Monterey

Monterey: Colton Hall

Monterey, city, Monterey county, California, U.S. It lies on a peninsula at the southern end of Monterey Bay, about 85 miles (135 km) south of San Francisco. The area was originally inhabited by Costanoan Indians, and in 1542 it was first seen by the Spanish explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo. In 1602 Sebastián Vizcaíno named the area in honour of the count de Monte Rey, viceroy of New Spain (Mexico). In 1770 Gaspar de Portolá established a presidio (military post) at the site, and Junípero Serra founded the Mission San Carlos Borroméo (moved to Carmel in 1771). Named the capital of Alta California in 1775, Monterey was fortified and became a port of entry and centre of Spanish culture. Under Mexico, Monterey remained the capital of a vast area that included all of present-day California and the American Southwest. In 1846 Commodore John Drake Sloat claimed the area for the United States and raised the American flag over the town’s presidio during the Mexican War. The first constitutional convention in California met at Colton Hall in 1849. Monterey served as county seat of Monterey county until 1873, when the seat was moved to nearby Salinas.

Monterey was once a leading fishing and whaling port, but its economic mainstay is now tourism. The offshore Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (established 1992) protects an abyss deeper than the Grand Canyon and its myriad denizens, which include more than 30 species of mammals, more than 300 species of fish, and nearly 100 species of birds; many tourists visit the sanctuary to watch migratory whales. The U.S. Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center is located in the old presidio, and the city is home to the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School (moved from Annapolis, Maryland, in 1952). It is also the seat of a junior college (1947) and the Monterey Institute of International Studies (1955). Monterey State Historic Park preserves a number of buildings, including the Old Custom House (1827) and California’s first theatre (1844). Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey Maritime Museum, and Monterey Museum of Art are also notable attractions. The city formed the background for several of John Steinbeck’s novels, among them Tortilla Flat (1935) and Cannery Row (1945); the National Steinbeck Center is located in Salinas. The historic Monterey Jazz Festival is held each September. Inc. 1889. Pop. (2000) 29,674; (2010) 27,810.