The history of Santa Maria, California, starts with the native Chumash people, who lived there for several thousand years before the Spanish Empire colonized the region in the 18th century. Later, it was a part of the Mexican Empire, California Republic, and finally, the United States. The city was incorporated in 1905, when it had a population of 3,000. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 109,707.