Lower Presidio Historic Park Walks Resume - June 16, 2018
Old Monterey Foundation’s Monthly “Lower Presidio Historic Park Walking Tours” Resume on Saturday, June 16, 2018 and will focus on American/California Period Beginning in 1846
June 2018, Monterey, CA. With the weather warming up now, Old Monterey Foundation has resumed the monthly Lower Presidio Historic Park Walking tours continues to team up with noted Monterey Bay historian and author, Tim Thomas, who offers outstanding “Lower Presidio Historic Park Walking Tours” on the third Saturday of every month from 10:00 AM - Noon. Old Monterey Foundation recently installed a monument sign on Pacific Street to make it even easier to find the park.
The next walking tour will be held on Saturday, June 16, 2018: “Lower Presidio Historic Park Walking Tour: Focus on American/California period beginning in 1846. The American/California period began in 1846, including the enactment of the first California Constitution in 1849 through the period that includes when Fort Mervine was a coastal defense and cavalry post.
Tours meet in front of the City of Monterey’s Presidio of Monterey Museum, 113 Corporal Ewing, Building #113. From Monterey, take Pacific Street past the Monterey Conference Center and the First Theater to the end of Pacific where it forks, take the left fork;, turn left onto Artillery Road, turn right on Corporal Ewing Road and follow it a short way to the Presidio of Monterey Museum in the center of the Park against the hill; from Pacific Grove, take Lighthouse Avenue in New Monterey, bear right to go onto Pacific Street and then go to Artillery Road, turn right, and then turn right on Corporal Ewing Road and follow it to the Presidio of Monterey Museum.(Map/Directions: http://www.monterey.org/museu
Advance reservations are required by calling Tim Thomas at (831) 521-3304 or via email [email protected]. The tour is for ages 10-adult only and the cost is $20 for adults and kids are $15 (10-15 years). Group rates are also available.
About Tim Thomas
Tim Thomas, fourth-generation native of the Monterey area, is a popular speaker and lively tour guide. For 16 years, he was historian and curator for the Monterey Maritime & History Museum and has worked with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, California State Parks and the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. He is author of "The Abalone King of Monterey: 'Pop' Ernest Doelter," "The Japanese on the Monterey Peninsula" and co-author of "Monterey's Waterfront." Tim also conducts monthly “Wharf Walks” on Monterey’s Old Fisherman’s Wharf and offers Cannery Row walking tours, as well.
About Old Monterey Foundation
The Old Monterey Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was formed on February 14, 2011, with the specific mission and purpose of promoting, supporting and enhancing the artistic, cultural and historic environment of historic Downtown Monterey, California. The group is well known for their work with the Art-in-the-Adobes event that was held from 2011-2013 as well as other fundraisers, lectures and events. Its private/public partnership with the City of Monterey heralds a new way of doing public business in a State strapped to find funds for park operations and expansions.
The Lower Presidio Historic Park, described as “The Most Historically Significant Site on the West Coast” and “One of the Most Beautiful Places in Monterey”, is becoming a true historic public park to be enjoyed by locals and visitors. Old Monterey Foundation, in cooperation with the City of Monterey, has raised initial funds to complete Phase One of the project to enhance and restore this historic 25.3-acre site. In 2017, it installed eight new interpretive signs, a white wooden perimeter fence, and two new ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible pathways of the Harbor Trail which extends to the Serra Monument and the Vista Trail that goes up the hill to the Sloat Monument. Old Monterey Foundation is continuing to seek public donations to help complete Phase One of the project, which will improve amenities around the Park with picnic tables, benches, directional signs, and a sidewalk connecting the two trails. Plans for other improvements, including rebuilding the stables and incorporation of the adjacent Viscaino Park are in the works.
Many local organizations have played a role in the development of this project including Old Monterey Foundation, the Neighborhood Improvement Program, City of Monterey, Rotary Club of Monterey, Community Foundation for Monterey County, Monterey Peninsula Foundation, Presidio of Monterey and Granite Construction. The project is funded by the City of Monterey’s Neighborhood Improvement Program.
The Lower Presidio Historic Park is one of the least-visited historic parks in the area due to some confusion about whether the public is allowed in the area. Situated in a “hidden in plain sight” location, the Park can be found above Pacific Street at the Lighthouse Curve in Downtown Monterey. The park features spectacular views of the Monterey Bay and Harbor and will become a jewel of the City of Monterey’s park system.
Old Monterey Foundation invites everyone to become members of "Friends of the Lower Presidio" at www.oldmontereyfoundation.org and make tax-deductible donations to more quickly restore the park.
The City of Monterey Outreach Office produced another informative short video about the Lower Presidio Historic Park and its significance to California and American history: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=