My Monterey Guide

Welcome to Monterey.

Four months ago, V, Briscoe and I moved to this town on the central California coast. Located 115 miles south of San Francisco and 350 miles north of Los Angeles, Monterey offers an excellent quality of life and unparalleled beauty, or so says the City of Monterey web site. For the next 18 months, we are here to find out.

Monterey served as the first capital of California from 1777 to 1849. After the Mexican-American war broke out, it was here that Commodore John Sloat raised the American flag claiming California for the United States in 1846. Here too was where the first constitution of the state was drafted.

The Custom House, where Sloat first raised the American flag in July 1846. This is the oldest building in California, and the state's Historic Building No. 1.

Monterey is also known for Cannery Row, an area made famous by the John Steinbeck novel of the same name. Commercialized fishing in Monterey Bay started as early as 1853 when Chinese immigrants began exporting fresh and dried fish to nearby San Francisco. In 1895, the first cannery was opened, packing salmon at first, then sardines, which was plentiful at the time. Canneries opened, one after the other, and by 1945, the canneries of Monterey was a $22 million industry.

But the booming industry suddenly declined, blamed largely on overfishing. With the fish gone, production plummeted. The last sardines were canned in 1964.

Today, Cannery Row has been revitalized to house restaurants and shops. Others would say it's a tourist trap. But those who look closely will find the vestiges of old Ocean View Ave. underneath the souvenier shops.


Ocean View Avenue, where most of the canneries were located, officially became known as Cannery Row in 1958, 13 years after Steinbeck's book was published.

There's more to explore in Monterey. Join us in getting to know this other city (okay, town) by the bay.