Monterey Jigsaw Puzzles

The old capital of California

The Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno anchored in Monterey Bay on December 16, 1602,. Gaspar de Portolá built the Presidio of Monterey, and Junípero Serra founded the Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo on June 3, 1770. In 1777 the town became the capital of the Spanish province of the Californias, and it stayed the capital after Mexico won independence in 1821. The Custom House, begun by the Spanish in 1814 and finished by the Americans in 1846, is still standing. On July 7, 1846, Commodore John D. Sloat raised the American flag over Monterey and claimed California for the United States.

Sardines, Steinbeck and a new kind of fishery

Sardine canneries lined the waterfront that locals called Cannery Row. John Steinbeck, who later won the Nobel Prize, made the street famous with his novel Cannery Row in 1945. His friend Edward F. Ricketts ran the Pacific Biological Laboratories there and inspired the character Doc. The sardine catch peaked in 1946 and collapsed soon after, and by 1958 only five canneries were still working. The Monterey Bay Aquarium opened in 1984 on the site of the old Hovden Cannery, turning the old industrial shoreline into one of the best known places on the coast. Nearby, the cliffs of Carmel and Big Sur's Bixby Bridge are only a short drive away, and they show up in many puzzles of the area.

Five things you might not know about Monterey

1. California's first constitutional convention met at Colton Hall in Monterey in 1849, a year before the state joined the Union.
2. In 1818 the Argentine privateer Hippolyte Bouchard captured the fort at Monterey and held the town for six days.
3. The sardine catch at Monterey peaked in 1946 at 142,282 tons, and a year later it had dropped to 26,818 tons.
4. The Monterey Bay Aquarium opened on October 20, 1984, and its Open Sea exhibit holds about 1.2 million gallons of water.
5. The Lone Cypress on 17-Mile Drive is believed to have sprouted around 1750, and the Pebble Beach Company registered a drawing of it as a trademark in 1919.

Sources: Wikipedia: Monterey, California · Wikipedia: Cannery Row · Wikipedia: Monterey Bay Aquarium · Wikipedia: Lone Cypress