Template:Wp-Pacific Grove, California-History

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Pacific Grove was founded in 1875, when David Jacks sold the land to the Pacific Improvement Company, which donated acreage towards the first West Coast Chautauqua retreat formed by a group of Methodists who modeled the town after Ocean Grove, New Jersey.^[1] In time, the butterflies, fragrant pines, and fresh sea air brought others to the Pacific Grove Retreat to rest and meditate. The initial camp meeting of the Pacific Coast branch of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle was held at the Chautauqua Hall in Pacific Grove in June 1879. Modeled after the Methodist Sunday school teachers' training camp established in 1874 at Chautauqua Lake, New York, this location became part of a nationwide educational network.^[2]

In November 1879, after the summer campers returned home, Robert Louis Stevenson wandered into the deserted campgrounds: "I have never been in any place so dreamlike. Indeed, it was not so much like a deserted town as like a scene upon the stage by daylight, and with no one on the boards."

The Pacific Grove post office opened in 1886, closed later that year, and was reopened in 1887.^[1] Pacific Grove incorporated in 1889.^[1]

The El Carmelo Hotel was Pacific Grove's first hotel, which opened to guests on May 20, 1887. It was sometimes called the sister of the Hotel Del Monte. It was located on Lighthouse Avenue between Fountain and Grand Avenues, Pacific Grove and owned by the Pacific Improvement Company (PIC). In 1907, the name of the hotel changed to the Pacific Grove Hotel. In 1917, the PIC decided to dismantle it and use the wood in the reconstruction of The Lodge at Pebble Beach, California that had burned down on December 17, 1917. The empty block was sold to W. R. Holman in 1919 to open the Holman Department Store.

Thomas Albert Work built several of the buildings in Pacific Grove including the three-story Del Mar hotel in 1895, at the corner of Sixteenth, and in 1904, he built a commercial block along Lighthouse Avenue, to house local businesses, including the two-story Romanesque style Bank of Pacific Grove in 1904.

Pacific Grove, like Carmel-by-the-Sea and Monterey, became an artists' haven in the 1890s and subsequent period. Artists of the En plein air school in both Europe and the United States were seeking an outdoor venue with natural beauty, so that Pacific Grove was a magnet for this movement. William Adam was an English painter who first moved to Monterey and then decided on Pacific Grove for his home in 1906. At about the same time, Eugen Neuhaus, a German painter, arrived in Pacific Grove with his new bride. Charles B. Judson was an artist of aristocratic lineage who painted in Pacific Grove over a long time beginning in 1907; Judson's murals decorate the halls of the California Academy of Sciences.

The Asilomar Conference Grounds are located at the western edge of Pacific Grove. Asilomar opened in 1913 as a YWCA summer retreat; it now belongs to the California State Park System. Thirteen buildings on these grounds were designed by architect Julia Morgan, who also designed Hearst Castle.

For a number of years, John Steinbeck lived in a cottage in Pacific Grove owned by his father, Ernest, who was Monterey County treasurer. The cottage still stands on a quiet side street at 147 11th St., without any plaque or special sign, virtually overlooked by most Steinbeck fans. Another Steinbeck-related house is at 222 Central Ave, which was his grandmother's house. A golden statue of Steinbeck in the front yard stood for years before it was removed. In Steinbeck's book Sweet Thursday, a chapter is dedicated to describing a (probably fictional) rivalry that arose among the town's residents over the game of roque.

Local traditions include a Butterfly Parade held in early October to celebrate the return of the monarch butterfly to its wintering habitat. Mid-April, a Good Old Days festival is held downtown, which includes rides, crafts booths, food, entertainment, and a parade.On the last Saturday of July there is a pet parade held.

Historically a form of Illumination Night originally held at Wesleyan Grove, Massachusettts, was held at the closing of Pacific Grove's Chautauqua summer lecture series. This later turned into a popular Obon style event with a bonfire and music and boat parade at Lover's Point beach and called Feast of Lanterns. This event was continuously held in different iterations with the exception of the two world wars unti 2020. The historical roots of Illumination Night are unknown but thought to have been popularized by Aestheticism a popular movement at the time.

Hopkins Marine Station maintains a campus next to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was founded in 1892, making it the oldest marine laboratory on the US Pacific Coast, and the second-oldest in the US, after the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. It was originally named the Hopkins Seaside Laboratory, and is located on what is now Lover's Point.

In the 1980s, Pacific Grove was the site of the pioneering microcomputer software company Digital Research. Originally located in Gary Kildall's house on the corner of Lighthouse and Willow it later moved to offices on Central Ave.

On October 12, 1997, John Denver died when he crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Pacific Grove in his personal plane.

Pacific Grove was the last dry town in California. Due to its religious and gated history alcohol was not served to the public until July 4, 1969, at the grand opening of the Pacific Grove Art Center by ElMarie Dyke, its founder. This caused much controversy because the law was not to take effect until November of that year. Ironically, ElMarie was also a great proponent for keeping the town dry. To this day, Pacific Grove has very strict laws regarding the service of alcohol and has no stand-alone bars. At the November 6, 2018 general municipal election Pacific Grove voters approved Measure M, which prohibits short-term vacation rentals in residential districts outside the Coastal Zone.