By From the Monterey History and Art Association

The Monterey Maritime and History Museum features “75 Treasures for 75 Years.”

Monterey is well known for its scenery and golf, whale watching, jack cheese, strolling along the wharf or Cannery Row - and history. Its history is showcased this year by a series of commemorative activities. Monterey is the most historic city in the Western United States and it has the facts to prove it.

Sebastián Vizcaino landed in Monterey in 1602 and claimed California for Spain - almost 20 years before the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock. Monterey was California’s first capital, it became the capital of Upper and Lower California under Spanish rule in 1774. It has the best selection of original historical buildings west of Williamsburg, most on their original sites. Commodore John Drake Sloat landed in Monterey harbor in 1846, an act that led to California, Nevada, Utah and parts of Arizona and Wyoming eventually becoming part of the United States. Argentine brigands sacked the city in 1818 and Richard Henry Dana extolled the “pretty” city in his adventure, “Two Years Before the Mast,” in 1835. Monterey was the site for California’s first newspaper, theater, fort and American schoolhouse.

Monterey celebrates its past with a variety of annual events and a “path of history,” which meanders past colorful adobes and through historical gardens. But 2006 is special because the organization credited with preserving much of the city’s legacy, the Monterey History and Art Association (MHAA), is celebrating its 75th anniversary with a series of observances.

As Monterey Mayor Dan Albert said in a proclamation declaring June 2006, Historic Monterey Mont “Because of the leadership and diligence exemplified by the MHAA for the past 75 years, the city of Monterey is recognized today as the most historic and well preserved of all California cities.”

Anniversary events scheduled include: Bouquets to History and Art April 6 through 9; La Merienda, Monterey’s 236th birthday party June 3; an Adobe Fiesta, a tour of 23 historic buildings and cultural exhibits June 24; and a Sloat Landing ceremony July 7, the 160th anniversary of the historic event.

The Merienda and Sloat Landing ceremonies will be held in front of California Historical Landmark No. 1, the Custom House saved through MHAA’s efforts in 1938.

A highlight of events is a yearlong, rotating exhibit, “75 Treasures for 75 Years: The Path of History and Art,” in MHAA’s Maritime and History Museum. The exhibition features a “path,” along which guests “visit” each of the six landmark buildings owned by the association. Each building features selected items from the MHAA collection that also illustrate local life and customs during the period of the building’s construction,

A “Founding Artists Wall,” features a montage of photographs and a representative work by each of MHAA’s 10 founding artists.

The Adobe Fiesta on June 24 will include Colton Hall, the site of California’s Constitutional Convention in 1849; the Custom House, where Sloat raised the American Flag and claimed much of the Western Territory for the United States; and the first Hall of Records for the State of California.

For more information, visit www.montereyhistory.org or call (831) 372-2608.