Finding History

Monterey County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. Parts of the county were given to San Benito County in 1874. The area was originally populated by Ohlone, Salinan & Esselen tribe.

The county derived its name from Monterey Bay. The bay was named by Sebastián Vizcaíno in 1602 in honor of the Conde de Monterrey (or Count of Monterrey), then the Viceroy of New Spain. Monterey is a variation of Monterrei, a municipality in the Galicia region of Spain where the Conde de Monterrey and his father (the Fourth Count of Monterrei) were from.

#1: Custom House
#105: Royal Presidio Chapel of San Carlos Borromeo
#106: Larkin House
#126: Colton Hall
#128: Landing Place of Sebastian Vizcaino and Fray Junipero Serra
#135: Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo
#136: Fist Theatre in California
#232: Mission San Antonio de Padua
#233: Mission Nuestra Senora de la Soledad
#348: House of Governor Alvarado
#351: Vasquez House
#352: Robert Louis Stevenson House
#353: House of Four Winds
#354: Old Pacific House

#387: Glass House, Casa Materna of the Vallejos
#494: Richardson Adobe
#532: Casa de Oro
#560: Hill Town Ferry
#651: Site of the Battle of Natividad
#712: Soberanes Abode
#713: Gutierrez Adobe
#839: Chautauqua Hall
#870: Jose Eusebio Boronda Adobe Casa
#934: Temporary Detention Camps for Japanese-Americans -Salinas Assembly Center
#951: Light Station of California (Thematic) -Point Sur Light Station
#1052: Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds