At one point, local writers Grace Sartwell Mason, Frederick Becholdt and Harry Leon Wilson all appeared in the same week’s edition of the Saturday Evening Post.

The village was composed of luminaries such as authors Sinclair Lewis, Mary Austin and Lincoln Steffens. Additionally, every issue of the local paper, the Carmel Pine Cone, featured original poetry, and local theater productions often commanded the lead story on page one.īy the time Carmel-by-the-Sea became a city in 1916, the population had grown to almost 450. The Carmel library boasted almost 3,000 volumes - proof that the village maintained a special appreciation for history and the arts.

By 1915, the Outdoor Forest Theater was presenting celebrated performances and the theater became a central part of Carmel life. Intent on promoting an environment conducive to creativity, Carmel’s founders fought to ensure the proliferation and appreciation of art, drama and literature. Their migration firmly established Carmel as a progressive artistic and cultural hub in Northern California. Further prompted by the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, members of the city’s cultural community decided to make Carmel their permanent home. These early inhabitants were determined to create an intellectual oasis on the inspiring, sparsely populated Central Coast of California. Carmel’s early residents, which included authors George Sterling, Jack London and poet Robinson Jeffers, settled in Carmel in tents, built smoky fires in the woods, picnicked on the beach and cooked abalone stew in the fireplace. The small village of Carmel-by-the-Sea represents a microcosm of everything that has contributed to the California dream - independence, creativity and tireless spirit. The mission was secularized in 1833 and the City of Carmel incorporated on October 31, 1916. In 1602, another venturesome Spaniard, Sebastian Vizcaino, and three Carmelite friars found a river valley that they named “El Rio Carmelo.” On June 3, 1771, Father Junipero Serra founded the second California mission, which still stands on the edge of present day Carmel-by-the-Sea. The history of Carmel began with Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo’s first sighting of the white-sand beach and pine forest of Carmel 50 years after Columbus discovered America.

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