Monterey is a city located 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.
Monterey State Historic Park is a historic state park in Monterey, California. It includes part or all of the Monterey Old Town Historic District, a historic district that includes 17 contributing buildings and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970. The grounds include California's first theatre, and the Monterey Custom House, where the American flag was first raised over California.
Thomas Oliver Larkin, known later in life as Don Tomás Larkin, was an American diplomat and businessman.
Santa Nella is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in Merced County, California, United States. It is located 10 miles (16 km) west-northwest of Los Banos at an elevation of 154 feet (47 m). As of the 2020 census, Santa Nella had a population of 2,211, up from 1,380 at the 2010 census.
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.
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.
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.
Rancho Las Positas was a 8,880-acre (35.9 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Alameda County, California given in 1839 by governor Juan Alvarado to Robert Livermore and José Noriega. Las Positas means "little watering holes" in Spanish. The rancho included the present-day city of Livermore.
Rancho Monte del Diablo was a 17,921-acre (72.52 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Contra Costa County, California given in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to Salvio Pacheco. The name "Monte del Diablo" means "thicket of the devil" in Spanish. The name was later incorrectly translated as Mount Diablo. The grant covered the area from the Walnut Creek channel east to the hills, and generally from the Mount Diablo foothills north along Lime Ridge to Avon on the Carquinez Strait of the Sacramento River, and included present day Concord and parts of Pleasant Hill. Pacheco and Clayton are outside of the Rancho Monte del Diablo grant.
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 Johnson was a 22,197-acre (89.83 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Yuba County, California, given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Pablo Gutiérrez. The grant was located along the north side of Bear River, and encompassed present-day Wheatland.
Rancho Los Coches was a 8,794-acre (35.59 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Monterey County, California given in 1841 by Governor Juan Alvarado to María Josefa Soberanes. The name means "the pigs". The grant was south of Soledad and extended along the Arroyo Seco.
Rancho Los Vergeles was a 8,760-acre (35.5 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Monterey County and San Benito County, California given in 1835 by Governor José Castro to José Joaquín Gómez. The name means "flower garden". Rancho La Natividad and Rancho Los Vergeles were adjoining ranchos, north of present-day Salinas. The rancho headquarters of each were close to the entrance to the pass through the Gabilan Range to San Juan Bautista.
Mary Evelyn McCormick was an American Impressionist who lived and worked around San Francisco and Monterey, California at the turn of the 20th century.
José Abrego arrived in Alta California in 1834 as a member of Compania Cosmopolitan A, part of the Hijar-Padrés colony. It was led by José Maria Hijar and Don José Maria Padrés. Abrego became a merchant in Monterey, California, and held a variety of political offices. He served as treasurer of the territory from 1839 to 1846. After the Mexican–American War, he continued to operate as a merchant. He became very wealthy and built a home that is still preserved in Monterey.
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.
