Monterey is a city in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under both Spain (1804–1821) and Mexico (1822–1846). During this period, Monterey hosted California's first theater, public building, public library, publicly funded school, printing press, and newspaper. It was originally the only port of entry for all taxable goods in California. In 1846, during the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848, the United States Flag was raised over the Customs House. After Mexico ceded California to the U.S. at the end of the war, Monterey hosted California's first constitutional convention in 1849.
Rancho Petaluma Adobe is a historic ranch house in Sonoma County, California. It was built from adobe bricks in 1836 by order of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo. It was the largest privately owned adobe structure built in California and is the largest example of the Monterey Colonial style of architecture in the United States. A section of the former ranch has been preserved by the Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park and it is both a California Historic Landmark and a National Historic Landmark. The Rancho Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park is located on Adobe Road on the east side of the present-day town of Petaluma, California.
The House of the Four Winds, or La Casa de Los Vientos, is a historic adobe building located at 540 Calle Principal in Monterey, California. It was built by Thomas O. Larkin in 1834. The house acquired its named because of the weather vane on its hipped roof. The building was used as the first State of California Hall of Records. Today it is used as the clubhouse for the Monterey Civic Club. The building is listed as a California Historical Landmark #353.
Garrapata State Park is a state park of California, United States, located on California State Route 1 6.7 miles (10.8 km) south of Carmel-by-the-Sea and 18 miles (29 km) north of Big Sur Village on the Monterey coast. The 2,939-acre (1,189 ha) park was established in 1979. California sea lions, harbor seals and sea otters frequent the coastal waters while gray whales pass close by during their yearly migration.
The José Castro House, sometimes known as the Castro-Breen Adobe, is a historic adobe home in San Juan Bautista, California, facing the Plaza de San Juan. The Monterey Colonial style house was built 1838-41 by General José Antonio Castro, a former Governor of Alta California. It was later sold to the Breen family, who lived there until 1933, when the house became a museum as part of San Juan Bautista State Historic Park.
The Larkin House is a historic house at 464 Calle Principal in Monterey, California. Built in 1835 by Thomas O. Larkin, it is claimed to be the first two-story house in all of California, with a design combining Spanish Colonial building methods with New England architectural features to create the popular Monterey Colonial style of architecture. The Larkin House is both a National and a California Historical Landmark, and is a featured property of Monterey State Historic Park.
Monterey Colonial is an architectural style developed in Alta California. Although usually categorized as a sub-style of Spanish Colonial style, the Monterey style is native to the post-colonial Mexican era of Alta California. Creators of the Monterey style were mostly recent immigrants from New England states of the US, who brought familiar vernacular building styles and methods with them to California.
The Old Custom House is the oldest surviving government building in California, built in 1827 by Mexican authorities in Monterey, then the capital of Alta California. The former custom house is the first designated California Historical Landmark, marking the site where U.S. Commodore John Drake Sloat raised the American flag and declared California part of the United States in 1846 during the American Conquest of California.
Rancho Buena Vista was a 8,446-acre (34.18 km2) Spanish land concession in the Salinas Valley, in present day Monterey County, California given in 1795 to Jose Maria Soberanes and Joaquin Castro. The grant was just south of Spreckels.
Juan Bautista Rogers Cooper was a 19th-century pioneer of California, who held British, Mexican, and finally American citizenship. Raised in Massachusetts in a maritime family, he came to the Mexican territory of Alta California as master of the ship Rover, and was a pioneer of Monterey, California, when it was the capital of the territory. He converted to Catholicism, became a Mexican citizen, married the daughter of the Mexican territorial governor, and acquired extensive land holdings in the area prior to the Mexican–American War.
Rancho El Sur was a 8,949.06-acre (36.22 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Monterey County, California on the Big Sur coast given in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to Juan Bautista Alvarado. The grant extended from the mouth of Little Sur River inland about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) over the coastal mountains and south along the coast past the mouth of the Big Sur River to Cooper's Point. In about 1892, the rancho land plus an additional 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) of resale homestead land was divided into two major parcels. The southern 4,800 acres (1,900 ha) became the Molera Ranch, later the foundation of Andrew Molera State Park. The northern 7,100 acres (2,900 ha) form the present-day El Sur Ranch.
The Stevenson House, is a historic two-story Spanish Colonial style building located at 530 Houston Street in Monterey, California. It was a boarding house called the French Hotel, built circa 1836. The Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson lived there in 1879, writing and courting his future wife. It is now a museum and property of the Monterey State Historic Park. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 7, 1972. The building is also listed as a California historical landmark #352.
Sherman Quarters, also known as Sherman Rose House is a historic adobe stone building located at 510 Calle Principal in Monterey, California. It was built by Thomas O. Larkin in 1834. It was the quarters for Lieutenant William Tecumseh Sherman in 1847. This building played a role in the U.S. military occupation of California after its seizure from Mexico during the Mexican–American War.
The Vásquez House, also known as Vásquez Adobe, is a historic two-story adobe building located at 546 Dutra Street in Monterey, California. It was occupied by Dolores a sister of Tiburcio Vásquez (1835–1875), who was a Californio bandido that was active in California from 1854 to 1874. The building is listed as a California Historical Landmark #351. It is owned by the City of Monterey, which uses it as the administrative office of its Park and Recreation Department.
James Cooper Doud was an American businessman and real estate developer in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. He established the Doud Building in 1932, built by master builder Michael J. Murphy. He also owned The Doud Arcade, a two-story commercial building built in 1961 that connects with The Doud Craft Studios.
The Doud House, also known as the Francis Doud House, represents one of the earliest and most well-preserved examples of an early wood frame Vernacular architecture residences in Monterey, California, USA. Its construction occurred soon after the American occupation that ensued following the Mexican–American War. The establishment of the Doud House in 1852 is credited to Francis Doud, a California pioneer from 1849.
The First Theater also known as the First theater in California, is a historic adobe and wood building in Monterey, California, United States. It was built in 1846-1847 as a lodging house and tavern for sailors, by English seaman and pioneer Jack Swan. Swan's Saloon staged the inaugural theatrical presentations in California. On January 31, 1934, the building was officially designated a California Historical Landmark #136.
Casa de Pedrorena, also called Altamirano-Pedrorena House is a historical Adobe building in San Diego, California built in 1869. The Casa de Lopez site is a California Historical Landmark No. 70, listed on December 6, 1932. Casa de Pedrorena was the home of Miguel de Pedrorena. In 1838 Miguel de Pedrorena arrived in San Diego Viejo. Don Miguel was a member of the California Constitutional Conventions at Monterey, California in 1849. Monterey Convention of 1849 was the first California Constitutional Convention to take place, a major decidion of the convention was to ban slavery and set state boundaries. Pedrorena sister, Isabel de Altamirano, received the house in January 1871. Isabel de Altamirano married Jose Antonio Altamirano and they raised their family here. Jose Antonio Altamirano was born in 1835 in La Paz, Baja California. Jose Altamirano arrived in San Diego in 1849. In San Diego he did some mining and raised cattle in San Diego and Baja California. The house's current address, 2616 San Diego Ave in Old Town, San Diego. Casa de Pedrorena is the newest and last of Old Town San Diego's adobe houses.
