Editing Pacific Grove, California (section)

==History==
[[File:Point Pinos Light during reconstruction (2013).jpg|thumb|left|[[Point Pinos Lighthouse]], built in 1855, is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the [[West Coast of the United States]].]]
The first people to inhabit Pacific Grove were members of the Ohlone Rumsen tribe who lived between Big Sur and San Francisco since the 6th century CE. Grinding stones from this tribe still exist in Pacific Grove.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://hopkinsmarinestation.stanford.edu/about/history#:~:text=The%20first%20inhabitants%20of%20the,around%20the%206th%20century%20CE | title=History &#124; Hopkins Marine Station }}</ref> The area later became part of the Mexican land grant [[Rancho Punta de Pinos]].

The second group of people to come to Pacific Grove were Chinese immigrants as early as 1853. They established a successful fishing village at Point Alones, an area between Lover's Point and the western edge of Monterey. The Chinese were the first to recognize the potential for commercial fishing in the [[Monterey Bay]]. Others quickly saw the benefit, however, and eventually pushed the Chinese from their daytime fishing grounds. Being resourceful, they began fishing for squid in the night, thus beginning California's squid fishery – now one of California's largest fisheries.’<ref name="pgmuseum.org">{{cite web | url=https://www.pgmuseum.org/pacific-groves-chinese-fishing-village | title=Pacific Grove's Chinese Fishing Village }}</ref>
 
By 1859 the property this village sat on belonged to [[David Jacks (businessman)]] who owned almost the entire area of the Monterey Peninsula. Jacks sold the property to The [[Pacific Improvement Company]] which attempted removal of the Chinese American community in 1905 due to several development interests including Stanford University on which Hopkin's Marine Station now sits. In 1906 there was a fire at the village and during the battle to save the village a firehose was suspiciously cut thereby causing it to completely burn down. The families, without a village to call their own, soon dispersed throughout the region.’.<ref name="pgmuseum.org"/> The first Chinese American born at the village did receive property restitution elsewhere. The loss is memorialized every year in a Walk of Remembrance in mid-May.
[[File:San Francisco blue book and Pacific Coast elite directory (1890) (14759261276).jpg|thumb|left|Depiction of Pacific Grove in 1890.]]
It is notable that not only was the Point Alones fishing village the oldest and longest running fishing village on the West Coast, but also had just as many women as men living there. Even through the years of the national Chinese Exclusion Act<ref>[[Chinese Exclusion Act]]</ref>{{Circular reference|date=October 2023}} there were many positive interactions with the summer Methodist Camp, later to be the town of Pacific Grove. The Methodist women taught English at the village and no doubt fish would have been purchased. Also, a lighted boat parade originally put on by the Chinese fishermen at the closing of the Methodist summer camp was a tradition which continued until a few years ago.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sandylydon.com/books/chinese-gold | title=Chinese Gold }}</ref>

The city of Pacific Grove originated as a Methodist Christian seaside resort. In 1874, Reverend J.W. Ross, a Methodist minister and his wife, visited the area and decided it would be an ideal location for a proposed Methodist Retreat. The pine, oak and cypress trees, along with many varieties of wild plants and flowers, made Pacific Grove an attractive place for camping. On June 1, 1875, the Pacific Grove Retreat Association was formed in San Francisco to administer the Christian Seaside Resort in Pacific Grove. The Pacific Improvement Company (which later became Del Monte Properties) and David Jacks provided the land for the Retreat area. This Retreat Area, as surveyed at that time by St. John Cox, covers the area from the Bay up to Lighthouse Avenue and from First Street to Pacific Avenue.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pacificgrove.org/history-of-pacific-grove/ | title=History of Pacific Grove }}</ref>

In November 1879, after the summer campers returned home, [[Robert Louis Stevenson]] wandered into the deserted campgrounds: "I have never been in any place so dreamlike. Indeed, it was not so much like a deserted town as like a scene upon the stage by daylight, and with no one on the boards."

The Pacific Grove post office opened in 1886, closed later that year, and was reopened in 1887.<ref name=CGN /> Pacific Grove incorporated in 1889.<ref name=CGN />
[[File:Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, January 2016.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History]] was founded in 1883.]]
The [[El Carmelo Hotel]] was Pacific Grove's first hotel, opening to guests on May 20, 1887. It was sometimes called the sister of Monterey's [[Hotel Del Monte]]. It was located on Lighthouse Avenue between Fountain and Grand avenues and owned by the [[Pacific Improvement Company]] (PIC). In 1907, the name changed to the Pacific Grove Hotel. In 1917, the PIC decided to dismantle it and use the wood in the reconstruction of The Lodge at [[Pebble Beach, California|Pebble Beach]] that had burned down on December 17, 1917. The empty block was sold to W. R. Holman in 1919 to open the Holman Department Store.<ref name="Newsletter">{{cite web|url=https://pacificgroveheritage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/04-2002-August-September.pdf |title=El Carmelo, Pacific Grove Hotel|work=The Board and Batten|place=Pacific Grove, California|date=2002|access-date=March 22, 2022|archive-date=May 3, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503014304/https://pacificgroveheritage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/04-2002-August-September.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Thomas Albert Work]] built several of the buildings in Pacific Grove, including the three-story Del Mar hotel in 1895, at the corner of Sixteenth, and in 1904 he built a commercial block along Lighthouse Avenue to house local businesses, including the two-story [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]]-style Bank of Pacific Grove.<ref name="Pacific Grove">{{cite book |last=Seavey |first=Kent |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6B_wTaed_-UC&q=%22T.%20A.%20Work%22 |title=Pacific Grove |publisher=Arcadia |place=Pacific Grove, California |date=2005|pages=81–88|isbn=9780738529646 |access-date=January 20, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Bodfish">{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/93053820/t-a-work/ |title= T. A. Work Starts Life As Driver Of Milk Wagon |work=Salinas Morning Post|place=Salinas, California|date=December 19, 1930|page=1|access-date=January 20, 2022}}</ref>
[[File:Pacific_Grove_Hotel.jpg|thumb|[[El Carmelo Hotel]], built in 1887, was Pacific Grove's first hotel.]]
Pacific Grove, like [[Carmel-by-the-Sea]] and Monterey, became an artists' haven in the 1890s and subsequent period. Artists of the ''[[En plein air]] ''school in both Europe and the United States were seeking an outdoor venue with natural beauty, and Pacific Grove became a magnet for this movement. [[William Adam (artist)|William Adam]] was an English painter who first moved to Monterey and then decided on Pacific Grove for his home in 1906. At about the same time, [[Eugen Neuhaus]], a German painter, arrived in Pacific Grove with his new bride. Charles B. Judson<!-- perhaps [[Charles C. Judson]]?--> was an artist of aristocratic lineage who painted in Pacific Grove over a long time beginning in 1907; Judson's [[mural]]s decorate the halls of the [[California Academy of Sciences]] in San Francisco.

The [[Asilomar Conference Grounds]] are located at the western edge of Pacific Grove. Asilomar opened in 1913 as a YWCA summer retreat; it now belongs to the [[California State Park System]]. Thirteen buildings on these grounds were designed by architect [[Julia Morgan]], who also designed [[Hearst Castle]].

Taken together, the construction of Holman's Department Store, the Grove Theater, and the [[Forest Hill Hotel]] embodied the vibrant optimism of the 1920s. During this era, Pacific Grove witnessed a growing accessibility to automobile tourists and a rising population of year-round residents. Additionally, two of these structures exemplify significant architectural trends of the period, as both the Grove Theater and Forest Hill Hotel feature elements influenced by [[Spanish architecture|Spanish]]-style design. This stylistic shift was echoed in other commercial buildings as well, including the transformation of the Hotel Del Mar. Around the same period, it underwent remodeling to adopt the [[Mediterranean Revival architecture|Mediterranean Revival]] style, marked by stucco cladding and distinctive red tile embellishments.<ref name="Statement">{{cite report |date=31 October 2011 |url=https://cms9files.revize.com/pacificgrove/Document_Center/Departments/Community%20Development/Housing/Historic%20Resources/hcs2.pdf |chapter=D. Pacific Grove Comes of Age (1903 - 1926) |title=Historic Context Statement |publisher=City of Pacific Grove |place=Pacific Grove, California |pages=160–161 |access-date=August 7, 2023}}</ref>
[[File:Monterey pacific grove ca 1917.jpg|thumb|left|Map of Pacific Grove and the southern [[Monterey Bay]], 1917.]]
For a number of years, [[John Steinbeck]] lived in a cottage in Pacific Grove owned by his father, Ernest, who was Monterey County treasurer. The cottage still stands on a quiet side street at 147 11th Street, without any plaque or special sign, virtually overlooked by most Steinbeck fans. Another Steinbeck-related house is at 222 Central Avenue, which was his grandmother's house. A golden statue of Steinbeck in the front yard stood for years before it was removed.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.montereyherald.com/20110414/pacific-grove-cottage-where-steinbecks-grandmother-lived-being-restored |title=Pacific Grove cottage where Steinbeck's grandmother lived being restored |first=Kevin |last=Howe |date=April 14, 2011 |work=The Monterey Herald}}</ref> In Steinbeck's book ''[[Sweet Thursday]]'', a chapter is dedicated to describing a (probably fictional) rivalry that arose among the town's residents over the game of [[roque]].

Local traditions include a Butterfly Parade held in early October to celebrate the return of the [[monarch butterfly]] to its wintering habitat. Mid-April, a Good Old Days festival is held downtown, which includes rides, crafts booths, food, entertainment, and a parade. On the last Saturday of July there is a pet parade. Candy Cane Lane is a neighborhood of Morse Dr and Platt Park that is decorated for Christmas each December with an abundance of lights and decorations. Candy Cane Lane has been a local tradition for more than 60 years.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 15, 2020 |title=Scaled back Candy Cane Lane in Pacific Grove still lights and delights |url=https://www.montereyherald.com/2020/12/15/scaled-back-candy-cane-lane-in-pacific-grove-still-lights-and-delights |access-date=November 25, 2022 |website=Monterey Herald |language=en-US}}</ref>
[[File:Forest Hill Hotel, Pacific Grove.jpg|thumb|The [[Mission Revival]] style Forest Hill Hotel in 1923.]]
[[Hopkins Marine Station]] maintains a campus next to the [[Monterey Bay Aquarium]]. It was founded in 1892, originally at the site of Lover's Point, making it the oldest marine laboratory on the US Pacific Coast, and the third-oldest in the US. Created after the [[Marine Biological Laboratory]] in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. It was originally named the Hopkins Seaside Laboratory, and was located on what is now Lovers Point. It was relocated to its current site at Point Alones.

In the 1980s, Pacific Grove was the site of the pioneering microcomputer software company [[Digital Research]]. Originally located in Gary Kildall's house on the corner of Lighthouse and Willow, it later moved to offices on Central Avenue.

On October 12, 1997, [[John Denver]] died when he crashed into the [[Pacific Ocean]] off Pacific Grove in his personal plane.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.avweb.com/news/safety/183015-1.html |title=Closeup: The John Denver Crash |date=January 28, 1999 |access-date=March 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170309125905/http://www.avweb.com/news/safety/183015-1.html |archive-date=March 9, 2017}}</ref>

Pacific Grove was the last [[dry town]] in California. Due to the city's religious and gated history, alcohol was not served to the public until July 4, 1969, at the grand opening of the Pacific Grove Art Center by ElMarie Dyke, its founder. This caused much controversy because the law was not to take effect until November of that year. Ironically, ElMarie was also a great proponent for keeping the town dry. To this day, Pacific Grove has very strict laws regarding the service of alcohol and has no stand-alone bars.<ref>Alton Pryor, November 15, 2005, "California's Last Dry Town".</ref>

At the November 6, 2018, general municipal election, Pacific Grove voters approved Measure M, which prohibits short-term vacation rentals in residential districts outside the Coastal Zone.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pacific Grove, California, Measure M, Limitations on Short-Term Rentals (November 2018) |url=https://ballotpedia.org/Pacific_Grove,_California,_Measure_M,_Limitations_on_Short-Term_Rentals_(November_2018) |access-date=November 14, 2023 |work=[[Ballotpedia]]}}</ref>