Celebrating Monterey County’s 175th, and how it played a role in the state’s founding.

Katie Rodriguez here, reflecting on one year since moving here and how interesting and rewarding it has been to learn about Monterey County.

I’ve gotten to know the history of this place and the people who have lived here in so many ways: through meeting all of you, reporting on stories, digging into research, and learning from my colleagues who have covered—and know—many parts of this county’s history like the back of their hand.

But last week, while watching the Monterey County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 26, I got another informative dose of history. The meeting began with a presentation celebrating the 175th anniversary of California statehood and the role that Monterey played in the founding of the Golden State. 

Brian Edwards, the Library & Museums Director for the City of Monterey, gave the presentation, flipping through slides that featured artwork depicting Monterey’s famed streets and buildings, some artwork dating back to the 1700s.

Sept. 9, 1850, is the day that California was officially admitted into the Union as the 31st state. Edwards went on to explain that the original state constitution was written in Spanish and English, influenced by the Californios—Spanish speaking residents of Mexican descent who lived in the region before it became a state.

Of course, long before the influx of the Spanish and Mexican settlers, Monterey County was the homeland of the Rumsen and Esselen Ohlone, Amah Mutsun and Salinan peoples, who stewarded the land and are a vital part of the fabric of our state today. 

Much of this I had heard before in fragments, but I was surprised at several parts of the presentation—particularly the debates during the California Constitutional Convention of 1849 in Monterey, which took place during a time of deep national division. One issue was the right to vote. At the time, there was a motion to extend voting rights to Native Americans in recognizing them as part of California’s population. The motion was narrowly rejected, with 22 votes against and 21 in favor. Voting rights, matching the national benchmark, were limited to white male citizens of the U.S. (and white male citizens from Mexico).

I was also surprised to learn that property rights were extended to women. California was one of the first states to recognize that married women could legally own property in their own names. Of course, this was only if they acquired it before marriage or through inheritance, but still, more progressive than I would have guessed for that time.

Forty-eight delegates from 10 counties (or regions, at that time) gathered at Colton Hall for the constitutional convention. They chose to be a free state (non-slave-owning), determined its borders and the constitution was written and sent to Washington D.C. Colton Hall, I also learned, was the location of the first public schoolhouse in the state.

For the first 30 years California was a bilingual state. In 1879, however, the state adopted anti-Chinese, anti-immigrant and anti-Mexican policies, and the Spanish translations were removed. And so the pendulum of history swings.

If you find yourself near the Government Center, at 168 West Alisal St. in Salinas, you can check out some of the visuals and copies of the original documents on display through the month of September and get a feel for the history. Also, check out the commemorative magazine celebrating Monterey County’s 175th anniversary. It is inserted in this week’s edition of the Weekly and available online.