Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
Carmel-by-the-Sea, commonly known simply as Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, located on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 3,220, down from 3,722 at the 2010 census. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is a tourist destination, known for its natural scenery and artistic history.
The Spanish founded a settlement in 1771, when Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo was relocated by St. Junípero Serra from Monterey. Mission Carmel served as the headquarters of the Californian mission system, until the Mexican secularization act of 1833, when the area was divided into rancho grants. The settlement was largely abandoned by the U.S. Conquest of California in 1848 and stayed undeveloped until Santiago J. Duckworth built a summer colony in 1888. When the Carmel Development Company was formed in 1902, Carmel became an art colony and seaside resort, which incorporated in 1916.
History
Spanish and Mexican eras
The first Europeans to see Carmel were mariners led by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in 1542, who sailed up the California coast without landing. Sixty years later Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno landed in what is now known as Carmel Valley in 1602. It is thought that he named the river running through the valley Rio Carmelo in honor of the three Carmelite friars serving as chaplains for the voyage.The Spanish began to colonize the area in 1770, when Gaspar de Portolá, along with Franciscan priests Junípero Serra and Juan Crespí, visited the area in search of a mission site. Portolà and Crespí traveled by land while Serra traveled with supplies aboard ship, arriving eight days later. The colony of Monterey was established at the same time as the second mission in Alta California and soon became the capital of California, remaining so until 1849. From the late 18th through the early 19th century most of the Ohlone population died from European diseases, as well as overwork and malnutrition at the missions where the Spanish forced them to live.
Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo was founded on June 3, 1770, in the nearby settlement of Monterey, but was relocated to Carmel Valley by Junípero Serra due to interactions between soldiers stationed at the nearby Presidio and the native Indians.
In December 1771, a stockade of approximately 130×200 feet became the new Mission Carmel. Simple buildings made of plastered mud served as the first church and dwellings until a structure was built of wood from nearby pine and cypress trees to withstand the seasonal rains. This was also a temporary church until a permanent stone building was constructed. In 1784, Serra died and was buried, at his request, at the Mission in the Sanctuary of the San Carlos Church, next to Crespí, who had died the previous year. Serra was buried with full military honors. Carmel Mission contains the state's first library.
When Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, Carmel became Mexican territory.
Early American era
Carmel became part of the United States in 1848, when Mexico ceded California as a result of the Mexican–American War.In the 1850s, "Rancho Las Manzanitas", the area that was to become Carmel-by-the-Sea, was purchased by French businessman Honoré Escolle. Escolle, well known and prosperous in the City of Monterey, owned the first commercial bakery, pottery kiln and brickworks in Central California.
William Martin of Scotland arrived in Monterey in 1856 by ship with his family. His son, John Martin, bought land around the Carmel River from Lafayette F. Loveland in 1859. He built the Martin Ranch on that went as far as the Carmel River to the homes along Carmel-by-the-Sea. The ranch became known as the Mission Ranch because it was so close to the Carmel Mission. They farmed potatoes and barley and had a milk dairy.
In 1888, Escolle and Santiago J. Duckworth filed a subdivision map with the County Recorder of Monterey County. By 1889, 200 lots had been sold. The name "Carmel" was earlier applied to another place on the north bank of the Carmel River east-southeast of the present-day Carmel. A post office called Carmel opened in 1889, closed in 1890, re-opened in 1893, moved in 1902, and closed for good in 1903. Abbie Jane Hunter, founder of the San Francisco-based Women's Real Estate Investment Company, first used the name "Carmel-by-the-Sea" on a promotional postcard.
Modern era
In 1902, James Franklin Devendorf and Frank Hubbard Powers, on behalf of the Carmel Development Company, filed a subdivision map of the core village that became Carmel. They asked Michael J. Murphy to help build the houses. From 1902 to 1940, he built nearly 350 buildings in Carmel. The Carmel post office opened the same year. In 1899, Fritz Schweninger opened the first bakery on Ocean Avenue, called the Carmel Bakery. In 1910, the Carnegie Institution established the Coastal Laboratory, and a number of scientists moved to the area.In 1905, the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club was formed to support and produce artistic works. Following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, an influx of artists, writers, musicians and other creative people escaped the disaster for Carmel. The new residents were offered home lots with a ten-dollar down payment, little or no interest, and whatever they could afford to pay monthly. In 1906, the San Francisco Call devoted a full page to the "artists, writers and poets at Carmel-by-the-Sea."
The Carmel Arts and Crafts Club held exhibitions, lectures, dances, and produced plays and recitals at numerous locations, including the Pine Inn Hotel, before purchasing a lot on Casanova Street, where they built a clubhouse in 1907. By 1914, the club had achieved national recognition.
File:Mary Austin, Jack London, George Sterling, Jimmie Hooper, restored.jpg|thumb|left|Carmel became a hub for artists and writers in the early 1900s. Pictured are George Sterling, Mary Austin, Jack London, and Jimmie Hopper at Carmel Beach, c. 1905.
In 1911, Carmel began a tradition of presenting plays by Shakespeare with a production of Twelfth Night, directed by Garnet Holme of UC Berkeley and featuring future mayors Perry Newberry and Herbert Heron. Twelfth Night was again presented in 1940 at Heron's inaugural Carmel Shakespeare Festival, and was repeated in 1942 and 1956.
In 1915, during the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, various items showcasing Carmel were featured in the Monterey County exhibit within the California Building. This exhibit included natural and industrial products of this part of the state. As part of Carmel's involvement in the Exposition, the Junipero Serra or The Padres performance from the Forest Theater took place on July 30–31, 1915, within the Court of the Universe. This pageant, written and directed by Perry Newberry, was a tribute to Father Junipero Serra and featured prominent citizens of Carmel in its cast, such as Frederick R. Bechdolt and Grant Wallace. Around twenty-five thousand individuals attended these performances.
Carmel incorporated in 1916. In 1925, Paul Aiken Flanders built the Flanders Mansion and used his home as a model for the Hatton Fields subdivision. The City of Carmel purchased the Flanders Mansion and adjoining in 1972, from the Flanders heirs for US$275,000. It has become part of the Mission Trail Nature Preserve.
In 1932, the city developed the Devendorf Park that occupies the block of Ocean Avenue and Junipero Street. The city park is Carmel's central gathering place for outdoor events.
Geography
Carmel is located on the Monterey Peninsula on the southern portion of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California.Carmel Pinnacles State Marine Reserve, Carmel Bay State Marine Conservation Area, Point Lobos State Marine Reserve and Point Lobos State Marine Conservation Area are marine protected areas in the waters around Carmel.
Carmel-by-the-Sea is situated in a moderate seismic risk zone, the principal threats being the San Andreas Fault, which is approximately thirty miles northeast, and the Palo Colorado Fault which traces offshore through the Pacific Ocean several miles away. More minor potentially active faults nearby are the Church Creek Fault and the San Francisquito Fault.
Climate
Carmel-by-the-Sea experiences a cool summer Mediterranean climate normal in coastal areas of California. Summers are typically mild, with overcast mornings produced by marine layer clouds which can bring drizzles that typically give way to clear skies in the afternoon.September and October offer the most pleasant weather of the year, with an average high of. The wet season is from October to May.
Average annual rainfall in Carmel-by-the-Sea is per year, and the average temperature is.
City planning
Carmel has historically pursued a strategy of planned development to enhance its natural coastal beauty and to retain its character, which the city's general plan describes as "a village in a forest overlooking a white sand beach". Carmel-by-the-Sea was incorporated in 1916 and by 1925 it adopted a vision of its future as "primarily, essentially and predominantly a residential community".New buildings must be built around existing trees and new trees are required on lots that are deemed to have an inadequate number.
The one-square-mile village has no street lights or parking meters. In addition, the businesses, cottages and houses have long had no street numbers. In October 2025, the city council approved a plan to begin assigning numbers to buildings, citing concerns regarding the increasing use of technologies that asked for a street address.
Demographics
2020
| Race | 2010 | 2000 | 1990 | 1980 | |
| White alone | 86.7% | 90% | 92.7% | 94.4% | 94% |
| Black alone | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.5% |
| American Indian alone | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.4% |
| Asian alone | 3.2% | 2.8% | 2.2% | 1.7% | 3.1% |
| Pacific Islander alone | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 1.7% | 3.1% |
| Other race alone | 0.5% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0% | 0.4% |
| Multiracial | 2.8% | 1.7% | 1.3% | — | — |
| Hispanic/Latino | 6% | 4.7% | 2.9% | 3.1% | 1.6% |
The 2020 United States census reported that Carmel-by-the-Sea had a population of 3,220. The population density was. The racial makeup of Carmel-by-the-Sea was 88.9% White, 0.4% African American, 0.5% Native American, 3.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.6% from other races, and 5.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.0% of the population.
The census reported that 99.2% of the population lived in households, 0.4% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.5% were institutionalized.
There were 1,721 households, out of which 12.9% included children under the age of 18, 42.5% were married-couple households, 3.1% were cohabiting couple households, 37.1% had a female householder with no partner present, and 17.3% had a male householder with no partner present. 41.5% of households were one person, and 26.8% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 1.86. There were 912 families.
The age distribution was 10.2% under the age of 18, 3.7% aged 18 to 24, 11.6% aged 25 to 44, 28.3% aged 45 to 64, and 46.2% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 63.0years. For every 100 females, there were 81.3 males.
There were 3,056 housing units at an average density of, of which 1,721 were occupied. Of these, 60.5% were owner-occupied, and 39.5% were occupied by renters.
In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $115,729, and the per capita income was $87,422. About 0.0% of families and 4.9% of the population were below the poverty line.