MONTEREY

city, Monterey county, California, U.S. It lies on a peninsula at the southern end of Monterey Bay, about 85 miles (135 km) south of San Francisco. The bay was explored in 1602 by Sebastin Vizcano, who named it in honour of the Count de Monte Rey, viceroy of Mexico. In 1770 Gaspar de Portol established a presidio (military post) at the site and Junpero Serra founded the Mission San Carlos Borromo, which was moved to Carmel in 1771. Named the capital of Alta California in 1775, Monterey was fortified and became a port of entry and centre of Spanish culture. Under Mexico, Monterey remained the capital of a vast area including all of present-day California and the American Southwest. Commodore John Drake Sloat raised the American flag over the town's presidio in 1846 during the Mexican War. The first constitutional convention in California met at Colton Hall in 1849. Monterey was once a leading fishing and whaling port, but its economic mainstays are now tourism and nearby military establishments, especially Fort Ord. The U.S. Defense Language Institute is in the old presidio. The city is the site of Monterey Peninsula College (1947), the Monterey Institute of International Studies (1955), and the Monterey Conference Center (a major complex opened in 1977). The Old Customhouse (1827) and the First (California) Theatre (1844) are preserved as units of Monterey State Historic Park. Monterey formed the background for several of John Steinbeck's novels, among them Tortilla Flat (1935) and Cannery Row (1945). It has also been the site of the historic Monterey Jazz Festival. Inc. 1889. Pop. (1992 est.) city, 32,030; Salinas MSA, 368,875.