home of the Bobcats. Benjamin Foxen is the only remaining school of 5 in the Blochman School District. The Blochman School PTA (Parent Teacher Association) was established in 1960. The school has a library in need of more books. Students and teachers at Blochman run a school garden, and fresh produce from the garden is served in the cafeteria.

Rancho Tepusquet was a 8,901-acre (36.02 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day northern Santa Barbara County, California given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Tomás Olivera. The grant extended along the Sisquoc River and encompassed present day Sisquoc and Garey, northeast of Los Alamos.

Rancho Tinaquaic was a 8,875-acre (35.92 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Barbara County, California given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Víctor Pantaleón Linares.: 655–656, n.5  Benjamin Foxen who had later purchased the Rancho was the claimant in the 1852 land case. The grant comprised most of what is now known as Foxen Canyon, northeast of Los Alamos.

The Cat Canyon Oil Field is a large oil field in the Solomon Hills of central Santa Barbara County, California, about 10 miles southeast of Santa Maria. It is the largest oil field in Santa Barbara County, and as of 2010 is the 20th-largest in California by cumulative production.The field was discovered in 1908, just seven years after the nearby Orcutt field. At first it was developed slowly, because of difficulties in drilling and keeping wells productive, but as ever-richer reservoirs were revealed in the next two decades it gradually became one of the most productive fields in the state. A mature field in decline, estimated reserves have dwindled to 2.3 million barrels, less than one percent of the total produced in the preceding century. A total of 243 wells remained active, although a field revitalization program commenced by ERG Resources in 2011 intends to extend the field's lifetime by extracting reserves previously considered unrecoverable. The largest operators currently active on the field are Greka Energy with 168 active wells, and ERG, who plans to bring over 300 shut-in wells back into production.

Bien Nacido Vineyards is cool-climate vineyard on the central coast of California. Located midway up the Santa Maria Valley, it is known for growing Burgundian and Rhone varieties of wine grapes. Bien Nacido has the distinction of being one of the major viticultural nurseries in the state for certified, varietal budwood. Most of the vines were originally from stock grown by the University of California at Davis. While the average increase block in California is less than 10 acres (40,000 m2), Bien Nacido Vineyards has several hundred acres of certified Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot and a number of other varieties. Much of the Chardonnay planted in California in the last twenty years began as Bien Nacido Vineyards cuttings.Bien Nacido Vineyards produces an estate wine program run by Trey Fletcher. The focus of the estate program is to showcase specific, small blocks of the larger vineyard, in a very holistic approach. The winery produces around 1400 cases annually of Pinot Noir, Syrah and Chardonnay. Additionally, a small portion of wine is made exclusively from the famous X Block, Old Vines and from a monopole block called The Captain. Additionally there are two independent winemakers who make their wine on the vineyard, Bob Lindquist of Qupe Winery and Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat.

Garey is a census-designated place in Santa Barbara County, California located east of U.S. Route 101 about 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Santa Maria and 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Sisquoc. The ZIP Code is 93454, and the community is inside area code 805. The population was 68 at the 2010 census.

KLWG (88.1 FM) is a non-commercial radio station that is licensed to and serves Lompoc, California. The station is owned by Calvary Chapel of Lompoc and broadcasts a Christian talk and teaching format.

KCLM (89.7 FM) is a non-commercial radio station that is licensed to Santa Maria, California and serves the Santa Maria—Lompoc area. It is rebroadcast via translator K221FV in San Luis Obispo, California on 92.1 FM. Both KCLM and the translator are owned by California Lutheran University and air a public radio format, simulcasting KCLU-FM in Thousand Oaks, California.

KXFM (99.1 FM, "Old School 99.1") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Santa Maria, California and serves the Santa Maria-Lompoc area. Owned by Point Broadcasting (through licensee Point Ten), the station broadcasts a rhythmic oldies music format and is a part of Point's Old School network of oldies stations.

Rancho Los Álamos was a 48,803-acre (197.50 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Barbara County, California given in 1839 by Governor Juan Alvarado to José Antonio de la Guerra, a son of José de la Guerra y Noriega. Los Álamos is Spanish for "the cottonwoods" and describes Frémont's Cottonwood (Populus fremontii) trees lining the banks of the San Antonio Creek.

The Sisquoc River is a westward flowing river in northeastern Santa Barbara County, California. It is a tributary of the Santa Maria River, which is formed when the Sisquoc River meets the Cuyama River at the Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County border just north of Garey. The river is 57.4 miles (92.4 km) long and originates on the north slopes of Big Pine Mountain, at approximately 6,320 feet (1,930 m). Big Pine Mountain is part of the San Rafael Mountains, which are part of the Transverse Ranges.