Gorda is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Monterey County

Monterey County, California

Monterey County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, its northwestern section forming the southern half of Monterey Bay. The northern half of the bay is in Santa Cruz County. As of 2010, the population was 415,057. The county seat and largest city is Salinas...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. It is located 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Cape San Martin, at an elevation of 148 feet (45 m). It is one of the three small settlements of gas stations, restaurants, and motels located along State Route 1

California State Route 1

State Route 1 , more often called Highway 1, is a state highway that runs along much of the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. It is famous for running along some of the most beautiful coastlines in the world, leading to its designation as an All-American Road.Highway 1 does not run...

 on the Big Sur

Big Sur

Big Sur is a sparsely populated region of the Central Coast of California where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. The name "Big Sur" is derived from the original Spanish-language "el sur grande", meaning "the big south", or from "el país grande del sur", "the big...

 coast. The ZIP Code

ZIP Code

ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

 is 93920, but mail must be addressed to Big Sur, and the community is inside area code 805

Area code 805

North American area code 805 is a California telephone area code. Area code 805 includes most or all of the California counties of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura, plus southernmost portions of Monterey County....

.

History

The fresh springs in Gorda were used by Native American tribes. The first settlement by Westerners was in 1878, when a stagecoach stop was built in Gorda. The settlement expanded with the Gold Rush of the 1880s. The town is now the location of the Gorda Springs Ocean Side Resort.

A post office operated at Gorda from 1893 to 1923, moving in 1910.

Gas prices

As of April 26, 2008, Gorda had the highest gas prices in the United States at $5.40 per gallon. Part of this cost goes to subsidize the 100 gallon per day diesel generator fuel bill for the town.