Monterey, California

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Monterey, California
Old Fisherman's Wharf, Monterey, California nickname = The Cradle of History, Language Capital of the World, California's "First" City
Flag
Location of Monterey, California
Coordinates: 36°36′0″N 121°53′26″W / 36.6, -121.89056
Country	United States
State	California
County	Monterey
Government
- Mayor	Chuck Della Sala
- Senate	Abel Maldonado (R)
- Assembly	John Laird (D)
- U. S. Congress	Sam Farr (D)
Area
- Total	11.7 sq mi (30.4 km²)
- Land	8.4 sq mi (21.9 km²)
- Water	3.3 sq mi (8.5 km²)
Elevation	26 ft (8 m)
Population (2005)
- Total	30,641
- Density	3,631.2/sq mi (1,402/km²)
Time zone	PST (UTC-8)
- Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP code	93940
Area code(s)	831
Median Home Value	US$775,000[1] (Sept. 2007)
GNIS feature ID	1659762
Website: http://www.monterey.org/

The City of Monterey is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in central California. As of 2005, the city population was 30,641. The city is noted for its rich history of resident artists beginning in the late 1800s and its historically famed fishery.

Monterey is home to the Naval Postgraduate School, the Defense Language Institute, the Monterey Institute of International Studies, the former Fort Ord, part of which is now the site of California State University Monterey Bay; Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Monterey American Viticultural Area; Cannery Row, Fisherman's Wharf and a Marine Mammal Center field station located in the area.

The semi-hard cheese known as Monterey Jack originated in Monterey, California.

Contents 1 History 2 Attractions 3 Environmental features and geography 4 Climate 5 Demographics 6 Arts 7 Media 8 Education 9 Notable Residents 10 References 11 Gallery 12 External links

[edit] History

In prehistoric times the Rumsen Ohlone tribe, one of seven linguistically distinct Ohlone groups in California, inhabited the area now known as Monterey. They lived a subsistent life of hunting, fishing and gathering in what has been deduced as a biologically rich Monterey Peninsula. The most prominent archaeological resources extant here are shell middens, the garbage dumps of these early peoples. We can infer from midden contents that the Rumsen Ohlone consumed mussel and abalone as the chief marine staples. The principal archaeological sites that have been mapped are located between the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Naval Postgraduate School, within about 2000 feet (610 m) of the coastline.

First established in 1770 by Father Junípero Serra and Gaspar de Portolà, Monterey served as the capital of California from 1777 to 1849, under the flags of Spain and Mexico. Portola erected the Presidio of Monterey to defend the port against an expected Russian invasion. It was also the site of the July 7, 1846, Battle of Monterey during the Mexican-American War. It was on this date that John D. Sloat, Commodore in the United States Navy, raised the U.S. flag over the Monterey Customs House and claimed California for the United States. In addition, many California "firsts" occurred in Monterey. These include California's first theater, brick house, publicly funded school, public building, public library, and printing press. California's first constitution was also drafted here in October 1849.

Monterey had long been famous for the abundant fishery in Monterey Bay. That changed in the 1950s, when the local fishery business collapsed due to overfishing. A few of the old fishermen's cabins from the early twentieth century have been preserved as they stood along Cannery Row (photo below). The famous Cannery Row has now been turned into a tourist attraction, with restaurants and shops in the historical site. It is also the location of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. In June 1967 the city was the venue of the Monterey Pop Festival.

Monterey has a noteworthy history as a center for California painters in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Such painters as Arthur Frank Mathews, Armin Hansen, Xavier Martinez, Rowena Meeks Abdy and Percy Gray lived or visited to pursue painting in the style of either En plein air or Tonalism.

In addition to painters many noted authors through the years have also lived in and around the Monterey area such as John Steinbeck, Robinson Jeffers, Robert A. Heinlein, Henry Miller, Ed Ricketts, and Robert Louis Stevenson.

More recently, Monterey has been recognized for its significant involvement in post-secondary learning of languages other than English and its major role in delivering translation and interpretation services around the world. In November 1995, California Governor Pete Wilson proclaimed Monterey as "The Language Capital of the World".

[edit] Attractions

Monterey is steeped in history^[1] and famed for the abundance and diversity of its marine life, which includes sea lions, sea otters, harbor seals, bat rays, kelp (seaweed) forests, pelicans and dolphins.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium, one of the largest in North America, hosts several important marine science laboratories. Monterey's geographic location gives scientists access to the deep sea within hours, and only a few miles offshore is Monterey Canyon, the largest and deepest (3.2 km) underwater canyon off the Pacific coast of North America.^[2]

Sealife makes Monterey a popular destination for scuba divers of all abilities ranging from novice to expert. Scuba classes are held at San Carlos State Beach,^[3] which has been a favorite with divers since the 1960s.

Monterey also has much to offer anyone who wants to dip into California's history, including several museums^[4] and more than thirty carefully preserved historic buildings.^[1]

For example Colton Hall^[5], built in 1849 by Walter Colton, was originally a public school and government meeting place. It also hosted California's first constitutional convention. Today it houses a museum, while adjacent buildings serve as the seat of local government.

Larkin House,^[6] one of Monterey State Historic Park’s National Historic Landmarks, built in the Mexican period by Thomas Oliver Larkin, is an early example of Monterey Colonial architecture. The old Custom House,^[7] the historic district and the Royal Presidio Chapel^[8] are also National Historic Landmarks. The Cooper-Molera Adobe^[9] is a National Trust Historic Site.

Other attractions within easy reach of Monterey include:

• Carmel-by-the-Sea
• 17 mile scenic drive
• Pebble Beach golf resort
• Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Monterey is home to the Naval Postgraduate School, Presidio of Monterey, Monterey Institute of International Studies and Monterey Peninsula College. The city is served by Monterey Peninsula Airport, and local bus Service is provided by Monterey-Salinas Transit.

[edit] Environmental features and geography

Monterey is located at 36°36′0″N, 121°53′26″W (36.600010, -121.890605).^[10] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.7 square miles (30.4 km²), of which 8.4 square miles (21.9 km²) is land and 3.3 square miles (8.5 km²) (28.05%) is water. Sand deposits in the northern coastal area comprise the sole known mineral resources.

Local soil is Quaternary Alluvium, and the city is in a moderate to high seismic risk zone, the principal threat being the active San Andreas Fault approximately 26 miles (42 km) to the east. The Monterey Bay fault, which tracks three miles (4.8 km) to the north, is also active, as is the Palo Colorado fault seven miles (11.3 km) to the south. Also nearby, minor but potentially active, are the Berwick Canyon, Seaside, Tularcitos and Chupines faults.

Monterey Bay's maximum credible tsunami for a 100 year interval has been calculated as a wave nine feet (2.7 m) high. The considerable undeveloped area in the northwest part of the city has a high potential for landslides and erosion.

The city is situated on the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, a Federally protected ocean area extending 276 miles (444 km) along the coast. (Sometimes this sanctuary is confused with the local bay which is also termed Monterey Bay.) The California sea otter, a threatened subspecies inhabits the local Monterey Bay marine environment, and a field station of the Marine Mammal Center is located in Monterey to support sea rescue operations in this section of the California coast. Monterey is home to some endangered bird species: the California clapper rail, found in salt marshes; plus the California brown pelican and the Yuma clapper rail, both of whose habitats are dunes and rocky headlands. The rare San Joaquin kit fox is also found in Monterey's oak-forest and chaparral habitats. The chaparral, found mainly on city's drier eastern slopes, hosts such plants as manzanita, chemise and ceanothus. Additional species of interest (that is, potential candidates for endangered species status) are the Salinas kangaroo rat and the silver-sided legless lizard.

There is a variety of natural habitat in Monterey: littoral zone and sand dunes; closed-cone pine forest; and Monterey Cypress.

The closed-cone pine habitat is dominated by Monterey pine, Knobcone pine and Bishop pine, and contains the rare Monterey manzanita. (In the early 1900s the botanist Willis Linn Jepson characterized Monterey Peninsula's forests as the "most important silva ever", and encouraged Samuel F. B. Morse of the Del Monte Properties Company to explore the possibilities of preserving the unique forest communities.^[11]) The dune area is no less important, as it hosts endangered species such as the vascular plants Seaside birds beak, Hickman's potentilla and Eastwood's Ericameria. Rare plants also inhabit the chaparral: Hickman's onion, Yadon's piperia (Piperia yadonii) and Sandmat manzanita. Other rare plants in Monterey include Hutchinson's delphinium, Tidestrom lupine, Gardner's yampah and Monterey Knotweed, the latter perhaps already extinct.

Monterey's environmental noise has been mapped to define the principal sources of noise and to ascertain the areas of population exposed to significant levels. Principal sources are the Monterey Peninsula Airport, State Route 1 and major arterial streets such as Munras Avenue, Fremont Boulevard, Del Monte Boulevard, and Camino Aguajito. While most of Monterey is a quiet residential city, a moderate number of people in the northern part of the city are exposed to aircraft noise at levels in excess of 60 db on the Community Noise Equivalent Level (CNEL)scale. The most intense source is State Route 1: all residents exposed to levels greater than 65 CNEL—about 1600 people—live near State Route 1 or one of the principal arterial streets.

[edit] Climate

The climate of Monterey is regulated by its proximity to the Pacific Ocean. As a result, Monterey's average high temperature ranges from around 16° Celsius (60° Fahrenheit) in winter to 22° Celsius (72° Fahrenheit) during the summer months. Average annual precipitation is around 19.5 inches (495 mm), with most rainfall occurring during California's wet season between November and April, while little or no precipitation falls during the summer months. During winter, snow occasionally falls in the higher elevations of the Santa Lucia Mountains and Gabilan Mountains that overlook Monterey, but snow in Monterey itself is extremely rare. A few unusual events in February 1976 and December 1997 brought a light coating of snow to Monterey.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[12] of 2000, there were 29,674 people, 12,600 households, and 6,476 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,516.9 people per square mile (1,357.5/km²). There were 13,382 housing units at an average density of 1,586.0/sq mi (612.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 80.83% White, 2.52% African American, 0.57% Native American, 7.43% Asian, 0.29% Pacific Islander, 3.91% from other races, and 4.45% from two or more races. 10.86% of the population were Hispanic.

There were 12,600 households out of which 21.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.5% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.6% were non-families. 37.0% of all households consist of individuals and 11.0% have a lone dweller who is over 64. The average household size was 2.13 and the average family size was 2.82.

The age distribution is as follows: 16.6% under the age of 18, 13.1% from 18 to 24, 33.8% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 96.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $49,109, and the median income for a family was $58,757. Males had a median income of $40,410 versus $31,258 for females. The per capita income for the city was $27,133. About 4.4% of families and 7.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.5% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Arts

Monterey has a strong arts community. Museums abound in the city as do local and internationally known artists. Most notable is John Steinbeck, who lived in Salinas, nearby Pacific Grove and the city of Monterey, California. He immortalized Monterey with his novels Cannery Row, Tortilla Flat and East of Eden. Among Steinbeck's friends are some of the city's more colorful characters, including Ed Ricketts, a marine biologist and Bruce Ariss artist and theatre enthusiast.

Among the great patrons of the arts is Virginia Stanton who is immortalized for her contributions with her name on the Museum of Maritime History near Old Fisherman's Wharf. Monterey is also the home of the Thomas Kinkade National Archive. Many of Kinkade's original works can be viewed there.

[edit] Media

See also: Media in Monterey County

Local radio stations include KWAV-FM - 96.9, KBOQ-FM - 103.9, KIDD-AM - 630, KNRY-AM - 1240, and 1610-AM the city information station. Television service for the community comes from the Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz designated market area (DMA). Locale newspapers include the Monterey County Herald.

[edit] Education

Primary and Secondary

The Monterey Peninsula Unified School District includes schools such as:

• Colton K-8 School
• Los Arboles Middle School
• Fitch Middle School
• Martin Luther King, Jr. School
• San Carlos K-8 School
• Monterey High School
• Seaside High School

Private Primary and Secondary

• York School

College and Postgraduate

• Monterey Institute of International Studies
• Monterey Peninsula College,^[13] part of the California Community Colleges system
• Naval Postgraduate School
• Monterey College of Law
• California State University, Monterey Bay
• Monterey Culinary Institute
• Defense Language Institute, Monterey Branch, located on the Presidio of Monterey, California

[edit] Notable Residents

• Mike Aldrete, a former American baseball player and current hitting coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks
• John Whitby Allen, famous model railroader
• Tory Belleci, MythBusters
• Pete Incaviglia, a former American baseball player who holds the single-season NCAA home run record at 48 and RBI record at 143
• Katerina Moutsatsou, Greek actress
• Leon Panetta, a former American politician
• Jeremy Sumpter, an American actor
• John Steinbeck, American author, bought a house in Monterey in 1944, was made to feel unwelcome, left for New York in 1945^[14]

[edit] References

• Augusta Fink, Monterey: The Presence of the Past, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, California (1972) ISBN 0877010723

• City of Monterey Parks and Recreation Master Plan, City of Monterey Parks and Recreation Department (1986)

• Environmental Hazards Element, city of Monterey, A part of the General Plan, February, 1977

• Flora and Fauna Resources: City of Monterey General Plan Technical Study, prepared for City of Monterey by Bainbridge Behrens Moore Inc., Nov. 2, 1977

• General Plan, City of Monterey, (1980)

• Helen Spangenberg, Yesterday's Artists of the Monterey Peninsula, Monterey museum of Art (1976)

• Prehistoric Sources Technical Study, prepared for the city of Monterey by Bainbridge Behrens Moore Inc., May 23, 1977

[edit] Gallery

Fountain sculpture near Cannery Row, Monterey California	Beach walkway along Monterey Bay coastline.	Cannery Row at night	Sea wall with bird life
Brandt's Cormorant at San Carlos Beach	A sea lion rookery at the marina	A scene from Ocean View Boulevard	Museum interior with ship models and equipment
Kelp forest display at the Monterey Bay Aquarium	Historic fishermen's cabins at Cannery Row	View of Monterey Bay and its kelp	Frontal view of Colton Hall with holiday decorations
Side view of Colton Hall	Heermann's Gull	Harbor Seal, Pt. Lobos	Diver and Harbor Seal, Pt. Lobos
Scuba diver in kelp forest	Blue Rockfish in kelp forest	Tube Anemone at the Breakwater	Hermissenda sp. nudibranch
View of Pacific Ocean near Monterey	Egg Yolk jellyfish adrift in Monterey Bay	Large ocean sunfish (Mola mola) at Monterey Bay Aquarium

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1420/1272480544_9ba152f98a_m.jpg

[edit] External links

• City of Monterey Official Municipal Web Site
• Monterey County Vintners and Growers Association
• Monterey travel guide from Wikitravel
• National Trust for Historic Preservation on the Cooper-Molera Adobe
• Monterey Custom House
• Monterey Peninsula College Theatre

• Monterey, California is at coordinates 36°36′00″N 121°53′26″W / 36.60001, -121.890605 (Monterey, California)Coordinates: 36°36′00″N 121°53′26″W / 36.60001, -121.890605 (Monterey, California)

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Monterey County, California County seat: Salinas Cities Carmel-by-the-Sea | Del Rey Oaks | Gonzales | Greenfield | King City | Marina | Monterey | Pacific Grove | Salinas | Sand City | Seaside | Soledad CDPs Aromas | Boronda | Bradley | Carmel Valley Village | Castroville | Chualar | Del Monte Forest | Elkhorn | Las Lomas | Moss Landing | Pajaro | Prunedale | San Ardo | San Lucas | Spreckels Unincorporated communities Carmel Highlands | Gorda | Jolon | Lockwood | Lucia | Parkfield | Pebble Beach