Emergency Crime Scene and Biohazard Cleanup in Pescadero, CA

Pescadero is an unincorporated town and census-designated place in San Mateo County, about 14 miles south of Half Moon Bay; its name is Spanish for 'fishmonger.'

Pescadero stands on the Rancho Pescadero Mexican land grant, former Mission Santa Cruz pasture land granted to Juan José Gonzalez in 1833, and American pioneer Alexander Moore built his home in the valley in 1853.

By the 1860s Pescadero was a prosperous town surrounded by farms and lumber mills, and many of its buildings still date from the 19th century.

According to the California Coastal Commission, residents recovered a large quantity of white paint from the 1853 wreck of the clipper ship Carrier Pigeon at Pigeon Point and used it liberally on the town's buildings — starting the tradition of white-painted houses that Pescadero still keeps.

Pescadero Creek, which flows past the town to the Pacific, is the longest stream in San Mateo County.

Next to the town lies the Pescadero Marsh, a wildlife refuge within Pescadero State Beach, and the community remains a farming, ranching, and tourism town.

The population of Pescadero was 595 at the 2020 census, down from 643 at the 2010 census.

About 7 miles north of town stands the Pigeon Point Lighthouse, built in 1872 and, at 115 feet, one of the tallest lighthouses in America.

Pescadero is known for Duarte's Tavern, a longstanding local institution on Stage Road that anchors the tiny downtown.

The town's ZIP Code is 94060, and with no public transit it is reached by driving two miles inland from State Route 1.