Natividad ( Spanish for "Nativity") is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

in Monterey County,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It is located northeast of Salinas, at an elevation of 164 feet (50 m). Natividad was named for the Rancho La Natividad Mexican land grant which included the community. It was the site of a significant battle of the

Mexican-American War Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

in 1846. A post office operated at Natividad from 1855 to 1908. Natividad was a bustling station for stage coaches in the 1850s until traffic was re-routed through Salinas. The town declined after the completion of the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...

through Salinas in 1872, and its last remaining building, a saloon, was demolished in 1964. The Battle of Natividad of the

was fought just north of the townsite. A historical marker commemorates the battleground.

References

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