Monterey once served as the Spanish and Mexican capital of California. During the late 1700s and early 1800s, Spain's empire had colonized the west coast, and created permanent settlements in California. In 1770, Franciscan Father Junipero Serra and Captain Gaspar de Portola&nbsp;founded the Mission de San San Carolos Borromeo de Monterey&nbsp;and the Presidio of Monterey. The Presidio of Monterey served as the headquarters of the government and Military, while also providing the mission and settlers with protection.

The Old Custom House-The oldest  public building on the West Coast

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Between the years of 1776 and 1848 Monterey was both the Spanish and Mexican capital of California. During this period, Spain had managed to colonize the West Coast, and its empire stretched all the way to Alta (Northern) California. This mission provided settlers protection and was used as their the government headquarters. Some of the buildings located in the Monterey Old Town Historic District are some of the first public use buildings in the state of California. 

Monterey Old Town Historic District

This walk through Monterey includes the site of California's first constitutional convention, several historic homes and adobes, a customs house and the Battle of Monterey, and the Old Town Historic District. The tour concludes with a walk along the beach and a stop at the Presidio Museum.  

Historic Monterey California Walking Tour

The home/hotel also served as the setting for John Steinbeck's short story,&nbsp;How Edith McGillcuddy Met R.L.S.&nbsp;

This two-story adobe has sheltered families, government officials, artists, writers and fishermen, beginning in the Mexican era. During its time as a rooming house, known as the French Hotel, a young writer, Robert Louis Stevenson, stayed a few months in the autumn of 1879. Poor, in frail health and unknown, Stevenson was cared for by friends while he courted his future wife, Fanny Osbourne. It was in Monterey that Stevenson penned the "Old Pacific Capital." Some say that his setting for the tale "Treasure Island" came from his walks along the Monterey Peninsula. Today, the Stevenson House has been restored with several rooms devoted to "Stevensonia."

Robert Louis Stevenson Home

John B. Rogers Cooper was a New England ship captain and trader who immigrated to Alta California in 1823. Cooper married Encarnacion Vallejo, sister of General Mariano Vallejo and a member of a prominent Mexican family. Following his immigration to California, J.B.R. Cooper changed his name to Juan Bautista Rogerio Cooper. He opened a general store in Monterey on a parcel of land that included the adobe-style home which he built in 1827 and shared with his wife and family. As Monterey further developed into a center of commerce and agriculture throughout the 1800s, the descendants of J.B.R. Cooper and Encarnacion continued to live at the property, while building on it and making upgrades until 1900. The Cooper-Molera Adobe also reflects the changing and intersecting ethnic and cultural heritage of Monterey. The lives of people representing Mexican-American, Anglo-American, French-American, and Native American descent have all contributed to the rich history of this site. In 1968, John and Encarnacion's granddaughter, Frances Molera, willed the property to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Throughout the three decades that followed, the Cooper-Molera Adobe was maintained and operated by California State Parks as part of Monterey State Historic Park. During this time, significant restoration efforts were made to the site in the 1980s. Today, the property provides an excellent example of vernacular architecture surrounded by a small working farm and outbuildings. The three-acre site contains two adobes (known as the Cooper and Diaz adobes), a former corner-store, a former warehouse, and a complex of restored barns. The remainder of the farmstead is filled with fruit orchards and vegetable gardens, much as it was when it was inhabited by the Cooper-Molera families. The outdoor courtyard features a traditional horno, a wood-burning beehive-style oven that was once used in the preparation of food. The landscape now includes an experiential "learning garden," which is used in programming for school groups and for the general public. The Cooper-Molera Adobe reflects an innovative "shared use" operating model that emerged from a 2015 partnership between the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which owns and manages the site, and Foothill Partners, Inc. This public-private partnership has allowed for creative funding to further preserve the site by integrating education and interpretation with commercial purposes, including an adaptive reuse project featuring two eateries with seasonal cuisine. Cella Restaurant is located on-site in a building that was once a warehouse, while the Alta Bakery &amp; Cafe is also located on-site in a building that once served as Cooper's corner-store. The innovative public-private site model for the Cooper-Molera Adobe parallels the combination of residential and commercial uses throughout this site's long history.

Originally constructed in 1827, the Cooper-Molera Adobe is a National Trust Historic Site in Monterey's Old Town Historic District. It is also a National Historic Landmark. The site reflects the early years when Monterey was the political and commercial capital of Mexican Alta California. The Cooper-Molera Adobe is currently a museum site featuring changing exhibits in two adobe-style buildings with a historic landscape comprised of fruit trees, gardens, and barns. The historic complex includes a restaurant and cafe amongst the historic adobes, orchards, and gardens. Visitors to the site will also see the barns of Cooper-Molera, which have been restored and currently serve as a rental venue for events. The Cooper-Molera Adobe is within walking distance of the Monterey Farmer's Market, held on Tuesday nights on Alvarado Street. Admission to the Cooper Molera Adobe is offered free of charge to the public courtesy of the City of Monterey.

Cooper-Molera Adobe

Built in the late 1840s by Walter Colton, who came to Monterey as a chaplain on Commodore Stockton's vessel and remained to become Monterey's first alcalde (mayor) in the American Period. The&nbsp;Native Sons of the Golden West&nbsp;were instrumental in 1903 in securing a legislative appropriation for necessary repairs on Colton Hall.&nbsp;The building was then registered as a&nbsp;California Historical Landmark&nbsp;in 1934.The most important public office building in Monterey County&nbsp;still in continuous use, Colton Hall has over the years housed Monterey's City Hall, a public school, the county court house, the sheriff's office, and Monterey's city police headquarters. Today the main floor still holds some city offices (including the city Planning Division and Building Safety Division), while the second floor is a museum.

Colton Hall was originally a public school and government meeting place. It also hosted California's first constitutional convention in 1849. California's military governor called for a constitutional convention, to be held in Monterey's Colton Hall. On September 1, delegates from ten districts arrived in Monterey to debate and write California's state first constitution. The California Constitution was ratified on October 13, voted on in November that year and sent to Congress in January 1850. San Jose was chosen as the seat for the first Legislature. (Officially, a state capital is where the legislature sits; therefore Monterey never was the capital of the State of California). 

Colton Hall and the California State Constitution

In 1821 New Spain (Mexico) won independence from&nbsp;Spain, in the&nbsp;Mexican War of Independence, and for nearly 25 years Monterey was in the Mexican Territory of Alta California. Under Mexican rule the trade restrictions were lifted and coastal&nbsp;ports&nbsp;were opened to foreign trade. This drew in trade from British, American, and South American traders.To collect&nbsp;customs duties&nbsp;(tax monies) at the&nbsp;Monterey Bay&nbsp;port, the Mexican government built the Customhouse, making it the oldest government building in present day California.The&nbsp;Capture of Monterey&nbsp;by the&nbsp;US Navy&nbsp;and&nbsp;Marine Corps&nbsp;occurred in 1842 while American and England verbally feuded over the Pacific northwest territory where&nbsp;modern&nbsp;day&nbsp;Oregon and Washington states were once a part. After hearing false news that war had broken out between the United States and&nbsp;Mexico, the commander of the&nbsp;Pacific Thomas Catesby Jones&nbsp;sailed from&nbsp;Lima, Peru&nbsp;with three warships to&nbsp;Monterey, CA. The Americans' objective was to take control of the capital city before a suspected&nbsp;British&nbsp;cession could be achieved. American forces included the frigate&nbsp;USS United States&nbsp;and the two&nbsp;sloops-of-war&nbsp;USS Dale&nbsp;and&nbsp;USS Cyane. The squadron arrived in&nbsp;Monterey Bay&nbsp;on October 19 and anchored.&nbsp;Commodore&nbsp;Jones sent his second in command&nbsp;Captain James Armstrong&nbsp;ashore to demand a Mexican surrender by 9:00 am the following morning. The Mexican&nbsp;garrison&nbsp;consisted of only fifty-eight men in an old&nbsp;fort&nbsp;who chose not to resist so when 9:00 am came, fifty American marines and 100 sailors landed and captured the city without incident. It wasn't until the next day that Commodore Jones learned that war had not begun between the United States and Mexico and that the British were not preparing to take control of California. The Mexican troops were freed and then landing party boarded their ships and set sail, saluting the Mexican flag as they exited the harbor. Jones headed for&nbsp;Hawaii, which was just taken over by the British, and he helped restore the&nbsp;Kingdom of Hawaii.&nbsp;The incident proved unpopular in Mexico and in response Monterey's garrison constructed&nbsp;shore batteries&nbsp;and other defenses to guard their city from future&nbsp;attack&nbsp;which came in 1846 during the&nbsp;Mexican War. Thomas Jones was relieved of duty though he eventually served in the war with Mexico.<div>Prior to the Mexican-American War the Californio&nbsp;forces had routed the Mexican-appointed Governor&nbsp;MIchael Micheltorena&nbsp;and most of his forces from&nbsp;Alta California (Upper California). The Californio Governor&nbsp;Pio Pico, had about 100 poorly armed and poorly equipped soldiers, and was nominally in charge in Alta California; he consolidated his forces in&nbsp;Pueblo de Los Angeles,&nbsp;the then largest city in California with about 1,500 residents.The main forces available to the United States in California were the about 400-500 bluejacket sailors and&nbsp;US Marines&nbsp;on board the five ships of the&nbsp;Pacific Squadron&nbsp;there. Speculating that war with Mexico over Texas etc. was very possible, the&nbsp;US Navy&nbsp;had sent several additional naval vessels to the Pacific in 1845 and 1846 to protect U.S. interests there and prevent possible British action. It took about 200 days, on average, for ships to travel the over-12,000 miles trip from the East coast around&nbsp;Cape Horn&nbsp;to get to California. More ships assigned to the Pacific Squadron would continue to arrive from 1846 to 1847.On 26 May, Commodore Sloat received word of the&nbsp;Battles of Palo Alto and Reseca de la Palma, upon which he sent a coded message to&nbsp;Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft&nbsp;that he was leaving for California.&nbsp;Sloat sailed on the&nbsp;frigate Savannah&nbsp;on 8 June, arriving Monterey on 1 July.They joined the sloop&nbsp;USS Cyane&nbsp;which was already there.&nbsp;There were U.S. fears that the British might try to annex California to satisfy British creditors.&nbsp;The British&nbsp;Pacific Station's ships off California were stronger in ships, guns and men.On 6 July, Sloat decided to seize Monterey and San Francisco.Capt. William Mervine&nbsp;of the&nbsp;Cyane&nbsp;came ashore with a small party from the&nbsp;Savannah&nbsp;at 7:30 AM on 7 July, seeking the surrender of the port from the Mexican commandant, Capt. Mariano Silva.&nbsp;Silva replied that he was "not authorized to surrender the place".&nbsp;In fact Silva was in command of a nonexistent garrison.&nbsp;The Californio soldiers had already left the town's defenses and gone to Los Angeles. They would have had no&nbsp;gunpowder&nbsp;to use in their few&nbsp;cannons,&nbsp;even if they had stayed.At 10 AM 225 sailors and marines from Sloat's three warships landed.&nbsp;They formed before the&nbsp;Customs House&nbsp;where&nbsp;Purser Rodman M. Price&nbsp;read Sloat's proclamation of a state of war between the US and Mexico and the annexation of California by the US.&nbsp;The only shots fired were a 21 gun salute to the new U.S. flag fired by each of the U.S. Navy ships in the harbor.&nbsp;The British ships observed but took no action.Sloat recognized Mexican real estate titles and church lands.&nbsp;He also established&nbsp;justices of the peace&nbsp;when the&nbsp;alcaldes&nbsp;resigned his office.Capt.&nbsp;John B. Montgomery&nbsp;of the&nbsp;Portsmouth&nbsp;received Sloat's message to seize Yerba Buena (San Francisco) and by 8 AM on 9 July, read the pronouncement at the Customs House.&nbsp;He then replaced the&nbsp;Bear Flag&nbsp;with the American flag.&nbsp;The American flag was run up with a&nbsp;21-gun salute&nbsp;Montgomery then sent Purser James H. Watmough to notify Fremont at&nbsp;Sonoma and Sutter's FortCommodore&nbsp;Robert F. Stockton&nbsp;arrived Monterey Bay aboard the&nbsp;Congress&nbsp;on 15 July and took over command from Sloat.&nbsp;The British&nbsp;ship of the line&nbsp;Colingwood&nbsp;arrived Monterrey on 23 July, and&nbsp;Juno&nbsp;arrived Yerba Buena on 11 July, but both ships did not interfere in the American activities.The Bear Flag revolutionaries were soon combined with&nbsp;Fremont's 60 man exploratory force to form the U.S. sponsored&nbsp;California Battalin&nbsp;under the command of Fremont.&nbsp;The California Battalion, which varied from 160 to 400 men, drew regular army wages and were used to garrison and maintain order in the towns that had surrendered.The Americans held northern California but General Jose Maria Castro and Governor&nbsp;Pio Pico&nbsp;planned resistance in the south.</div>

This is the site of the raising of the American flag by US Naval Commodore, John D. Sloat on July 7, 1846, after the second time Monterey was captured. The first capture occurred when it was wrongly believed America and Mexico were at war in 1842. In embarrassment, the city was returned to Mexico. As soon as word reached that there was in fact war in 1846, the American navy quickly swooped in to recapture Monterey. 

Customs House/1842 Capture of Monterey & 1846 Battle Monterey

This area was&nbsp;discovered by
the Spaniards in 1770, who built the&nbsp;Presidio to garrisoin the area and thwart any possible&nbsp;invasion by Russia. The Presidio's strategic location allowed its occupants to monitor&nbsp;Monterey&nbsp;Bay. The United States took&nbsp;control of the installation in 1846 during its war with
Mexico. After the war, Presidio was left abandoned and vacant. In 1902, the government decided to use the
installation for training soldiers, a mission that continues to this day.&nbsp;The installation is currently home to the
Department of Defense foreign language program.&nbsp;

The Presidio of Monterey is the only former Spanish presidio (fortified base) to remain an active site operated by the Department of Defense. Today, the Presidio of Monterey is home to one of the most prestigious language programs in the world. The historic military installation is also home to the Presidio of Monterey Museum. This small museum includes exhibits related to the military installation and was created by a partnership between the military and the city of Monterey.

Historic Monterey California Walking Tour

Monterey Old Town Historic District

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information