National Register of Historic Places listings in Monterey County, California facts for kids

Welcome to a list of amazing historic places in Monterey County, California! These special spots are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Think of it like a Hall of Fame for buildings, areas, and sites that are super important to American history.

In Monterey County, there are 61 places on this list. Six of them are even more special and are called National Historic Landmarks. You can find many of these places on a map using their exact location details.

Historic Places to Explore

Here are some of the cool historic places you can find in Monterey County:

Asilomar Conference Grounds

The Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove started in 1913. It's a group of 11 historic buildings. This place is famous for its connection to the YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association) and for being designed by Julia Morgan, a pioneering female architect. It also shows off the beautiful American Craftsman style of architecture.

Berwick Manor and Orchard

Located northwest of Carmel Valley, this farm was bought in 1869 by Edward Berwick. He was a writer, an educator, and a scientific farmer. It's a great example of an old farmstead.

Mary C. W. Black Studio House

This house in Monterey was built in 1930. It's a fantastic example of the Monterey substyle of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture. It still has its original look and garden wall, showing how homes were designed back then.

Samuel M. Black House

In Salinas, this house was built in 1900 by a famous California architect named William Henry Weeks. It's important because its design and old plans show how his popular "Modified Colonial" style became popular. There's also a smaller rental cottage from 1936 next to it.

Peter J. Bontadelli House (The Empire House)

This house in Salinas, built around 1907, is the only example of Second Empire architecture in Monterey County. It's now known as The Empire House.

Jose Eusebio Boronda Adobe

Near Salinas, this adobe house was built around 1846. It's a rare surviving rancho (a large ranch) adobe from the Salinas Valley. It belonged to the important Boronda family and is now the main part of the Boronda Adobe History Center.

Frank LaVerne Buck House

This beautiful Queen Anne house in Pacific Grove was built in 1904. It belonged to Frank Buck, a local leader in the early 1900s. It's one of the few large Victorian homes in Pacific Grove that still looks much like it did. Today, it's a bed and breakfast.

Carmel Mission (Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo)

The Carmel Mission in Carmel is a fantastic church that dates back to 1793. It was founded by Junípero Serra in 1770. While it has been rebuilt and fixed up since 1884, it remains a very important part of California's mission history. Its full name is Mission San Carlos Borroméo del río Carmelo.

Carmel Valley Road-Boronda Road Eucalyptus Tree Row

This unique row of Eucalyptus globulus trees is found along Carmel Valley Road and Boronda Road in Carmel Valley. They were planted between 1874 and 1881, when these trees were very popular for landscaping in California.

Castroville Japanese Language School

This building in Castroville was built in 1936. It was a multi-purpose center for a Japanese American farming community. Its story is sad because the community had to leave in 1942 due to Japanese American internment, and the building was used as a hostel later. It reminds us of a time when civil rights were lost.

Centrella Hotel

The Centrella Hotel in Pacific Grove is a hotel and cottage complex that started in 1889. It grew in 1892 and 1905, showing how quickly Pacific Grove became a popular vacation spot.

Community Church of Gonzales

This church in Gonzales was built in 1884. It's one of the oldest churches still in use in Monterey County. It's a great example of a Carpenter Gothic church, a style common in small California towns in the late 1800s.

Cueva Pintada

This prehistoric rock shelter near King City is covered with amazing pictographs (rock paintings) in white, red, black, and ochre colors. These paintings were made by the Salinan people. It's located within Fort Hunter Liggett and is usually not open to the public.

Deetjen's Big Sur Inn

Deetjen's Big Sur Inn in Big Sur was one of the first places for visitors to stay along the Carmel-San Simeon Highway. Its rustic (simple, country-style) feel helped shape how people enjoyed the Big Sur area. It includes five original buildings built between 1936 and 1941.

Dutton Hotel, Stagecoach Station

These are the ruins of an adobe inn in Jolon that started in 1849. It was a very important stop for stagecoaches on El Camino Real, a historic route. It was also the center of the town of Jolon.

El Castillo

This site in Monterey is where a Spanish fort was built in 1792. It also contains a prehistoric shell midden, which is basically an old trash heap left by early people, full of shells and other remains.

James W. Finch House

Built in 1870, this house in Monterey is one of the few original examples of early American architecture left in the city.

Fort Ord Station Veterinary Hospital

Located in Marina, this hospital was active from 1941 to 1946. It's one of the last and only surviving horse veterinary complexes of the U.S. Army. It shows the final years when horses were still important in warfare. Today, it's the Marina Equestrian Center.

Gabilan Lodge No. 372-Independent Order of Odd Fellows

This building in Gonzales was built in 1914 for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a fraternal organization. It's known for its architecture and its important role in the social life of Gonzales.

Jose Mario Gil Adobe

This adobe house, built in 1865, is located on the Hunter Liggett Military Reservation near Jolon. It's a great example of the architecture and cattle ranching economy of the Salinas Valley before irrigation changed farming.

Gosby House Inn

The Gosby House Inn in Pacific Grove started in 1887. It changed over time from a simple boarding house for religious retreats to a fancy Queen Anne hotel for vacationers. It still operates as a bed and breakfast today.

Robinson Jeffers House (Tor House and Hawk Tower)

This was the long-time home of the famous poet Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962) in Carmel. He largely built the granite masonry house and its 40-foot (12 m) tower himself, starting in 1919. It's now a historic attraction called Tor House and Hawk Tower.

King City Joint Union High School Auditorium

This important auditorium in King City was built in 1939. It's special because of its Streamline Modern design by architect Robert Stanton and the sculptures by Jo Mora.

Kirk Creek Campground

This archaeological site near Lucia is the best-preserved and most studied site from the Middle Period of the Big Sur region.

Krough House

The Krough House in Salinas is one of only four Queen Anne style houses left on Central Avenue from the 1890s. These houses were very typical of the area back then.

Larkin House

The Larkin House in Monterey was built in 1835 by an American merchant named Thomas O. Larkin. It's unique because it mixed Spanish Colonial adobe materials with New England wooden construction, creating the original Monterey Colonial architecture style. It's now a museum in Monterey State Historic Park.

Los Coches Rancho

This adobe and its other buildings, located south of Soledad, date back to 1841. It was an important stagecoach stop on El Camino Real from 1848 to the 1880s. It's also important for its ancient and historical archaeological finds.

G. T. Marsh and Sons

This building in Monterey was an Asian art gallery in 1927. It's special because it uses a unique Sichuan-style Chinese architecture in a very noticeable way.

Josiah Merritt Adobe

This adobe house in Monterey got a unique Greek Revival look in the 1850s. This was when Josiah Merritt, an important American settler and the first judge of Monterey County, moved in. It's now a boutique hotel.

Milpitas Ranchhouse (The Hacienda)

This ranch house, south of King City, was designed in 1930 by Julia Morgan in the Mission Revival style. It was built for William Randolph Hearst as his northern estate. Today, it's a hotel and recreation area within Fort Hunter Liggett, known as The Hacienda.

Mission Nuestra Senora de la Soledad Historic District

This historic district in Soledad includes the Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad. It's an important site with a rich history.

Monterey County Court House

The Monterey County Court House in Salinas was built in 1937. It's a great example of WPA Moderne architecture. It's also known for the teamwork between architect Robert Stanton and artist Jo Mora.

Monterey County Jail

This jail in Salinas is famous because Cesar Chavez, a leader for farm workers' rights, was held here in December 1970. His time here brought a lot of attention to the United Farm Workers movement.

Monterey Old Town Historic District (Monterey State Historic Park)

This district in Monterey includes many buildings from when Monterey was the Spanish and Mexican capital of Alta California. It was the main European stronghold on the West Coast. The district includes the Monterey State Historic Park.

Sheriff William Joseph Nesbitt House

This house in Salinas is a rare example of the simple, local style of homes common in California in the late 1800s. It was the home of a well-known local lawman from 1881 to 1933.

Olvida Penas

This house in Pebble Beach was built in 1926. Its name means "Forget pain." It's special for its unique use of Mexican vernacular architecture (local, traditional building style) and how it followed the strict planning rules of Pebble Beach.

Outlands in the Eighty Acres (Flanders Mansion)

This Tudor Revival house in Carmel-by-the-Sea was built in 1925. It's also known as the Flanders Mansion. It's important as a work by architect Henry Higby Gutterson and for its new way of building with precast concrete blocks. It's now part of Mission Trail Park.

Pacific Biological Laboratories

This laboratory in Monterey was built in 1937. It belonged to marine biologist Ed Ricketts (1897–1948). He was a friend and helper of author John Steinbeck and often hosted smart people from Monterey.

Lou Ellen Parmelee House

Built in 1896, this house in Monterey is a top example of the fancy Queen Anne style. It has beautifully made details, like plaster decorations inside.

Point Pinos Lighthouse

The Point Pinos Lighthouse in Pacific Grove is the oldest lighthouse on the West Coast that has been working continuously since it was built in 1855. You can even take tours there!

Point Sur Light Station

This lighthouse complex in Big Sur was built in 1899. It's special because all its main original buildings are still there, and it shows off Romanesque Revival architecture. It's now protected within Point Sur State Historic Park.

Porter-Vallejo Mansion

This mansion in Pajaro was the home of John T. Porter from 1874 to 1900. He was an important local businessman and helped Chinese immigrants. Its remodeling between 1895 and 1899 was also an early work by architect William Henry Weeks.

Joseph W. Post House

This house in Big Sur dates back to 1867. It belonged to one of the first American families to settle the Big Sur coast. It has a New England-style saltbox wing added in 1877. It's now part of the Ventana Inn resort.

Rancho Las Palmas

This house, south of Salinas, was built in 1891 for Hiram Corey. He was one of Monterey County's most successful livestock farmers in the late 1800s. It's also a great example of Queen Anne style in a country setting.

Rancho San Lucas

This ranch, southwest of San Lucas, is the best-preserved large ranch in Monterey County from a time when farming was changing from raising animals to growing crops. It has eight historic buildings from 1865 to 1888. It's also connected to Alberto Trescony, an important local entrepreneur.

Republic Cafe

The Republic Cafe in Salinas was an Asian restaurant and banquet hall that operated from 1942 to 1988. It's one of the few old commercial buildings left from the Salinas Chinatown.

Royal Presidio Chapel (Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo)

This chapel in Monterey is California's only remaining presidio (fort) chapel and Monterey's only surviving building from the 1700s, dating to 1794. It's also known as the Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo.

San Antonio de Padua Mission

Located northwest of Jolon, this is the third of the Spanish missions in California. It's one of the few missions that still feels like it's in a rural area. It was founded in 1771, and its church dates back to 1810.

B. V. Sargent House

This house in Salinas was built in 1896. It's a good example of the early "Modified Colonial" style by architect William Henry Weeks.

Site Number 4 Mnt 85

This site near Greenfield is a protected historical location.

John Steinbeck House

This house in Salinas is the birthplace and family home of the famous author John Steinbeck (1902–1968). He lived here off and on until 1935. It's also known for its Queen Anne architecture. Today, it's a restaurant and a house museum.

Stevenson House

This boarding house in Monterey was called the French Hotel. The Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson lived here in the autumn of 1879, where he wrote and courted his future wife. It's now a museum property of Monterey State Historic Park.

Sunset Center

The Sunset Center in Carmel-by-the-Sea was originally a public school. Its auditorium, built in 1931, became the main place for art, community events, and social gatherings in Carmel. It's also known for its Collegiate Gothic architecture.

Tidball Store

This general store in Jolon was established in 1890. It's the only original commercial building still standing in Jolon, which was once a very important community in southern Monterey County.

Trimmer Hill

This house in Pacific Grove, built in 1893, is a great example of Queen Anne architecture. It's also linked to Dr. Oliver Smith Trimmer, who helped develop Pacific Grove and was its first mayor for a long time.

U.S. Customhouse

This Custom house in Monterey was built in stages between 1827 and 1846. It's a leading example of Monterey Colonial architecture used for a public building. It's now a museum property of Monterey State Historic Park.

USS MACON (airship remains)

The remains of the USS MACON near Big Sur are the only documented parts of a rigid airship in the United States. This airship was launched in 1933 and crashed in 1935, leading to the U.S. Navy ending its rigid airship program.

Mrs. Clinton Walker House

This house in Carmel-by-the-Sea is a significant historic property.

Whalers Cabin

This cabin at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, south of Carmel, might show evidence of an early community formed around 1850 by either Portuguese whalers or Chinese fishermen. It's now a museum within the reserve.