The 411 - Fascinating Facts

Fascinating facts, intriguing tales and maybe even tidbits of fancy — these draw on our rich history, our wealth of colorful people (both past and present), our many natural wonders, our cities, our industry and even our future. We hope these selections will be as enjoyable to read as they were to gather. If they encourage you to continue on a personal exploration of this incredible place we call home, so much the better!

• A young woman by the name of Norma Jean was crowned Castroville’s first “Artichoke Queen:" in 1947. She was later to gain fame as actress Marilyn Monroe.

• 17-Mile-Drive, the “Circle of Enchantment" that winds along the coast through the exclusive Pebble Beach properties, is one of only nine private toll roads in the country and the only one west of the Mississippi.

• Alexo Nino, who died during Father Junipero Serra’s expedition to Monterey in 1770, was the first person of African ancestry to die and be buried in California. He was laid to rest on the hill at the Presidio. Nino is also considered to be California’s first black immigrant.

• The residents of Monterey County are avid supporters of nonprofit organizations. In all, there are estimated to be 526 nonprofit organizations within the 939 ZIP code — with the exception of schools, churches and universities. In 1993, a conservative estimate of the money donated to these nonprofits was between $75 and $100 million dollars.

• Ninety percent of the brussels sprouts grown in the United States are from Santa Cruz County.

• The Monterey Peninsula’s 18 beautiful golf courses — three of which are ranked in the top 10 internationally — have earned it a well-deserved reputation as the golf capital of the world.

• In 1945, the year John Steinbeck’s famous book, Cannery Row, was published, nearly a quarter-million tons of sardines were processed at Monterey’s Cannery Row, marking a peak year for this once-thriving industry.

• In 1692, Captain Sebastian Vizcaino charted the Monterey Bay and came ashore, naming it “El Puerto de Monterey" in honor of the Viceroy of New Spain, Count de Monte Rey.

• The sport of surfing got its start in Santa Cruz, a.k.a. Surf City. (This has long been disputed by residents of Huntington Beach, who claim their city was the birthplace of surfing.)

• Both The Inn at Spanish Bay and The Lodge at Pebble Beach employ full-time silver polishers to keep their collections shining.

• Salinas, the agricultural, industrial, financial and governmental center for Monterey County, is bordered by no other city, making it one of the few freestanding cities in the country.

• Our rich, agricultural jewel known as The Salinas Valley covers 640,000 acres.

• In 1770, Father Junipero Serra and Captain Gaspar de Portola found the little town of Monterey, built a mission here and established a presidio guarded by Spanish troops.

• There are more than 100 art galleries in Carmel-by-the-Sea, a city encompassing just one square mile.

• There is no mail delivery in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Since street addresses or house numbers are not permitted, residents must retrieve their mail from the post office.

• Point Lobos State Reserve was the model for Spyglass Hill in Robert Louis Stevenson’s adventure novel, Treasure Island.

• The Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz is a natural phenomenon where the law of gravity seems to have gone haywire.

• The route along Monterey’s Path of History includes more than 40 historic buildings.

• From 1854 to the early 1900s, the Monterey Bay harbor was a major cargo and whaling port, its beaches white with whalebone.

• A pygmy tree forest can be found in the Morse Preserve at Pebble Beach.

• Royal Presidio Chapel, constructed during the Spanish period in 1794 under the direction of Father Fermin de Lasuen, is the oldest building on the Monterey Peninsula and California’s oldest church in continuous service.

• California’s oldest public building still standing is Monterey’s Custom House.

• The infamous 1906 earthquake left many San Francisco artists, writers and musicians homeless. Many moved to Carmel, forming a bohemian colony in the town now recognized as one of the world’s finest art capitals.

• In 1846, the Mexicans gave up the Peninsula to the U.S. Navy. Commodore Drake Sloat claimed the City of Monterey.

• Pacific Grove was settled as a religious and cultural retreat by the Methodists in 1875.

• In the mid 1880s, 17,000 visitors a year flocked to the Hotel Del Monte, an elegant seaside resort. Today, Monterey enjoys an estimated five million visitors per year.

• Del Monte Golf Course, built in 1896 as part of Del Monte Hotel’s guest facilities, is said to be the first golf course in continuous operation west of the Mississippi.

• Salinas was chosen for the seat of Monterey County in 1872 and incorporated as a chartered city in 1874. Today it ranks as the county’s largest city.

• The Pacific Grove Museum was voted the best natural history museum of its size in the nation.

• Neon signs, billboards and fast food establishments are prohibited in Carmel-by-the-Sea.

• In Santa Cruz, the oldest known human settlement was in the Scotts Valley area — some 12,000 years ago.

• First Theatre in Monterey, built in 1846, is California’s first (and still operating) theatre.

• The California Rodeo, held annually in Salinas, is ranked (by total purse) in the top ten of the 650 rodeos sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. Its inception can be dated back as early as 1909, when the concept of "a Wild West Show with a few bucking horses to fill in the gaps between races at the track" was first discussed.

• The Bixby Creek Bridge, one of the world’s highest single-span concrete arch bridges, is 714 feet long and 260 feet high. It was built by prisoners eager to earn “good time" off their prison sentences. Dedicated in 1932, it is declared to be “one of the most photographed bridges in the world."

• The Basilica of Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo (better know as the Carmel Mission), built in the late 1700s, is one of just two basilicas on the West Coast.

• Carmel Valley averages 283 sunny days a year.

• The first — and last — Annual Monterey International Pop Festival, held here in 1967, featured such rock stars as the late Janis Joplin and “unknowns" like Jimi Hendrix. The latter’s performance at this event, however, launched him as an instant superstar.