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Carmel-by-the-Sea, California

Encyclopedia : C : CA : CAR : Carmel-by-the-Sea, California

View towards the city beach, Carmel; an old Monterey Cypress in the foreground
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View towards the city beach, Carmel; an old Monterey Cypress in the foreground

Carmel-by-the-Sea is a small town endowed with a rich artistic history (Spangenberg,1976) situated on the Monterey Peninsula in Monterey County, California. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 4,081.

Clint Eastwood was once the town's mayor for just one term, from 1986 to 1988.

Contents

Name and Geography

The town is often called "Carmel", even though its official name and "Welcome to" road sign refer to it as Carmel-by-the-Sea. It is located at 36°33'16" North, 121°55'16" West (36.554552, -121.921174)[Geographic references#1GR1], on the Pacific coast about 330 miles north of Los Angeles and 120 miles south of San Francisco. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total land area of 2.8 km² (1.1 mi²), none of which is covered by water.

Early History

Carmel-by-the-Sea is perfused with Native American, early Spanish and American History (Blanks, 1965). Most scholars believe that the Esselen tribe of Native Americans were the first people to inhabit the area of Carmel, but the Ohlone tribe pushed them south into the mountains of Big Sur around the 6th century. The first Europeans to see this land were Spanish mariners led by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542, who sailed up the California coast without landing. Another sixty years passed before another Spanish explorer and Carmelite Friar Sebastian Vizcaino "discovered" what is now known as Carmel Valley in 1602, which he named for his patron saint, Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The Spanish did not attempt to colonize the area until 1769, when Gaspar de Portola and Franciscan Father Juan Crespi visited the area in search of a mission site. They returned one year later in 1770 to found the Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo at the southeastern edge of Carmel. The nearby colony of Monterey, established at the same time, soon became the capital of California until 1849. From the late 18th through the early 19th century, most of the Ohlone population died out from European diseases against which they had no immunity, and overwork and malnutrition at the missions where the Spanish forced them to live. In 1821, Carmel became Mexican territory when Mexico gained independence from Spain. A Scottish immigrant, John Martin, acquired lands surrounding the Carmel mission in 1833, which he named Mission Ranch. Carmel then became part of the United States in 1848, when Mexico ceded California as a result of the Mexican-American War.

In 1902 Frank Devendorf filed the first subdivision map of the core village that became Carmel; that first village actually developed in 1904 and was incorporated in 1916. In 1910, the Carnegie Institution established the Coastal Laboratory, and a number of scientists moved to the area.

Arts & Culture

In 1905, in an effort to foster the arts, the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club was formed. After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake the village received an unexpected influx of artists and other creative types escaping the disaster area. Jack London describes the artists' colony in a portion of his novel, The Valley of the Moon; among the noted artists who thrived here were Mary Austin, Armin Hansen, George Sterling, Robinson Jeffers, Sinclair Lewis, Sydney Yard, Ferdinand Burgdorff, William Ritschel, William Keith and Percy Gray.

In 1906-07 the town's first cultural center and theatre, the Carmel Arts and Crafts Clubhouse, was built. Poets Austin and Sterling performed their works there. A theatre program was initiated and numerous plays and recitals were given. By 1913, The Arts and Crafts Club had began organizing lessons for aspiring painters, actors & craftsmen. Some of the most prominent painters in the United States, such as William Merritt Chase, Mary DeNeale Morgan and C. Chapel Judson offered six weeks of instruction for $15. The site continues today as the historic Golden Bough Playhouse, with the current facility built in 1951. It is owned and operated by Carmel's only professional theatre, Pacific Repertory Theatre, founded in 1983 by Carmel resident, Stephen Moorer.

In 1910, the Forest Theater, the first outdoor theater west of the rockies, was built, with poet Mary Austin and actor/director Herbert Heron leading the endeavor. Numerous groups presented plays and pageants. Original works and the plays of Shakespeare were the prime focus. The property was deeded to the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea in order to qualify for federal funding and, in 1939, the site became a WPA project. After several years, the site re-opened as The Carmel Shakespeare Festival, with Herbert Heron as its Director, and, with the exception of the WWII years of 1943-44, the festival continued thru the 1940's. In 1949 the Forest Theatre Guild was incorporated, and, under the leadership of Cole Weston, the 60-seat indoor Forest Theater was created. For most of the 1960's, the outdoor theater lay unused and neglected. In 1968, Marcia Hovick's Children's Experimental Theater leased the indoor theater and continues today. In 1972 the Forest Theater Guild was reactivated and continues to produce musicals, adding a film series in 1997. In 1984, Pacific Repertory Theatre began producing, reactivating Herbert Heron's Carmel Shakespeare Festival in 1990. In 1997, PacRep presented the theater's highest-attended production, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, to an audience of over 10,000 ticket holders. 

Carmel figured in a 1926 scandal involving radio evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, who vanished for a period of time, claiming to have been abducted. Several witnesses reported having seen her in Carmel together with broadcasting colleague Kenneth Ormiston during the time she was missing, and a grocery receipt signed by McPherson was discovered in a Carmel cottage.


Gray Gables at Lincoln and Seventh was the birthplace of the Carmel Art Association, founded by artists Josephine Culbertson and Ida Johnson.  This small group nurtured art until 1927, when a breakthrough meeting took place, and the group committed to building an exhibition gallery to display their works.  Their first show with 41 artists took place in October of the same year in the Seven Arts building of Herbert Heron.  The permanent gallery was completed in 1933 at its present location on Dolores Street.  In the early 1930s the tiny group claimed four members who had attained the status of membership in the National Academy of Design.



Demographics

As of the census[Geographic references#2GR2] of 2000, there are 4,081 people, 2,285 households, and 1,108 families residing in the city.  The population density is 1,445.6/km² (3,753.3/mi²).  There are 3,334 housing units at an average density of 1,181.0/km² (3,066.3/mi²).  The racial makeup of the city is 94.58% White, 0.44% Black or African American, 0.32% Native American, 2.25% Asian, 0.15% Pacific Islander, 0.91% from other races, and 1.35% from two or more races.  2.94% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.



Location of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
There are 2,285 households out of which 11.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.4% are married couples living together, 5.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 51.5% are non-families. 44.1% of households are made up of individuals and 20.1% a single person  who is 65 years of age or older.  Average household size is 1.79 and the average family size is 2.39.


The age distribution is as follows: 9.9% under the age of 18, 2.9% from 18 to 24, 18.3% from 25 to 44, 38.1% from 45 to 64, and 30.8% who are 65 years of age or older, with a median age of 54.  For every 100 females there are 77.1 males.  For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 75.9 males.


The median income for a household in the city is $58,163, and the median income for a family is $81,259. Males have a median income of $52,344 versus $41,150 for females. The per capita income for the city is $48,739.  6.6% of the population and 3.6% of families are below the poverty line.  Of the total population, 5.6% of those under age of 18 and 4.5% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.



Planning and Environmental factors




Typical fairytale cottage-style Carmel architecture

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Typical fairytale cottage-style Carmel architecture







It is not an accident that Carmel has achieved fame for its natural features, ambience and an abundance of cultural and shopping venues.  The town has historically pursued a vigorous strategy of planned development to retain its character of "village in a forest" and enhance its natural coastal beauty, a moniker the early town fathers applied.  Carmel was incorporated in the year 1916 and as early as 1925 the town adopted a clear vision of its future as "primarily, essentially and predominantly a residential community" (Carmel City Council, 1929).


Planning has consistently recognized the importance of preserving the character of these major sociocultural and public facilities: 










Carmel-by-the-Sea is situated in a moderate to seismic risk zone, the principal threats being the San Andreas Fault, which is approximately ten miles northwest as it traverses Monterey Bay, and the Palo Colorado Fault which traces offshore through the Pacific Ocean several miles away.  More minor potentially active faults nearby are the Church Creek Fault and the San Francisquito Fault (Spangle, 1975).



Famous residents



Bibliography



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