Hotel Del Monte

The Hotel Del Monte was a large resort hotel in Monterey, California, from its opening in 1880 until 1942. It was one of the finest luxury hotels in North America. During World War II, it closed and the building was leased to the United States Navy. Later the Hotel Del Monte became the Naval Postgraduate School.

 History 
Charles Crocker, one of California's Big Four railroad leader in California, started the resort with the help of his company, the Pacific Improvement Company. The first hotel opened on June 3, 1880. Nearby, along Monterey Bay, there was a train station called Del Monte station, named after the hotel, where people arriving by train could get off and visit.

On February 28, 1919 Samuel Finley Brown Morse started a new company called Del Monte Properties Company. He acquired the land and buildings from the Pacific Improvement Company, which included the Del Monte Forest, the Del Monte Lodge, and the Hotel Del Monte.

There have been three buildings on this site. The first one was designed by architect Arthur Brown Sr., who used to work for the Southern Pacific Railroad. It was destroyed by fire on June 1, 1887 and was replaced. On September 27, 1924, the second hotel, also called Hotel Del Monte, was destroyed by fire. The area surrounding the hotel became known as Pebble Beach, California, now a world-renowned resort and golf course. The current building was built in 1926 and was designed by architects Lewis P. Hobart and Clarence A. Tantau. 

At the start of World War II, the U.S. Navy took over the Hotel Del Monte and turned it into a training school. In 1947, the Navy bought the hotel and the  of land around it for $2.5 million (). In 1951, the United States Naval Academy's postgraduate school moved from Annapolis, Maryland, to the old Hotel del Monte. Today, the hotel is called Herrmann Hall and is the main building of the Naval Postgraduate School. 

References

Other websites

 Naval Postgraduate School
 Historic photographs from the Naval Postgraduate School, many include the Hotel Del Monte
 “On the Monterey Peninsula” (Hotel Del Monte), Shapes of Clay

Category:Northern California
Category:Monterey County, California