Fort Romie, commonly known simply as Romie, is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Monterey County Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 439,035. The county's largest city and county seat is Salinas. Montere ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It is located in the

Salinas Valley The Salinas Valley is one of the major valleys and most productive Agriculture, agricultural regions in California. It is located west of the San Joaquin Valley and south of San Francisco Bay and the Santa Clara Valley. The Salinas River (Califo ...

, at an elevation of 187 feet (57 m).

History

It was one of three Salvation Army Colonies established in America. The name honors Charles Romie, a landowner who sold the land, originally part of

Rancho Ex-Mission Soledad Rancho Ex-Mission Soledad was a Mexican land grant in the Salinas Valley, in present-day Monterey County, California. It was given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to Feliciano Soberanes. The grant derives its name from the secularized Mission Nues ...

, to the

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

. The Salvation Army goal was to take poor families from the cities and bring them back to nature so that their lives would be improved. The Salvation Army sought people who had some knowledge of farming. Each family had 10 acres. A family with two children had a two-room house, those with three or more children had a four-room house. Everything was furnished to the settlers without charge: seed, sheds, tools equipment were provided by the Salvation Army for all to use. In return they contracted to make yearly payments of $100 for 10 years, after which they would own the land. A post office operated at Romie from 1898 to 1900. The name honors Charles Romie, a landowner who sold the land to the

to establish an agricultural community at the site in 1898.

References

Unincorporated communities in Monterey County, California Salinas Valley Unincorporated communities in California {{MontereyCountyCA-geo-stub