Monterey
NO. 1 CUSTOM HOUSE - Built in 1827 by the Mexican government, the Custom House played a critical role in the functioning of the Mexican government, as duties from foreign commerce were the prime source of revenue. On July 7, 1846, Commodore John D. Sloat raised the American flag over the building marking the official takeover of California by the U.S. military. The building remained an important edifice during the transition to American rule, and over time became a valued symbol of an earlier age. The building was preserved through the efforts of the Native Sons of the Golden West and the citizens of California.
Location: Monterey State Historic Park, Custom House Plaza, between Scott and Decatur Sts, Monterey
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places: NPS-66000217
NO. 105 ROYAL PRESIDIO CHAPEL OF SAN CARLOS BORROMÉO - Established as a mission by Father Serra, June 3, 1770, this became the royal Presidio Chapel when the mission was moved to Carmel. The chapel was rebuilt with stone in 1791 and became the parish church in 1835, due to secularization. In a dilapidated condition in 1850, it was reconstructed and altered with money donated by Governor Pacheco in 1858.
Location: 550 Church St near Figueroa
NO. 106 LARKIN HOUSE - The adobe-and-wood Larkin House was built in 1835 by Thomas Oliver Larkin, a Yankee merchant who came to California in April 1832. Since Larkin was the only U.S. consul to California under Mexican rule, his home became the American consulate from 1844 to 1846, and it was also used as military headquarters by Kearny, Mason, and Sherman.
Location: Monterey State Historic Park, SW corner of Jefferson and Calle Principal, Monterey
NO. 126 COLTON HALL - In this building met the convention that drafted the Constitution under which California was admitted to statehood on September 9, 1850. Robert Semple was chairman and William G. March secretary. The 48 delegates met from September 1 to October 15, 1849 on the upper floor, which ran the length of the main building. The stairway leading to the convention hall was in the rear of the building. Rev. Walter Colton, first American alcalde in Monterey, erected this building as a public hall and schoolhouse, he and Robert Semple established California's first American newspaper in Monterey on August 15, 1846.
Location: Civic Center, Pacific St between Jefferson and Madison, Monterey
NO. 128 LANDING PLACE OF SEBASTIAN VIZCAINO AND FRAY JUNÍPERO SERRA - Having entered the harbor the previous evening with his three small vessels, Sebastian Vizcaino landed here on December 17, 1602. Mass was sung by three Carmelite friars and the country taken in the name of the King of Spain. On the same spot, Fray Junípero Serra landed from the San Antonio on June 3, 1770 to join Captain Gaspar de Portolá and Fray Juan Crespí, who had arrived from San Diego overland a week before, in founding the Mission San Carlos de Borroméo de Monterey and the Presidio of Monterey.
Location: Monterey State Historic Park, SW corner of Artillery and Pacific Sts, Monterey
NO. 135 MISSION SAN CARLOS BORROMÉO DE CARMELO - Mission San Carlos was established by Father Serra on June 3, 1770 at the Presidio of Monterey. Finding this location unsuitable, Serra moved the mission to Carmel Valley. In July 1771 he set to work constructing temporary buildings at the new site, and in December 1771 the mission was moved to its permanent location.
Location: SW corner of Lasuen Dr and Rio Rd, Carmel
NO. 136 FIRST THEATER IN CALIFORNIA - This building was built about 1844 as a sailor's lodging house by Jack Swan. In 1848 it was commandeered by a group of mustered-out soldiers of Colonel Stevenson's regiment of New Yorkers looking for a place to put on plays and comedies. The theater afterward served as a whaling station, a lookout station having been added to the roof.
Location: Monterey State Historic Park, SW corner of Scott and Pacific Sts, Monterey
NO. 232 MISSION SAN ANTONIO DE PADUA - Mission San Antonio de Padua, established on July 14, 1771, was the third in a series of missions founded in Alta California by Father Junípero Serra. Its picturesque setting in the valley of the San Antonio River within the Santa Lucia Range makes it one of today's most outstanding examples of early mission life.
Location: Take Jolon Rd 26.5 mi from Hwy 101, to Hunter-Ligget Military Reservation, 23 mi W of King City. Plaque located at Hwy 101 & Jolon Rd on W. side
NO. 233 MISSION NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LA SOLEDAD - This mission, founded October 9,1791 by Father Fermín Francisco de Lasuén, ministered to the Indians of the Salinas Valley. Governor José Joaquín de Arrillaga died here July 24, 1814 and was buried in the chapel. Prosperous in its early years, Soledad declined after 1825, but Father Vicente Francisco Sarría stayed on in poverty to serve the Indians until his death in 1835, when the mission was secularized. It was regranted to the Bishop of Monterey in 1859. In ruins after 1874, the chapel was reconstructed and dedicated under the auspices of the Native Daughters of the Golden West, October 1955.
Location: Fort Romie Rd (Co Rd G-17), 2.5 mi S of Soledad; exist Hwy 101 W on Arroyo Seco Ed, right on Fort Romie Rd, follow signs
NO. 348 HOUSE OF GOVERNOR ALVARADO - A native of Monterey, Alvarado served as Governor of Mexican California from December 20, 1836 to December 20, 1842. During his administration the increasing influx of Americans and the Russian settlement at Fort Ross began to be regarded as serious problems.
Location: 494-498 Alvarado St, Monterey
NO. 351 VÁSQUEZ HOUSE - This adobe house was occupied by a sister of Tiburcio Vásquez, the colorful Monterey bandit of the 1870s.
Location: 546 Dutra St, Monterey
NO. 352 ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON HOUSE - In this house in 1879 lived Robert Louis Stevenson, essayist, storyteller, and poet whose contribution to literature delighted the world.
Location: 530 Houston St, Monterey
NO. 353 HOUSE OF FOUR WINDS - In the late 1830s, Thomas Oliver Larkin built the House of Four Winds, named for the weather vane in his garden. Tradition says the building was used as an early hall of records.
Location: 540 Calle Principal, Monterey
NO. 354 OLD PACIFIC HOUSE - Originally built as a hotel between 1835 and 1847 by James McKinley, the building was known as the Pacific House in 1850, when it housed a public tavern. In later years law offices, a newspaper, small stores, and a ballroom occupied the premises. In 1880 David Jacks bought the property, and in 1954 Miss Margaret Jacks made a gift of the building to the State of California.
Location: Monterey State Historic Park, Custom House Plaza, Monterey
NO. 387 THE GLASS HOUSE, CASA MATERNA OF THE VALLEJOS - In the 1820s, Don Ignacio Vallejo built the Casa Materna on Bolsa de San Cayetano. Don Ignacio and Dona María Antonio Lugo y Vallejo had 13 children--eight daughters and five sons, one of whom was General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo.
Location: On edge of bluff 1, 000 ft N of intersection of Hillcrest Rd and Salinas Rd, 2.5 mi SE of Watsonville
NO. 494 RICHARDSON ADOBE - Los Coches Rancho (8,994.2 acres) was granted to María Josefa Soberanes de Richardson by the Mexican government in 1841. Her husband, William Brunner Richardson, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, built the adobe house here in 1843, and planted the nearby locust trees in 1846. This was the site of Captain John C. Frémont's encampment in 1846 and 1847, the adobe was later used as a stage station and post office. It was donated to the State of California in 1958 by Margaret Jacks.
Location: Los Coches Rancho Wayside Campground, NW corner of State Hwy 101 (P.M. 60.5) and Arroyo Seco Rd, 1.5 mi S of Soledad
NO. 532 CASA DE ORO - In the 1850s this building was a general merchandise store operated by Joseph Boston & Co. In later years it was called Casa de Oro because of the unverified story that it had been a gold depository.
Location: Monterey State Historic Park, SW corner of Olivier and Scott, Monterey
NO. 56O HILL TOWN FERRY - Operated by Hiram Cory, this was one of the first ferries to cross the Salinas River. The Monterey County Board of Supervisors regulated the toll which was, in 1877: buggy and horse, 25 cents, buggy and horses, 37-1/2 cents, four horses and wagon, 85 cents, six horses and wagon, $1, horse and saddle, 25 cents, and man on foot, 12-1/2 cents. The ferry operated until a bridge was built in 1889.
Location: On Old Hwy 68, SW corner of Spreckels Blvd and Old Hwy 68 (P.M. 18.1), 3.0 mi SW of Salinas
NO. 651 SITE OF THE BATTLE OF NATIVIDAD - Combined American forces under Captains Charles D. Burrass (or Burroughs) and Bluford K. Thompson clashed with Comandante Manuel de Jesús Castro's Californians in this vicinity on November 16, 1846. Casualties on each side consisted of several men killed and wounded. The Americans saved a large herd of horses for Lt. Col. John C. Frémont, who then later proceeded south to participate in the Armistice at Cahuenga in January 1847.
Location: SW corner of San Juan Grade (P.M. 4.9) and Crazy Horse Canyon Rd, 5.0 mi NE of Salinas
NO. 712 SOBERANES ADOBE - Don José Estrada, who built this adobe in 1830, sold the property to Don Feliciano Soberanes. The adobe was the home of the Soberanes family from 1860 until 1922, when Mr. and Mrs. William O'Donnell acquired the property. Mrs. O'Donnell gave the adobe to the State in 1953.
Location: Monterey State Historic Park, 336 Pacific St, Monterey
NO. 713 GUTIÉRREZ ADOBE - In 1841 the municipality of Monterey granted a lot to Joaquín Gutiérrez where he and his wife, Josefa, built an adobe home. The house has been donated to the State by the Monterey Foundation.
Location: Monterey State Historic Park, 590 Calle Principal, Monterey
NO. 839 CHAUTAUQUA HALL - The first Chautauqua in the West was organized at Pacific Grove in June 1879 for the presentation of 'moral attractions' and 'the highest grade of concerts and entertainments.' Known worldwide as 'Chautauqua-by-the-Sea,' it made Pacific Grove an unequaled cultural center.
Location: SW corner of 16th St and Central Ave, Pacific Grove
NO. 870 JOSÉ EUSEBIO BORONDA ADOBE CASA - Built between 1844 and 1848 by José Eusebio Boronda, this is an outstanding example of a Mexican-era rancho adobe. Virtually unaltered since its construction, it shows many features of the 'Monterey Colonial' style.
Location: Boronda Adobe Historic Center, 333 Boronda Rd at W Laurel Dr, Salinas
NO. 934 TEMPORARY DETENTION CAMPS FOR JAPANESE AMERICANS-SALINAS ASSEMBLY CENTER - This monument is dedicated to the 3,586 Monterey Bay area residents of Japanese ancestry, most of whom were American citizens, temporarily confined in the Salinas Rodeo Grounds during World War II, from April to July 1942. They were detained without charges, trial, or establishment of guilt before being incarcerated in permanent camps, mostly at Poston, Arizona. May such injustice and humiliation never recur.
Location: Sherwood Gardens Rodeo Grounds, Sherwood Hall Community Center 940 N Main St, Salinas
NO. 951 LIGHT STATIONS OF CALIFORNIA (THEMATIC), POINT SUR LIGHT STATION - Spanish explorers and later New England hide and tallow traders found the Big Sur coastline a great hazard. Heavy fogs and extreme winds caused the wreck of many vessels on this coast. The gold rush of 1849 dramatically increased coastal shipping. A lighthouse was clearly needed. President Andrew Johnson signed the Executive Order which reserved the site for lighthouse purposes in 1866. Construction began in 1887 and the lamp was lit on August 1, 1889.
Location: St Hwy 1, 23 mi S of Monterey and 3 mi N of Andrew Molera St Pk
NO. 1052 ASILOMAR - Located on the Monterey Peninsula in the city of Pacific Grove, Asilomar had its start in 1913 as a young women's summer camp and conference facility - an outgrowth of the inspired vision of the resourceful, socially-concerned and committed women of the YWCA. The historic buildings in were designed and built by renowned California architect Julia Morgan between 1913 and 1928, in the First Bay Tradition, a regional off-shoot of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Asilomar represents one of the largest collections of Morgan's work in the First Bay Tradition in one location. California State Parks has owned and operated Asilomar since 1956.
Location: Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds, 800 Asilomar Blvd., Pacific Grove
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places: NPS-87000823