The Duke of Del Monte

Samuel F.B. Morse had nearly personal control of Pebble Beach development for 50 years, setting out in 1919 to protect the majestic shoreline as “one of the greatest private parks in existence.” He built golf courses with scenic views and rimmed them with residential lots. Sales of the lots paid for the golf course development and tolls from the private 17 Mile Drive – at first 50 cents for a car or two-horse wagon, 25 cents for a saddle horse – paid for maintenance. The “Duke of Del Monte,” as Morse was known, had such control that not even a tree in Del Monte Forest could be removed without his personal approval. The control reflected the racism of the times, with deed restrictions prohibiting “Asiatics or Negroes” or descendents of the Turkish Empire from buying or otherwise owning, leasing or occupying property in Pebble Beach. The racial covenants were ironic in light of Morse's dream of having the United Nations located in Del Monte Forest. Those covenants were dropped as unenforceable in 1964 after the Civil Rights Act outlawed racial discrimination in the U.S. Morse died in 1969 and in 1978, Del Monte Properties became the Pebble Beach Company.

(Image: Bust of Morse at Pebble Beach golf sculpted by Richard MacDonald. Photo courtesy of E11y)

Morse Takes Over

Samuel F.B. Morse was sent to the Monterey Peninsula in 1915 to liquidate the holdings of the Pacific Improvement Company, a land company formed in the 1860s by the “Big Four” railroaders of the day. He had been hired by one of them, Charles Crocker, after befriending Crocker’s son while both were students at Yale. Morse was overcome by the natural beauties he found here and decided this is where he wanted to stay and live. Partnering with the owner of a bank in San Francisco, Morse formed the Del Monte Properties Company and, in 1919, bought the bulk of the railroad holdings. For $1.3 million, the new company bought the posh Del Monte Hotel in Monterey (now the Naval Postgraduate School) with its companion race track (now the Monterey Fairgrounds), polo field, Del Monte Golf Course and Monterey County Water Works (now part of Cal-Am); the bulk of Pacific Grove, including the stunning shoreline, Pacific Grove Hotel (now the Holman Building) and many residential lots; 17 Mile Drive and the forests and beaches that surrounded it; and acreage in Carmel Valley. In all, Morse obtained 7,000 mostly undeveloped acres on the Peninsula.

The Peninsula’s Role in the United Nations

Monterey may be an international language capital now with the Defense Language Institute at the Presidio and the Monterey Institute of International Studies turning out linguists who frequently work for the United Nations. But before those schools were established, the Peninsula was considered a possible headquarters location for U.N. That was back in the 1940s before the new world organization decided to settle in New York City. Samuel F. B. Morse offered 500 acres of land in Del Monte Forest “without restrictions” to the U.N. if the organization would like to build its headquarters here. “I did it myself because I didn’t think anybody else had the territory to offer,” Morse told The Herald in 1945. He discussed it with the U.S. Secretary of State while he was a guest in his home, Morse said, then supplied complete data on the Peninsula climate, geographic and scenic advantages. The Peninsula was one of about 20 locations considered before the U.N. in 1946 decided to settle in New York City.

Picture provided by Air Ninja

From Free to Prestigious

Samuel Morse turned over 500 acres of Del Monte Forest for $1 to the Monterey Peninsula Country Club membership to build a new golf course. The magnificently-built Dunes course was opened on July 4, 1926, seven years after the Pebble Beach Golf Links. It look less than two years to build, as required by Morse. Membership was on an invitation-only basis and included a free home site! There were initially 500 lots bordering the course. According to a 2008 report by Forbes Magazine, initiation fees now run $175,000 (and definitely do not include a private lot!). The club was one of the three included in the Crosby tournament beginning its first year in Pebble Beach (1947) until it was replaced by Spyglass. When Gerald Ford lost the presidency to Jimmy Carter, Ford spent his first day in private life playing at MPCC with Arnold Palmer and according to news reports, appeared quite contented despite his golf performance. According to the New York Times, Ford "gave his audience little to cheer about as he sliced, hooked and occasionally three-putted his way through 18 holes of golf" during the Crosby tournament that year. Although MPCC is private, the club is generous in allowing members to sponsor functions there for local organizations such as the Peninsula Dance Quadrille and the Pebble Beach Riding & Trail Association.

U.S. Open and Pebble Beach

Samuel F.B. Morse ( (1885-1969) was the most important figure in the development of Pebble Beach. However, he sometimes forged ahead with too much gusto, as in the early 1960s, when he decided to bring the U.S. Open to Pebble Beach Golf Links. The U.S. Open people disdained the idea, insisting that the tourney be held at a private club. No problem, said Morse - in 1963 he restructured the beloved public links into the Pebble Beach Golf Club, available to only a select few. Thousands of golfers were stunned and upset. The story has a happy ending - Morse and his team changed their minds and restored public status for the course, and the U.S. Open came here in 1972 and returns in 2010.(Photo: http://www.pebblebeach.com/ images/history/1915_Morse_s.jpg)