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'Historic Monterey Month' includes colorful events
June is "Historic Monterey Month" in California's most historic city - and a good time to visit the Monterey Peninsula and participate in special events where the state was born.
Monterey celebrates its past with a variety of annual events and a "path of history" meandering past colorful adobes and through historic gardens. But 2006 is special because the organization credited with preserving much of the city's historic legacy, the Monterey History and Art Association, is celebrating its 75th anniversary with a series of special observances.
Included in the special celebration are La Merienda, Monterey's 236th birthday party, June 3; an Adobe Fiesta, a tour of 23 historic buildings and cultural exhibits, June 24; and free admission to the Monterey Maritime and History Museum throughout the month. In addition, a special Sloat Landing ceremony will be held July 7, the 160th anniversary of the event that resulted in California and much of the west becoming part of the United States.
The Merienda and Sloat Landing ceremony will be held in front of California Historic Landmark No. 1, the Custom House where the first U.S. flag was raised over California.
As Monterey Mayor Dan Albert said in a proclamation declaring June as Historic Monterey Month: "Because of the leadership and diligence exemplified by the MHAA for the past 75 years, the City of Monterey is recognized today as the most historic and well-preserved of all California cities."
Monterey's birthday party, the Merienda, combines music, dancing and barbeque to celebrate the day in 1770 when Padre Junipero Serra, father of the California missions, and Captain Gaspar de Portola, a Spanish soldier, joined forces to establish the Pueblo of Monterey.
The Adobe Fiesta tour will include Colton Hall, the site of California's Constitutional Convention in 1849; the Custom House, where Commodore John Drake Sloat claimed California for the United States; California's first theatre; the House of the Four Winds, home of Alta California Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado and the first Hall of Records for the State of California; and numerous other historical buildings.
Free admission to the Maritime and History Museum, located on Custom House Plaza, will include, "75 Treasures for 75 Years: The Path of History and Art," an exhibition that illuminates cultures and traditions that enriched California history, including Native Americans, Latino, Chinese, Sicilian, Japanese/Asian Pacific, European and immigrants from the Midwest.
The Sloat Landing event on July 7 celebrates one of the most historic - and little known - events in American history. Commodore Sloat landed in Monterey harbor and raised the U.S. flag over the Custom House in 1846, an act that led to California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and part of Colorado - 600,000 square miles in all - becoming part of the United States.
The History and Art Association proudly points out that Monterey is the most historic and best preserved city in the western United States, noting for example:
… Vizcaino landed in Monterey in 1602 and claimed California for Spain - almost 20 years before the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock.
… Monterey was California's first capital, becoming the capital of Upper and Lower California under Spanish rule in 1774.
… It has the best preserved collection of original historic buildings west of Williamsburg - and most of them are on their original sites.
… And that's not even mentioning the Argentine brigands that sacked the city in 1818 or Richard Henry Dana extolling the "pretty" city in Two Years Before the Mast in 1835 or California's first newspaper, theatre, fort or American schoolhouse.
In addition to the History and Art Association's 75th anniversary celebration, Monterey also is celebrating its selection by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of "America's Dozen Distinctive Destinations," for 2006, an annual list of "unique and lovingly preserved communities."
"Monterey rivals any city in the United States for heritage, culture, natural history and scenic beauty," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust. "In addition to its stunning setting, visitors to Monterey are delighted to experience centuries of history - from Native American sites that date back more than 2,000 years to the well-preserved adobe buildings of its Spanish Colonial and Mexican heritage."
Further information on events surrounding the Monterey History and Art Association can be obtained at www.montereyhistory.org or by telephone at 831.372.2608.
Media Contact:
John Bailey
(831) 372-2608, ext. 11
johnbailey@montereyhistory.org
Anne LaVigne
(831) 372-2608, ext. 10
anne@montereyhistory.org |
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