Cholame, California

Cholame, California
—  Unincorporated community  —
Cholame, California
Cholame, California Location within the state of California
Coordinates: 35°43′26″N 120°17′44″W / 35.72389°N 120.29556°W / 35.72389; -120.29556Coordinates: 35°43′26″N 120°17′44″W / 35.72389°N 120.29556°W / 35.72389; -120.29556
Country	United States
State	California
County	San Luis Obispo
Elevation	1,157 ft (353 m)
Time zone	Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
- Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP codes	93461
Area code(s)	805
FIPS code
GNIS feature ID

Cholame, California /ʃəˈlæm/ is an unincorporated community in San Luis Obispo County, California, USA. It sits within a mile of the San Andreas Rift Zone fault line at an elevation of 1,157 feet (351 m) above sea level and is located at 35°43′26″N 120°17′44″W / 35.72389°N 120.29556°W / 35.72389; -120.29556. Cholame is reached via State Route 41, just southwest of the junction of Route 46. Rainfall data from a nearby ranch shows that the area around Cholame only receives about eight to nine inches (229 mm) of rain in a normal year.

The town is best known as the place where James Dean died on September 30, 1955. However, Dean actually died at the intersection of State Highways 41 and 46, located one mile to the northeast, when college student Donald Turnupseed made a left turn without seeing Dean's Porsche 550 Spyder approaching in the oncoming lane. On September 30, 2005, the 50th anniversary of Dean's death, a few hundred people gathered in Cholame to pay tribute to Dean. Cholame has a restaurant and a memorial to James Dean erected on the site in 1977 by wealthy Japanese businessman Seita Onishi at the base of a tree.

Cholame's ZIP Code is 93461. The community is inside area code 805.