Doud House

The First Theater also known as the First theater in California, is a historic adobe and wood building in Monterey, California, United States. It was built in 1846-1847 as a lodging house and tavern for sailors, by English seaman and pioneer Jack Swan. Swan's Saloon staged the inaugural theatrical presentations in California. On January 31, 1934, the building was officially designated a California Historical Landmark #136.

Monterey ( ; Spanish: Monterrey) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under both Spain (1804–1821) and Mexico (1822–1846). During this period, Monterey hosted California's first theater, public building, public library, publicly funded school, printing-press, and newspaper. It was originally the only port of entry for all taxable goods in California. In 1846, during the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848, the United States Flag was raised over the Customs House. After Mexico ceded California to the U.S. at the end of the war, Monterey hosted California's first constitutional convention in 1849. The city occupies a land area of 8.466 sq mi (21.93 km2) and the city hall is at 26 feet (8 m) above sea level. The 2020 census recorded a population of 30,218. Monterey and the surrounding area have attracted artists since the late 19th-century, and many celebrated painters and writers have lived in the area. Until the 1950s there was an abundant fishery. Monterey's present-day attractions include the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Cannery Row, Fisherman's Wharf, California Roots Music and Arts Festival, and the annual Monterey Jazz Festival.

The Old Custom House (Spanish: Antigua Aduana) is the oldest surviving government building in California, built in 1827 by Mexican authorities in Monterey, then the capital of Alta California. The former custom house is the first designated California Historical Landmark, marking the site where U.S. Commodore John Drake Sloat raised the American flag and declared California part of the United States in 1846 during the American Conquest of California.

The El Castillo de Monterey, also known as El Castillo, was a Spanish Fort founded in 1792 in what is now Monterey, California. The fort was constructed to protect the Monterey port and the Presidio of Monterey from invaders. The site was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 23, 1971.

The Josiah Merritt Adobe, located at 386 Pacific St. in Monterey, California and also known as Merritt House, is a historic house that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built in 1830 and is architecturally significant as perhaps the only example of Greek Revival temple form architecture applied to an adobe building in Mexican California. The Benicia State Capitol Building (California State Landmark #153) included the Greek temple format but is made of stone or masonry. The building was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1936.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. In 1979 the house was developed into a small hotel.

Fisherman's Wharf is a historic wharf in Monterey, California, United States. Used as an active wholesale fish market into the 1960s, the wharf eventually became a tourist attraction as commercial fishing tapered off in the area. Fisherman's Wharf is technically known as The Old Fisherman's Wharf, to distinguish it from the current commercial wharf (known as Municipal Wharf #2).

Achasta (also, Achiesta) is a former Ohlone settlement in Monterey County, California. It was located at the site of modern-day Monterey.

The Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS), formerly the Monterey Institute of International Studies, is a graduate institute of Middlebury College, a private college in Middlebury, Vermont. Established in 1955, the school provides instruction on a campus in Monterey, California. The institute offers master's programs and certificates in environmental policy, international policy, language teaching, and translation and interpretation. MIIS has two graduate professional schools, the Graduate School of Translation, Interpretation, and Language Education (GSTILE) and the Graduate School of International Policy and Management (GSIPM), and several related centers.

The Bruce Ariss Wharf Theater is a musical theater located in Monterey, California. It began its history after World War II when Bruce Ariss, an artist and friend of John Steinbeck, returned to the city of Monterey after working with his father's construction company.

The James W. Finch House, known also as the Finch-Fleischer House, is a historic house in Monterey, California that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Located at 410 Monroe Street in Monterey, it was built in 1870. The house is significant as one of few surviving examples of early American architecture in Monterey, as opposed to the Spanish/Mexican adobe style of other Monterey buildings of the same era. The house includes Classical Revival stylings with other, eclectic stylistic features.The house was built by rancher and stovemaker James William Finch and by Charles Finch for their mother, who lived in the house until 1881, after which James and his wife lived there and extended the house. James' daughter Alma and her husband Charles Fleischer lived there later. A notable later renter was artist Charles Rollo Peters.The house was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1964. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

The Battle of Monterey, at Monterey, California, occurred on 7 July 1846, during the Mexican–American War. The United States captured the town unopposed.

Monterey State Historic Park is a historic state park in Monterey, California. It includes part or all of the Monterey Old Town Historic District, a historic district that includes 17 contributing buildings and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970. The grounds include California's first theatre, and the Monterey Custom House, where the American flag was first raised over California. The park is a group of restored historic buildings: the Custom House, the Larkin House, California's First Brick House, Colton Hall (City Hall of Monterey), Old Whaling Company, the Stevenson House, the First Theater, the Pacific House Museum, the Interpretive House, Casa del Oro, and Casa Soberanes. These houses display the cultural diversity that guided California's transition from a remote Spanish outpost in Las Californias province, to an agricultural Mexican Alta California territory, to U.S. statehood. These influential adobe houses made up California's earliest capital and were the site of the state's first constitutional convention. Today the historic buildings retain their rich heritage, preserving an important part of Californian as well as Spanish, Mexican, and American history. Added to the adobe houses is the park's Interpretive Center and the Pacific House Museum. The park provides tours of the historic houses and museums for the general public. The 'Secret Gardens of Old Monterey' are part of the open-air museum for visitors. The Monterey State Historic Park Association (MSHPA) is the non-profit association that works to support the park.