Carmelito was a planned settlement, initially called Point Lobos City, on Point Lobos in

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 was located just north of Carmel Highlands and about south of

Carmel Carmel may refer to: * Carmel (biblical settlement), an ancient Israelite town in Judea * Mount Carmel, a coastal mountain range in Israel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea * Carmelites, a Roman Catholic mendicant religious order Carmel may also ...

Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered ...

. Located on the former

Rancho San Jose y Sur Chiquito Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad *Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California **List of California Ranchos *Ranchos, Buenos Ai ...

, the Carmelo Land and Coal Company planned the subdivision in 1890 when their coal mine on nearby Malpaso Creek proved to be unprofitable. They subdivided the land into 1,000 parcels and began selling lots for $25 to $50.Aubrey Drury, 1954,
Point Lobos Reserve, California State Park
', Department of Natural Resources, Sacramento pages=78-85 The lack of a bridge across the Carmel River and two national economic recessions during the 1890s combined to severely restrict sales. Only a few small cabins were built.

History

Alexander M. Allan, a successful race track architect and real estate developer from Illinois, purchased of Point Lobos from the Carmelo Land and Coal Company in 1898. Allan and his wife Satie appreciated the natural beauty of the point and were concerned about the growing number of visitors who wanted to see the rare Monterey Cypress trees and scenic coastline. They put up toll gates, prohibited camping, and charged visitors 50 cents a vehicle (about $10 today) to enter the point. Allan bought the lots that had been subdivided and later got the subdivisions removed from the county record. Eunice Riley, Alexander's daughter, repurchased the last subdivided lots in the 1950s.

Conversion to reserve

By the mid-1920s, the Save the Redwoods League was actively involved in an effort to preserve the Monterey Cypress. They hired the internationally known landscape architect,

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...

, to research Point Lobos and report on the areas most noteworthy of preservation. Olmsted's report described Point Lobos as "the most outstanding example on the coast of California of picturesque rock and surf scenery in combination with unique vegetation, including typical Monterey Cypress." In 1933, three years after Alexander Allan's death, the State of California bought from the Allan family for $631,000 and established the Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. The Allan family donated to the state an additional of cypress-covered headlands at the western tip of the point as a memorial grove to Alexander and Satie Allan.

References

{{Monterey County, California Former settlements in Monterey County, California Big Sur Ranchos of Monterey County, California