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BHistory
History · Del Monte Forest

1 of Del Monte Forest’s places is on the National Register

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #100 of 847 in California. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Olvida Penas. Most of Del Monte Forest was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1913 on, and the census since 1990.

1on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Del Monte Forest’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Del Monte Forest’s history

How historic is Del Monte Forest?

B

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Del Monte Forest’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Del Monte Forest is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #100 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Del Monte Forest’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19406.0% of homes (±3.0) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 3 historic buildings, 8.3 per 10,000 residents · typical CA town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 60%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 88%

Few California towns list much on the Register (a typical California town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Del Monte Forest’s 8.3 sits above most of its state (91% of California towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.0 points).

Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Del Monte Forest’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 19135 editions of the USGS map, 1913 to 1997. Watch Del Monte Forest change.
★ What stands out · On the map

Del Monte Forest on the map, 1913 to 1997

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Del Monte Forest. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Del Monte Forest on the 1913 USGS mapDel Monte Forest on the 1947 USGS mapDel Monte Forest on the 1968 USGS mapDel Monte Forest on the 1983 USGS mapDel Monte Forest on the 1997 USGS map1913Monterey sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Del Monte Forest.

The story

How Del Monte Forest came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Del Monte Forest.

Read it all →

The Del Monte Forest was originally part of the resort complex of the Hotel Del Monte in Monterey. The resort hotel was built by Charles Crocker, one of California's Big Four railroad barons, through Southern Pacific Railroad's property division, the Pacific Improvement Company (PIC). The hotel first opened on June 10, 1880. Samuel Finley Brown Morse formed the Del Monte Properties Company on February 27, 1919, and acquired the extensive holdings of the PIC, which included the Del Monte Forest, the Del Monte Lodge (since renamed the Lodge at Pebble Beach) and the Hotel Del Monte. The actual hotel building and surrounding grounds were acquired by the United States Navy after World War II to be the Navy's new location of the Naval Postgraduate School.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Del Monte Forest, 1900 to 1913

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900In the archiveLagoon, Hotel Del Monte, Del Monte, California
  3. 1909Post officeThe Pebble Beach post office opens
  4. 1913On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Del Monte Forest, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s6 items
Lagoon, Hotel Del Monte, Del Monte, California1900Lagoon, Hotel Del Monte, Del Monte, CaliforniaThe Roman Plunge, Hotel Del Monte, Del Monte, California1900The Roman Plunge, Hotel Del Monte, Del Monte, Califor…Cypress Tree, 17 Mile Drive, Hotel Del Monte, Del Monte, California1900Cypress Tree, 17 Mile Drive, Hotel Del Monte, Del Mon…Midway Point, 17 Mile Drive, Del Monte, California1900Midway Point, 17 Mile Drive, Del Monte, CaliforniaHotel Del Monte, Del Monte, Calif1906Hotel Del Monte, Del Monte, CalifArizona garden, Hotel Del Monte, Del Monte, Cal1906Arizona garden, Hotel Del Monte, Del Monte, Cal
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today12 recent
Cupressus goveniana, Del Monte Forest, Monterey 062022Cupressus goveniana, Del Monte Forest, Monterey 06Cupressus goveniana, Del Monte Forest, Monterey 052021Cupressus goveniana, Del Monte Forest, Monterey 05Cupressus goveniana, Del Monte Forest, Monterey 042021Cupressus goveniana, Del Monte Forest, Monterey 04Cupressus goveniana, Del Monte Forest, Monterey 032021Cupressus goveniana, Del Monte Forest, Monterey 03Cupressus goveniana, Del Monte Forest, Monterey 022021Cupressus goveniana, Del Monte Forest, Monterey 02Cupressus goveniana, Del Monte Forest, Monterey 012019Cupressus goveniana, Del Monte Forest, Monterey 01Del Monte Forest, CA, USA - panoramio (4)2015Del Monte Forest, CA, USA - panoramio (4)Del Monte Forest, United States (Unsplash)2014Del Monte Forest, United States (Unsplash)Del Monte Forest, CA, USA2014Del Monte Forest, CA, USADel Monte Forest, CA, USA - panoramio (3)2014Del Monte Forest, CA, USA - panoramio (3)Del Monte Forest, CA, USA - panoramio (2)2014Del Monte Forest, CA, USA - panoramio (2)Del Monte Forest, CA, USA - panoramio (1)2014Del Monte Forest, CA, USA - panoramio (1)
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Lagoon, Hotel Del Monte, Del Monte, California
Retake this viewLagoon, Hotel Del Monte, Del Monte, California, 1900

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Del Monte Forest’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Del Monte Forest

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Olvida Penas
Olvida Penas
Buildings
All 1 listings
Olvida PenasBuilding · listed 1978

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Del Monte Forest, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,50020002020Peak: 5,069

Between 4,204 and 5,069 people in every census since 1990.

4 censuses, 1990–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Del Monte Forest’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Del Monte Forest

Nobody well known was born in Del Monte Forest itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
John SteinbeckAmerican writer · b. 1902
Vanessa HudgensAmerican actress and singer · b. 1988
Leon PanettaAmerican politician, Secretary of Defense 2011–… · b. 1938
Jesse MetcalfeAmerican actor · b. 1978
Jeremy SumpterAmerican actor · b. 1989
Sacheen LittlefeatherAmerican activist · b. 1946
Places that used to be

Old corners

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Pebble Beach

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Del Monte Forest’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLagoon, Hotel Del Monte, Del Monte, Cal…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Pacific Grove7 historic placesA−Monterey12 historic placesACarmel-by-the-Sea4 historic placesB+

Questions about Del Monte Forest’s history

How does Del Monte Forest rank for history?

Del Monte Forest is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #100 of 847 in California. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Del Monte Forest?

One place: the Olvida Penas (listed 1978).

How old are the homes in Del Monte Forest?

6% of Del Monte Forest’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1970.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the Library of Congress (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.