Hearst Castle has gone by many names through its lifetime. What words should you search in the Kennedy Library Online Archive?

Digitized materials related to Hearst Castle are described as "San Simeon." Use this keyword phrase to search all materials related to Hearst Castle.

You can narrow your search to a particular building or area as well. 

For example, if you are researching the main house, Casa Grande, try searching the phrase "Casa Grande" and then try the search "Main House." Morgan and Hearst described it using both these phrases over time.

Other areas to search:

• "Main House" and "Casa Grande"
  • certain rooms and areas: Library, Dodge's Suite, Refectory
• House A, House B, House C (also referred to as cottages)

For researching Hearst and Morgan's designs for his animal housing, try searching:

• Zoo
• pits (bear pits)
• "animal shelters"
• animals
• Animal Hill
• and the specific animals he acquired (giraffe, flamingo, bear, etc)

Image Caption: Early sketch of proposed "Animal Hill Garden"

by Julia Morgan, December 1932. Julia Morgan Papers, Link to image

Here are some archival resources to explore to learn more about the history of San Simeon:

• Calisphere: Explore across California archives and cultural institutions digitized archives
  • Browse our collections on San Simeon in our Online Archive
  • Explore the SLO History Center's collections on San Simeon
• Read through an 1883 history of the County in Myron Angel's History of San Luis Obispo County
• View an 1874 Map of the County of San Luis Obispo, California at UCLA's Special Collections
• Browse and search the San Luis Obispo historical newspapers

A presentation from Fall 2020 for an Architecture course with Professor Jen Shields working on re-envisioning and reincorporating historic architecture