Jolon (;

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: ''Jolón'';

Salinan The Salinan are a Native American tribe whose ancestral territory is in the southern Salinas Valley and the Santa Lucia Range in the Central Coast of California. Today, the Salinan governments are now working toward federal tribal recognition f ...

: ''Xolon'') is small

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

village in southern

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 state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Jolon is located in the

San Antonio River The San Antonio River is a major waterway that originates in central Texas in a cluster of springs in midtown San Antonio, about 4 miles north of downtown, and follows a roughly southeastern path through the state. It eventually feeds into the ...

Valley, west of

Salinas Valley The Salinas Valley is one of the major valleys and most productive 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, which geologically ...

. The origins of Jolon date to 1771, when the Spanish established

Mission San Antonio de Padua Mission San Antonio de Padua is a Spanish mission established by the Franciscan order in present-day Monterey County, California, near the present-day town of Jolon. Founded on July 14, 1771, it was the third mission founded in Alta Californi ...

, under the command of

Saint Junípero Serra In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...

. The town was officially founded by

Californios Californio (plural Californios) is a term used to designate a Hispanic Californian, especially those descended from Spanish and Mexican settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries. California's Spanish-speaking community has resided there sinc ...

in 1849, when Antonio Ramírez built an inn as a stop on El Camino Real. Today, most of Jolon is occupied by

Fort Hunter Liggett Fort Hunter Liggett is a United States Army fort in Jolon, California, in southern Monterey County, California. The fort, named in 1941 after General Hunter Liggett, is primarily used as a training facility, where activities such as field maneuve ...

, an army installation.

History

Mission_San_Antonio_de_Padua_as_drawn_by_Edward_Vischer,_June_26,_1873

Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the area was inhabited by the

nation of Indigenous Californians.

Spanish period

The famed

Portolá expedition thumbnail, 250px, Point of San Francisco Bay Discovery The Portolá expedition ( es, Expedición de Portolá) was a Spanish voyage of exploration in 1769–1770 that was the first recorded European land entry and exploration of the interior of ...

, led by

Gaspar de Portolá Gaspar de Portolá y Rovira (January 1, 1716 – October 10, 1786) was a Spanish military officer, best known for leading the Portolá expedition into California and for serving as the first Governor of the Californias. His expedition laid the ...

, camped on the San Antonio River near modern-day Jolon on September 24, 1769, having crossed the

Santa Lucia Range The Santa Lucia Mountains (sæntə luˈsiːə) or Santa Lucia Range is a rugged mountain range in coastal central California, running from Carmel southeast for to the Cuyama River in San Luis Obispo County. The range is never more than from ...

from the coast. The party continued north through Jolon Valley.

was established two years later in 1771, under the direction of

Junípero Serra Junípero Serra y Ferrer (; ; ca, Juníper Serra i Ferrer; November 24, 1713August 28, 1784) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Order. He is credited with establishing the Franciscan Missions in the Sierr ...

, head of the mission system in California. Dutton Hotel in Jolon (cropped)

Mexican period

The Mexican secularization act of 1833 was devastating to Mission San Antonio de Padua, reducing its population from 1,300 in 1805 to under 150 in 1834."San Antonio de Padua", California Missions Resource Center
/ref> Following the mass exodus of

Mission Indians Mission Indians are the indigenous peoples of California who lived in Southern California and were forcibly relocated from their traditional dwellings, villages, and homelands to live and work at 15 Franciscan missions in Southern California and ...

from the mission, the small community was practically deserted, making Mission San Antonio de Padua the only mission not to grow into a town during the Spanish or Mexican periods. In 1845, Governor Pío Pico declared all mission buildings in Alta California for sale, but no one bid for Mission San Antonio.

American period

The town was founded by Antonio Ramírez, who built an inn at the place in 1850. The Jolon post office was founded in 1872. The inn later became a major Stagecoach Station on the route for travelers between

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. The hotel changed owners several times before 1876, when H.C. Dodge sold it to Lt.

George Hough Dutton George Hough Dutton (August 20, 1825 – June 28, 1905) was an American merchant and pioneer who came out west during the time of the California gold rush. He was a veteran of the American Civil War who served as a lieutenant in the Un ...

(1825–1905) for $1,000 and 100 acres. Dutton added a second adobe story, wood-frame structures at either end, called the

Dutton Hotel Dutton may refer to: Places ;In Canada *Dutton/Dunwich, Ontario, town and municipality in Canada *Dutton, Ontario ;In the United Kingdom *Dutton, Cheshire, village in England *Dutton, Lancashire, village in England ;In the United States *Dutt ...

, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on October 14, 1971. In 1890, Captain

Thomas Theodore Tidball Thomas Theodore Tidball (October 2, 1827 – January 28, 1913) was an American American pioneer, pioneer who came out west during the time of the California gold rush. He was a veteran of the American Civil War who served as a captain i ...

, a friend of Dutton, established the

Tidball Store Tidball Store or Jolon General Store is located off Jolon Road in Jolon, California, United States, 1/4 mile south of the Dutton Hotel, Stagecoach Station. The store was constructed by pioneer, Thomas Theodore Tidball, from the remains of an old ...

, also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In the early 1920s

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

bought up thousands of acres in the rolling foothills of the Santa Lucia mountains east of Hearst Castle near San Simeon on California's Central Coast. He sent his architect, Julia Morgan, to the eastern side of the range, near Mission San Antonio, to design and oversee the building of a hacienda-style headquarters for the expansion of his ranching operation. The building was called the Hacienda Milpitas Ranchhouse, or simply the Hacienda. Hearst sold his rancho to the U.S. Army in 1940. In preparation for World War II, the army established

as an important training center for the West Coast, still in operation today.

Geography

Jolon is located in the

Valley of southern

, inland on the

Central Coast of California The Central Coast is an area of California, roughly spanning the coastal region between Point Mugu and Monterey Bay. It lies northwest of Los Angeles County and south of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, and includes the rugged, undevelope ...

Climate

This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 74.4 °F. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Jolon has a

warm-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.Climate Summary for Jolon, California
/ref>

Popular culture

Jolon is mentioned in the chorus of the song "South Coast

as a place where, back in its frontier days, one could gamble. Jolon is also the setting for John Steinbeck's novel '' To a God Unknown''. The town is not mentioned in the book but is the basis for the fictional town in the book.

References

External links

* {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Monterey County, California Populated places established in 1850 1850 establishments in California Santa Lucia Range Unincorporated communities in California