Monterey County Local News: History


All Local History News articles contributed by our local media allies and other local newsrooms.

Image caption: The California mental health crisis is tied to both homelessness and rising crime.
UPDATE: California’s Mental Health Crisis: How We Got Here

How the California mental health crisis emerged out of the state’s history of deinstitutionalization and laws designed to protect the mentally ill, as well as the communities around them.

Image caption: The 1965 law known as the Williamson Act has been responsible for keeping about half of California's farmland out of the hands of developers.
The Williamson Act: How the Law That Protects California’s Farmland Works

The Williamson Act, passed in 1965, now keeps more than 16 million acres of farmland out of the hands of developers. Here's how the law puts the brakes on the development of California agricultural properties.

Image caption: The Baldwin Hills area in South Los Angeles is one region where a state conservancy would keep open land accessible to the public.
California’s 10 State Conservancies: How They Protect Parks and Open Land

How California’s 10 state conservancies buy up open land and shield it from developers to preserve the natural environment for public use.

Image caption: Translated from the Greek, “Democracy” means “people power.” How much power do the people have in California?
People Power! What Is Democracy, and How Does It Work in California?

Democracy is a 2,500-year-old system of government still looked on today as the best system, because under a democratic system, the people govern themselves. But is that all there is to it? What is democracy? And how does it work …

Image caption: A 1911 production of “Twelfth Night” at the Forest Theater.
Arts History

Performing arts centers, galleries, theater troupes, music festivals—here are 20 reasons why the Monterey Bay is a haven for arts lovers.

Image caption: Since the Gold Rush era, land reclamation has cost California 90 percent of its wetlands.
How Land Reclamation Hurts California’s Environment

Since the Gold Rush era, land reclamation projects have helped to build California, but they are also damaging the state’s environment for people, plants and animals by eliminating essential wetlands.

Image caption: How California reclamation districts turned millions of acres of wetlands into fertile agricultural land, starting in the earliest days of the Gold Rush.
Reclamation Districts: Turning ‘Swamps’ Into Farmland

California has used reclamation districts to turn millions of acres of unusable swamps into fertile agricultural land, starting in the earliest days of the Gold Rush. Here’s how it happened.

Image caption: The California Supreme Court has defined the state’s legal and political agenda for more than 170 years.
How the California Supreme Court Blazes Legal Trails

The California Supreme Court has kept the state at the forefront of legal issues surrounding abortion, the death penalty and same-sex marriage, starting in its earliest days in the Gold Rush era.

Image caption: From nitrates to arsenic to “forever chemicals,” California’s water supply faces a serious pollution threat.
Dirty Water: California Faces a Water Contamination Crisis

Almost one million California residents are forced to drink from contaminated water supplies, or pay for bottled water. Economic inequality makes the crisis worse. What is the state doing to fix it?

Image caption: Moss Landing in Monterey Bay is the world’s largest battery storage facility for solar and other renewable energy.
Solar Power and California’s Clean Energy Goals

Solar power, and a network of giant battery storage facilities, are playing an essential role in moving California toward its goal of exclusive reliance on renewable energy sources.

Image caption: Like ripples in a pond, the hip impulse moved through Santa Cruz and beyond, and continues across generations.
How Did Santa Cruz Get So Hip?

Looking back at the Sixties and Seventies in Santa Cruz

Image caption: California transportation history runs from railroads to today’s car culture.
California’s History of Transportation: From Railroads to Highways

The history of transportation in California has shaped the state, from the railroads to today’s highways, making the need for planning increasingly urgent. Here’s how it all happened, and where we stand today.

Image caption: Over two weekends last October, residents of Santa Cruz and Watsonville  participated in demonstration rides aboard an electric streetcar on rails.
The ‘Rail Trail’ Movement, Explained

Thousands of miles of railroad track, including some in Santa Cruz County, now sit idle. The fate of those largely abandoned tracks has become a burning controversy.

Image caption: California continues to work on legislation that would make voting easier.
Voting Rites

California keeps on taking legislative steps that will keep it ranked in the top 10 of voter-friendly states.

Image caption: Access to abortion in California is limited in many areas, though state laws protect a woman’s right to choose.
Abortion Rights in California, Explained

California has historically been ahead of the rest of the country in expanding the legal right to abortion services. Here’s what state laws say today, and how we got here.

Image caption: Old Sacramento Historic District Sacramento is an open-air museum of historic buildings.
Capital Collections

Sacramento’s rich past can be explored by visiting its many and varied historical museums.

Image caption:
History Row

Natural history, state history, and cultural history combine to make Monterey County remarkable.

California Local Pin Marker From Monterey Herald...

03/05/2025
Read on for details about the $1 million restoration underway at the historic Cooper-Molera Adobe in downtown Monterey.

KSQD logo From KSQD...

02/05/2025
Image for display with article titled Tribute to Jess York With PK Hattis and Shmuel Thaler – Talk of the Bay

Talk of the Bay's host PK Hattis is joined by longtime Santa Cruz Sentinel photographer Shmuel Thaler. Both Thaler and Hattis, who also works as a reporter at the Sentinel, are mourning the death of colleague Jess York, who died in January after battling a rare form of neuroendocrine cancer for more than four years.

California Local Pin Marker From The Sacramento Observer...

02/04/2025
A look at 14 places in California where Black businesses and culture thrived.

Monterey County Weekly logo From Monterey County Weekly...

01/29/2025
Image for display with article titled Pilot Program to Guide People Into Drug Treatment Gets Underway With Opioid Settlement Funds.

Since 2022, the County of Monterey has received nearly $3 million in funds stemming from several opioid settlement lawsuits, with a total of $13 million expected over the next 20 years. After a slow start in distributing funds to agencies and nonprofits to fight opioid use and addiction in the community, county officials are finally designating cash to several programs, totaling over $1.56 million.

Salinas Valley Tribune logo From Salinas Valley Tribune...

01/29/2025
Image for display with article titled Documentary Short Film Shines Light on Salinas Valley

A documentary short film set in the Salinas Valley has been officially selected for the prestigious 2025 Sundance Film Festival, and will have its world premiere during the festival’s celebrated Short Film Program.

Monterey County Weekly logo From Monterey County Weekly...

01/21/2025
Image for display with article titled Nearly 1,000 People in Seaside March to Commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

A diverse and buoyant crowd of nearly 1,000 people from around Monterey County gathered for a 1.1-mile march through the heart of Seaside on Monday, Jan. 20, to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

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01/20/2025
Image for display with article titled A Message of Peace—hundreds Attend MLK March

Hundreds of people came to Santa Cruz Monday to honor Martin Luther King Jr., many waving signs, chanting and singing as they made their way down Pacific Avenue. Their message was one of community, activism and support.

Monterey County Weekly logo From Monterey County Weekly...

12/25/2024
Image for display with article titled Salinas Begins a Survey to Assess Historical Buildings in the City.

Walking around downtown Salinas can be an architectural adventure. There are dramatic bas relief busts on the original courthouse (now county offices) by artist Jo Mora, and large Queen Anne homes with asymmetrical facades, art deco flair and embellishments on several commercial buildings, such as those that are home to Alvarado on Main and Live@Heirloom Pizza Co.

Monterey County Weekly logo From Monterey County Weekly...

12/24/2024
Image for display with article titled Tor House Is Designated as a National Historic Landmark.

The number of National Historic Landmarks in Monterey County just increased.

California Local Pin Marker From Monterey Herald...

12/23/2024
Learn about the bill introduced by Rep. Jimmy Panetta which would initiate the process to designate the communities neighboring the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary as a National Heritage Area, and what that would entail.

Monterey County Weekly logo From Monterey County Weekly...

12/11/2024
Image for display with article titled Pagrovians Band Together to Raise Funds to Return the Shine to Historic Chautauqua Hall.

A lecture hall, Sunday school, dance studio, Boy Scout headquarters, gym and tent storage during the winter between summer Methodist camp sessions in the late 1800s. Pacific Grove’s Chautauqua Hall has served many purposes over 143 years since it was constructed in 1881. It’s been renovated a few times, but it’s long overdue for a revamp.

Monterey County Weekly logo From Monterey County Weekly...

12/04/2024
Image for display with article titled The Carmel Public Library Foundation Supports an Extensive Collection of Historic Artifacts.

The Carmel Public Library opened in 1928, in the era when Carmel was establishing its bohemian reputation. It was a year after the Carmel Art Association was established, and two years before Sunset Center was built, as a school.

Monterey County Weekly logo From Monterey County Weekly...

11/19/2024
Image for display with article titled The Story of Pacific Grove’s Chinese Fishing Village Is Told in a Compelling New Film.

Pam Marino here, thinking about how history reverberates through time. We may want to say “the past is the past” and move on, but the truth is, the past influences the present and the future, whether we want to admit it or not.

Monterey County Weekly logo From Monterey County Weekly...

11/13/2024
Image for display with article titled P.G.’s Chinese Fishing Village Story Is Powerfully Told by Its Descendants in a New Interactive Film.

The burning of a Chinese fishing village on the shores of Pacific Grove in 1906 continues to reverberate through the town’s history to the present – two years ago, P.G. City Council issued an official apology for the fire and racism endured by Chinese immigrants and their descendants. It’s a story known to locals, but it remains largely unknown beyond the Monterey Peninsula. A new film aims to change that.

Monterey County Weekly logo From Monterey County Weekly...

11/11/2024
Image for display with article titled A 104-Year-Old Veteran of Service in the Navy Quietly Celebrates Veterans Day.

There is a photograph of Anne Rasmussen wearing her dress blues. It dates from World War II, when she served in the WAVES, or Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service, a branch of the Navy.

Monterey County Weekly logo From Monterey County Weekly...

10/09/2024
Image for display with article titled A Treasured Monarch Butterfly Stained Glass Window Has No Place to Land in P.G. – For Now.

Over 20 years ago, developer Nader Agha decided to adorn the Holman Building in Pacific Grove with a large, half-moon shaped, Tiffany-style stained glass window depicting Butterfly Town’s beloved monarch butterflies.

Monterey County Weekly logo From Monterey County Weekly...

10/04/2024
Image for display with article titled Roosevelt School Celebrates Its 100th Anniversary and Will Host a Family Leadership Conference

Roosevelt Elementary School in the Salinas City Elementary School District celebrated its 100th anniversary on Thursday, Oct.3. It's the same school where the famous novelist John Steinbeck attended when he was a child.

KSQD logo From KSQD...

10/03/2024
Image for display with article titled Gary Griggs: “California Catastrophes: The Natural Disaster History of the Golden State”

Gary Griggs, UCSC Distinguished Professor of Earth Sciences tells us about his new book, California Catastrophes: The Natural Disaster History of the Golden State, about the history of disasters in our state and what we can expect in the future.

California Local Pin Marker From Monterey Herald...

09/01/2024
The Monterey Herald sits down with Cal State Monterey Bay's first president, Peter Smith, and look back 30 years to the founding of the university.

Salinas Valley Tribune logo From Salinas Valley Tribune...

07/26/2024
Image for display with article titled Soledad Historical Society’s ‘History of Women’s Fashion’ Exhibit Opens July 27

Soledad Historical Society has announced a new display at the museum, located at 137 Soledad St., in Soledad.