Hotel Del Monte

(Photo: Hermann Hall at the Naval Postgraduate School, considered in the public domain.) Hermann is the main building of the former Del Monte Hotel.)

The Monterey Peninsula was sleepy in the 1860s and '70s, but change arrived in 1880 with the opening of the Hotel Del Monte, a resort located on the grounds of what is now the Naval Postgraduate School. A favorite recreation of hotel visitors was to ride by horseback or carriage toward Pebble Beach, a round-trip of about 17 miles. Hence the name of one of the most beautiful excursions in the world, 17-Mile Drive.

Charles Crocker

A tycoon named Charles Crocker (1822-1888) is the single most important figure in the early development of Monterey Peninsula, because it was he who got excited about tourism potential here, and led the building of the magnificent Hotel Del Monte, which opened in 1880. Crocker financed his Monterey venture with money he made building the Central Pacific Railroad, a assive and dangerous project that he completed years ahead of the government deadline. The Crocker Cypress Grove, near Cypress Point in Pebble Beach, is probably named after Charles Crocker.(Photo: from the SCV Historical Society and considered to be in the public domain.)