Media / News

Volume 12, Issue 2, February 2012

Carmel history expert Monica Hudson delighted the audience at her February 10 lecture, part of the Heritage Society's 2012 Lecture Series.  A natural storyteller and author of "Carmel-by-the-Sea" (2006), part of Arcadia Publishers' "Images of America" pictorial series, Ms. Hudson complemented her talk with fascinating slides from the Harrison Memorial Library archives and the private collections of Carmel residents.

She noted that Carmel predates the founding of Jamestown and the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. It began with the arrival in 1602 of the Spanish. Carmelite friars named the place after their order, and Father Serra founded the Carmel Mission.  By the 1800's the mission had been abandoned and had fallen into disrepair, but its picturesque ruins attracted a steady stream of tourists.

The names of Carmel landowners Frank Devendorf, Frank Powers and his wife Jane Gallatin-Powers were invoked, as Ms. Hudson explained their roles in developing the town into a haven for artists, writers and musicians in the first half of the 20^th century.  College professors also enjoyed the ambience of Carmel and many built homes there.  These many gifted people instituted traditions that have shaped the life of the town to this day.

Mrs. Gallatin-Powers was instrumental in creating the Arts and Crafts Club, which attracted American impressionist painter William Merritt Chase to Carmel to teach art during the summers.  Local artist Jo Mora designed the Serra Monument on Carpenter Street.

Carmel residents loved the dramatic arts, and many plays by Robert Louis Stevenson were performed on the Forest Theater stage.  The Golden Bough Theater, considered the most beautiful indoor theater in the U.S., was established in Carmel , but was burned down by an arsonist after a performance of a drama called, ironically, "BY Candlelight".

The Bach Festival began as a series of concerts in private homes. Jazz musicians flocked to the area and often gathered at the Carmel house of cartoonist Eldon Dedini after performances.  Photographers like Cole Weston and architects or builders like Hugh Comstock also found Carmel a stimulating place to practice their art.

Ms. Hudson's lecture was informative and entertaining, and left many in the audience eager to read her book to gain more insight into the origins of our neighbor city.