Monterey History

June 20, 2014

Charles Rollo Peters and the History of Peter’s Gate in Monterey

Originally published June 20, 2014; substantially updated August 2026.

Most Monterey neighborhoods are named for geography, old subdivisions or streets. Peter's Gate is different. It carries the name of one of the most colorful figures in early California art: painter Charles Rollo Peters, whose atmospheric nighttime paintings of …

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Aug. 22, 2013

How Monterey Vista, Mar Vista & Toyon Heights Grew Above Monterey

Originally published August 22, 2013; substantially updated September 2026.

The hills above downtown Monterey can be surprisingly difficult to name.

Ask one longtime resident where a particular house is located and you may hear Monterey Vista. Ask a real-estate agent and the same general area may be …

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Aug. 19, 2013

How Skyline Forest Grew: Monterey’s Expansion into the Wooded Ridgeline

Originally published August 19, 2013; substantially updated September 2026.

From downtown Monterey, the wooded ridge above the city can look as though it has always been there untouched.

It hasn't.

Hidden among the Monterey pines and coast live oaks is one of the city's most interesting examples …

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May 29, 2013

Ed Ricketts, Pacific Biological Laboratories & the Real “Doc” of Cannery Row

Cannery Row, Monterey, CA

Originally published May 29, 2013; substantially updated September 2026.

Thousands of people walk past 800 Cannery Row every year without realizing that one of the most important buildings in Monterey's scientific and literary history is sitting almost in plain sight.

It is not one of Cannery Row's …

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