Christmas View of Princeton Harbor and Pillar Point - 2014

Princeton-by-the-Sea (sometimes, especially locally, called Princeton) 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 ...

on the

coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

San Mateo County, California San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City, California, Redwood City is th ...

. The ZIP code is 94019 and the community is in

area code 650 Area code 650 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It was split from area code 415 on August 2, 1997, and includes most of San Mateo County (except ...

Profile

This area was inhabited by

Ohlone The Ohlone ( ), formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the l ...

tribes in pre-Columbian times. According to mission records, the Chiguan Ohlones, who numbered about 50, called the place Ssatumnumo, and had a second village, Chagunte, near Half Moon Bay.Historic Resource Study for Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Mateo County
p. 26 Because of the special microhabitat of the adjacent

Pillar Point Harbor Pillar Point Harbor is a boat harbor created by a riprap breakwater in San Mateo County, California, immediately north of Half Moon Bay. It is used by both pleasure craft and small commercial fishing boats. The Ohlone people inhabited the regi ...

, there are numerous

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the sur ...

birds that visit the local area. The area has a boating cachet for

harbor A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

activities and has been a tourist destination since the early 1900s with the establishment of the Princeton Inn Hotel. As of 2000, the population of the community is 297. Besides the harbor, with its piers and docks, Princeton has a number of shops, restaurants, and accommodations. The community is near State Route 1, the

Cabrillo Highway Cabrillo may refer to: People * Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, the first European to explore California. Places, buildings and structures * Cabrillo Beach, a section of San Pedro, California near Point Fermin * Cabrillo Bridge, San Diego, California ...

, just north of

Half Moon Bay Half Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County, California, San Mateo County, California, United States, approximately south of San Francisco. Its population was 11,795 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Immediately north of Half Mo ...

and south of Moss Beach. The

Half Moon Bay Airport Eddie Andreini Sr. Airfield, officially Half Moon Bay Airport , is a public airport in San Mateo County, northwest of Half Moon Bay, California, United States. The airport is on the Pacific Coast, south of San Francisco. History The Half Moo ...

is just north of the community. The annual surfing competition

Mavericks Maverick or Maveric may refer to: History * Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick Aviation * AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design * General Aviation Design Bureau T-32 Ma ...

actually takes place in Princeton, although it is usually attributed to neighboring Half Moon Bay. Addresses within Princeton-by-the-Sea are often listed as Half Moon Bay addresses.

Geography

This community is located on level ground at an elevation of five feet (1.5 m) above mean sea datum (U.S. Geological Survey, 1980). The soil in the Princeton-by-the-Sea vicinity has good drainage, since the surface consists of marine deposits with underlying water bearing

sediment Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently sediment transport, transported by the action of ...

s of unconsolidated

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

and

gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...

deposits (Earth Metrics, 1989). Until 1973 extensive

row crop A row crop is a crop that can be planted in rows wide enough to allow it to be tilled or otherwise cultivated by agricultural machinery, machinery tailored for the seasonal activities of row crops. Such crops are sown by drilling or transplanti ...

farming was conducted immediately at the northern edge of Princeton.

References

U.S. Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on March ...

, ''Montara Mountain, California, 7.5 Minute Quadrangle'', 1956, photorevised 1980. * Earth Metrics Inc, ''Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment, Shorebird Restaurant, 390 Capistrano Road, Princeton-by-the-Sea'', Report # 10310, Nov. 10, 1989 {{authority control Unincorporated communities in San Mateo County, California Half Moon Bay, California Former Native American populated places in California Unincorporated communities in California CCT San Mateo Section 4