Monterey County

Monterey County Coastal Projects Map from the Coastal Conservancy
Sources

• Monterey: One of the original twenty-seven counties established in 1850 and named for its bay which extends north to Santa Cruz.

• Monterey Bay: Probably the "Bay of Pines" described by Cabrillo in 1542; no landing was made until Vizcaino in 1602 who chose the Spanish word meaning "hill or wood of the king"and honoring Gaspar de Zuniga, Count of Monterey, then viceroy of New Spain.

• Zmudowski State Beach: named for former landowner Mary Zmudowski.

• Moss Landing Harbor: Channel of the Salinas River prior to the river's 1908 diversion to the south; deepwater harbor was created by dredging in 1946.

• Elkhorn Slough: Designated the state's first national estuarine sanctuary in 1979; extends inland from the harbor, was an area extensively used by the Ohlone Indians; middens indicate tule elk were found there, a possible source of the name. Hudson's Landing at the head of the slough was once the Salinas River port for Watsonville.

• Moss Landing Located at the head of a branch of the Monterey Submarine Canyon which reduces wave energy making it one of the safest harbors between San Francisco and Los Angeles; named for Charles Moss who with Portuguese whaler Cato Vierra built a wharf in 1865. Whaling continued into the 1920's. The Pacific Coast Steamship Company provided service to San Francisco in the late 1880's; their historic building remains as a residence as do historic sardine cannery buildings from the 1940's; locally quarried dolomite is used to produce bricks for high temperature industrial ovens.

• Moss Landing Power Plant: The second largest fossil fuel thermal electric power plant in the world, visible landmark for miles on land and sea, was built in 1952.

• Fort Ord: Military post named for General Edward Ord who converted the Presidio of Monterey to an American post in 1847; now a State University campus, among other civilian uses. Visible on the bluff is Stillwell Hall, former enlisted men's club, now falling into the bay.

• Sand City: Site of sand mining since the early 1900's; sand is carried on conveyer belts inland for processing, then transported on railroad cars.

• Roberts Lake: Named for Dr. John Roberts who founded the Seaside post office in 1890

• Monterey State Beach: Wooden cross commemorates Portola 1769 expedition.

• Del Monte Hotel: Historic 1880's resort developed by Southern Pacific Railroad's "Big Four" as a tourist destination, it has been rebuilt after fires in 1887 and 1924, now used by US Naval Postgraduate School. Grounds are open to visitors.

• City of Monterey: A major port in both Spanish and Mexican periods, 1777-1846, California's political and social center before the gold rush; hide and tallow trading (Richard Henry Dana describes the early port), whaling, fishing, sardine canning, and tourism are all represented in numerous historical sites along the California Coastal trail:
  • Municipal Wharf No. 2, built in 1926;
  • Fisherman's Wharf ("Wharf No. 1"), built in 1870 by Pacific Coast Steamship Co.
  • Monterey State Historic Park, nine adobe buildings, Vizcaino landing site, Custom House, Larkin House, Robert Louis Stevenson House, Colton Hall, Maritime Museum;
  • Presidio of Monterey, built in 1770, rebuilt in 1902, Sloat Monument;
  • Macabee Beach, early tourist resort;
  • Cannery Row, immortalized by John Steinbeck, site of Ed Ricketts pioneering intertidal studies, remnants of cannery industry from 1902, all depicted on mural;
  • Monterey Bay Aquarium, pioneer of modern aquariums, on site of 1905 Hovden cannery;
  • Hopkins Marine Station, first marine biology lab in 1892, moved to present site 1916.

• Pacific Grove: Methodist retreat and tent city from 1875, summer Chautauqua site an historical landmark.

• Lover's Point (Point Aulon): Monarch Butterfly statue honoring annual winter stay.

• Perkins Park: named for Hayes Perkins who introduced the colorful ice plant lining walkways.

• Point Pinos Lighthouse Reservation: Named by Vizcaino, site of 1855 lighthouse still operating.

• Asilomar State Beach and Conference Center: established as YWCA retreat in 1913, many of the original buildings designed by Julia Morgan still in use.

• 17-Mile Drive: Began in 1881 as Pacific Improvement Company route for horse-drawn excursions for tourists from Del Monte Lodge along the coast to Carmel Mission; in 1919 Samuel FB Morse, grandnephew of the inventor of the Morse Code, developed Pebble Beach from the Del Monte Forest part of the route and now 17-mile drive name is used for scenic toll road through the area. SFB Morse Botanical Preserve honors Morse's preservation of the forest.

• Pebble Beach: site of 1868-1912 fishing village, then cabins for Del Monte Hotel guests, then 1919 Del Monte Lodge.

• City of Carmel-by-the-Sea: Carmel City in 1888; about 1904 became an artist and writers center and retains much of its Bohemian village flavor. In Carmel and nearby are a Frank Lloyd Wright house, the "Butterfly House" and Robinson Jeffers' Tor House.

• Carmel Mission: The second mission established in California, founded in Monterey in 1770 by Father Junipero Serra as Mission San Carlos Borromeo Del Rio Carmelo, moved in 1771 to its present location; rebuilt in 1793 and 1882, restored in 1936; museum.

• Carmel River State Beach: Vizcaino named the river and Carmel Bay in 1602 for Carmelite friars in his expedition.

• Point Lobos State Reserve: Punta de los Lobos Marinos, "point of the sea wolves" refers to the sea lions which sun on the rocks. Site in succession was Ohlone village, Chinese fishing village, whaling station; visited by Robert Louis Stevenson who remembered the scene years later in writing Treasure Island.

• Malposo Creek: Name "mal poso" referring to "tough going" was recorded in 1835.

• Big Sur ("south") Coast: Extends from Malposo Creek 70 miles to San Luis Obispo County, made famous by poets (Robinson Jeffers), photographers, (Ansel Adams) and other artists. [See also this Lucia site.]

• Notley's Landing: Site of timber mill 1898-1907 operated by brothers Bill and Godfrey Notley; remains of homestead, barn, Palo Colorado schoolhouse and winch mechanisms for off-loading to waiting ships.

• Bixby Creek Bridge: When constructed in 1932, the 260 high concrete span was the was the highest single arch bridge in the world; named for early rancher Charles Bixby; Monterey Lime Company 1904-1910 transported its products in kegs by cable and chutes to warehouses at Bixby Landing. Remnant of the Old Coast Road begins here and demonstrates the early routes.

• Point Sur Lighthouse: When built in 1889 used whale oil lantern to light its Fresnel lens; fully automated in 1975, open to visitors.

• Andrew Molera State Park: Part of the Mexican land grant Rancho El Sur was acquired in 1855 by Juan Bautista Rogers Cooper, a sea otter fur trader; his granddaughter Frances Molera gave a large portion of the ranch to the state in 1965.

• Big Sur River (El Rio Grande del Sur): Part of the State Protected Waterway System.

• Pfeiffer Beach: Michael Pfeiffer was an 1869 homesteader in the Big Sur Valley; Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park is named for his son John, and Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park for his daughter.

• (nearby) ???? Nepenthe restaurant famous since the 1960's; Henry Miller Memorial Library; Deetjen's Big Sur Inn, a rustic resort built in the 1920's; Esalen Institute at site of hot springs used by resorts since 1870's; boundary between Esselen Indians who extend north to Point Sur, and Salinan Indians who extend south to San Luis Obispo.

• Limekiln Beach Redwoods Campground and Limekiln Creek: Creek site of historic Rockland Landing from which product of four nearby lime kilns was shipped in the 1870's.