![]() Pacific Improvement Company Sign (1881). | |
Company type | Holding company |
---|---|
Industry | Railroad, Land development |
Predecessor | Western Development Company |
Founded | November 4, 1878 [1] |
Founder | Leland Stanford |
Defunct | February 27, 1919 |
Fate | Acquired |
Headquarters | , USA [1] |
Area served | Western United States, Monterey Peninsula |
Products | railroads, hotels, land |
Owner | Southern Pacific Railroad |
The Pacific Improvement Company (PIC) was a large holding company in California and an affiliate of the Southern Pacific Railroad. It was formed in 1878, by the Big Four, who were influential businessmen, philanthropists and railroad tycoons who funded the Central Pacific Railroad, (C.P.R.R.). These men were: Leland Stanford (1824–1893), Collis Potter Huntington (1821–1900), Mark Hopkins (1813–1878), and Charles Crocker (1822–1888). They owned the company, each with 25% interest. [2] : 586 Archived records date from 1869 to 1931. [3]
The company has been identified with many endeavors, including building the Hotel Del Monte in 1880, a large resort hotel in Monterey, California. [4] By the 1880s, the Pacific Improvement Company was one of the largest corporations in the Western United States. The company controlled dozens of subsidiary companies, which conducted shipping, mining, publishing, land development, resort hotels, electric streetcars, and water system. Although it was criticized as a holding company to extract profits, the PIC had an important impact on the history of California. [5]
The Pacific Improvement Company (PIC) was incorporated in San Francisco, California on November 4, 1878. [1] A copy of the articles of incorporation were filed in the office of the County Clerk in March 1879. It was the successor of the Western Development Company. The company was created for the "purpose of engaging and carrying on the construction, manufacturing, mining, mercantile banking and commercial business in all its branches." The principal place of business was at San Francisco. Capital stock was $5,000,000; divided into 5,000 shares of $100 each. Directors were J. H. Strobridge, F. S. Douty, Authur Brown, B. R. Crocker, and W. E. Brown. [6]
Charles Crocker, one of the California's Big Four railroad barons, funded the Southern Pacific Railroad's property division of PIC. [4]
In January 1880, the branch line of the Southern Pacific Railroad between Castroville and Monterey, California was completed. It was called the Del Monte Express. Charles Crocker chose Monterey as the site for a new seaside luxury hotel, which would be called the Hotel Del Monte. Over 7,000 acres (2,833 ha) of ranch land were purchased from entrepreneur David Jacks by PIC for $35,000. [5] The land included the site of the hotel in Monterey, two of the largest Spanish land grants, Rancho Punta de Pinos, and El Pascadero, which today includes the Del Monte Forest, Pebble Beach, and Pacific Grove. [7] [8] [9]
The PIC and the Southern Pacific Railroad helped to build the town of Pacific Grove. [5] The company contributed 10,000 to the construction cost to build the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Chautauqua Hall was built in 1881 by the Pacific Improvement Company for the Pacific Grove Methodist-Episcopal Camp Retreat. The hall still exists today and is located on the southwest corner of 16th Street and Central Avenue. It was called a "Hall in the Grove," and later became known as Chautauqua Hall. [10] [8] : p170
In 1882, the PIC purchased the Rancho Los Laureles, which was located in Carmel Valley, California. Guests from the hotel could visit the lodge on the property to ride, hunt, and explore the trails. [11] The Pacific Improvement Company built the Carmel River Dam in 1883, to deliver water to Monterey. 700 Chinese laborers built the dam by laying cast iron pipe to bring water out of Carmel Valley. The Pacific Improvement Company hired William Hatton to manage a dairy and ranching operation in Los Laureles. [8] : p198
In 1887, to secure a right-of-way west of Santa Barbara, California, the company purchased 2,000 acres (809 ha)acres from Thomas Hope's widow for $250,000. By the 1900s, the company sold "villa sites" from 2 acres (1 ha) or 50 acres (20 ha) acres in size. [12] [5]
PIC built the El Carmelo Hotel, which opened to guests on May 20, 1887. It was Pacific Grove's first hotel and sometimes called the sister of the Hotel Del Monte. It was located on Lighthouse Avenue between Fountain and Grand Avenues, Pacific Grove. In 1907, the name of the hotel changed to the Pacific Grove Hotel. In 1917, the PIC decided to dismantle it and use the wood in the reconstruction of The Lodge at Pebble Beach that had burned down on December 17, 1917. The empty block was sold to W. R. Holman in 1919 to open the Holman Department Store. [13]
By 1899, all the original owners of the PIC had died. Their heirs wanted to dissolve the company and go their separate ways. [14] However, its assets were not liquidated until after 1916, when real estate developer Samuel Finley Brown Morse was made general manager of the Pacific Improvement Company, in charge of liquidating all of the company's vast land holdings. [15] [16]
On February 27, 1919, funded by Herbert Fleishhacker, Morse formed the Del Monte Properties (DMP), and acquired the 10,000 acres (4,047 ha) holdings of PIC, in Monterey County, including the Del Monte Forest, the Del Monte Lodge, Hotel Del Monte, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach and Rancho Los Laureles, now the Carmel Valley Village, California, and the Monterey County Water Works, for $1.3 million. Morse planned to use this land to develop a community within the forest centered around the Del Monte Lodge and had many plans for the rest of the area, including land for a golf course. [17] [8] : p135 In 1921, Morse replaced the Carmel River Dam with the San Clemente Dam to supply municipal water to the growing population on the Monterey Peninsula. [18]
In 1923, the Del Monte Properties divided the land into eleven parcels. Two parcels went to Golf champion Marion Hollins (2,000 acres (809 ha)) and Byington Ford (developed Camrel Valley Village and Vitange Airfield), one to Gordon Armsby (built Holman Ranch), and one to Helen Crocker Russell (built Double H Ranch). Morse kept 1,000 acres (405 ha) around the San Clemente Dam and the water rights of the Monterey Water Works. [19] [11]
Carmel Valley Village is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Monterey County, California, United States. In 1946, Byington Ford and Tirey L. Ford Jr. developed the Carmel Valley Village, which included an airpark, shops, and homes. At the time of the 2020 census the CDP population was 4,524, up from 4,407 at the 2010 census. In November 2009, a majority of residents voted against incorporation.
Del Monte Forest is a census-designated place (CDP) in Monterey County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a total population of 4,204, down from 4,514 at the 2010 census. The census area includes the separate well-known community of Pebble Beach.
Pebble Beach is an unincorporated community on the Monterey Peninsula in Monterey County, California, United States. The small coastal residential community of mostly single-family homes is also notable as a resort destination, and the home of the golf courses of Cypress Point Club, Monterey Peninsula Country Club, and Pebble Beach Golf Links. Nonresidents are charged a toll to use 17-Mile Drive, the main road through Pebble Beach, making it a de-facto gated community.
17-Mile Drive is a scenic road through Pebble Beach and Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula in California, much of which hugs the Pacific coastline and passes famous golf courses, mansions and scenic attractions, including the Lone Cypress, Bird Rock and the 5,300-acre Del Monte Forest of Monterey Cypress trees.
Carmel Valley is an unincorporated community in Monterey County, California, United States. The term "Carmel Valley" generally refers to the Carmel River watershed east of California State Route 1, and not specifically to the smaller Carmel Valley Village. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Carmel Valley as a census county division (CCD), with an area covering approximately 189 square miles (490 km2). At the time of the 2020 census the CCD population was 6,189. In November 2009, a majority of residents voted against incorporation.
Samuel Finley Brown Morse was an American environmental conservationist and the developer of Pebble Beach. He was known as the Duke of Del Monte and ran his company from the 1919 until his death in 1969. Originally from the eastern United States, Morse moved west and fell in love with the Monterey Peninsula, eventually owning and preserving vast acreage while also developing golf courses and The Lodge at Pebble Beach.
Rancho Los Laureles was a 6,625-acre (26.81 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Monterey County, California given in 1839 by Governor Juan Alvarado to José Manuel Boronda and Vicente Blas Martínez. Los Laureles refers to the California Bay Laurel tree. The grant extended along the Carmel River and the Carmel Valley, was bounded to the east by the Rancho Tularcitos and Rancho Los Laureles (Ransom) on the west, and encompasses present day Carmel Valley Village.
David Jacks was a powerful Californian landowner, developer, and businessman. Born in Scotland, he emigrated to California during the 1849 Gold Rush, and soon acquired several thousand acres in and around Monterey, shaping the history of Monterey County in the first decades of American possession. He is also credited as being the first to market and popularize Monterey Jack cheese. He was born David Jack, but took to spelling his last name "Jacks" once in California.
Rancho Cañada de la Segunda was a 4,367-acre (17.67 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Monterey County, California given in 1839 by Governor José Castro to Lazaro Soto. The grant extended along the north bank of the Carmel River, from the Pacific coast and present day Carmel-by-the-Sea up into the Carmel Valley.
Marion B. Hollins was an American amateur golfer. She is known as an athlete and as a golf course developer, one of the only known female golf course developers in history. She won the 1921 U.S. Women's Amateur and was runner-up in 1913. She also had many other amateur wins. She was the captain of the first U.S. Curtis Cup team in 1932.
The Hotel Del Monte was a large resort hotel in Monterey, California, from its opening in 1880 until 1942. It was one of the finest luxury hotels in North America. During World War II, it closed and the building was leased to the United States Navy. It first was used by the Navy as a school where enlisted men spent the second, third, and fourth months of an 11-month course being trained as electronic technicians. Later the Hotel Del Monte became the Naval Postgraduate School. Today, the building is named Herrmann Hall. It contains school administrative offices and the Navy Gateway Inns and Suites, a hotel.
The El Sur Ranch, located on the Big Sur coast of California, has been continuously operated as a cattle ranch since 1834. The approximately 7,100 acres (2,873 ha) ranch straddles Highway 1 for 6 miles (9.7 km) from the mouth of the Little Sur River to the mouth of the Big Sur River and Andrew Molera State Park. Both the ranch and the park originally comprised the Rancho El Sur land grant given in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to Juan Bautista Alvarado. It has been owned by the Hill family since 1955, who operate a commercial cow-calf operation.
Thomas Albert Work was an American businessman and banker of Pacific Grove, California, known around Monterey as T. A. Work. He was owner of the T. A. Work company that made him the single largest business property owner on the Monterey Peninsula. He owned several banks, including the First National Bank of Monterey, Bank of Pacific Grove, Salinas, and the Bank of Carmel.
El Carmelo Hotel was Pacific Grove's first hotel, opened to guests on May 20, 1887. It was sometimes called the sister of the Hotel Del Monte. It was located on Lighthouse Avenue between Fountain and Grand Avenues, Pacific Grove and owned by the Pacific Improvement Company (PIC). In 1907, the name of the hotel changed to the Pacific Grove Hotel. In 1917, the PIC decided to dismantle it and use the wood in the reconstruction of The Lodge at Pebble Beach, California that had burned down on December 17, 1917. The empty block was sold to W. R. Holman in 1919 to open the Holman Department Store.
The Lodge at Pebble Beach is a historic American hotel and clubhouse overlooking the Carmel Bay in Pebble Beach, California. Opened in 1919, the property, operated by Pebble Beach Resorts.
Holman Ranch was originally part of the Rancho Los Laureles, a 6,625-acre (26.81 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Monterey County, California. The ranch passed through many hands until 1928, when San Francisco businessman, Gordon Armsby, purchased 400 acres (160 ha) in Carmel Valley, California, that would become the Holman Ranch. Today, the Holman Ranch continues as a privately owned winery.
Neponset is an unincorporated community in Monterey County, California. It is located along the Southern Pacific Railroad and California State Route 1 between Marina, California and Castroville, California, and 8.5 miles (14 km) northwest of Salinas, California, at an elevation of 23 feet.
Franklin Benjamin Porter, was a pioneer businessman and real estate developer of Monterey Peninsula. In 1926, he launched the first residential subdivision in Carmel Valley, California that became Robles del Rio, California. Porter went on to develop other properties in the valley including the Robles del Rio Lodge, Robles del Rio Carmelo Water Company, and the Hatton Ranch in Carmel Valley.
William Hatton was an American businessman who was one of Carmel Valley, California's pioneers. He was manager of the dairy and cattle interests of the Pacific Improvement Company, acquired land of his own, and became one of the wealthiest dairymen in Monterey County.
The Los Laureles Lodge is a historic American lodge in Carmel Valley, California. The Pacific Improvement Company used the lodge as a game preserve for Hotel Del Monte guests to hunt, fish, and canoe the Carmel River. It was once referred to as the Rancho Del Monte or Del Monte Dude Ranch. Today, the Los Laureles Lodge is a resort hotel and restaurant.
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