Big Sur Village, California Explained

Big Sur Village
Settlement Type:Unincorporated community
Pushpin Map:California
Pushpin Label Position:bottom
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in California
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:California
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Monterey County
Established Title:Founded
Established Date:1889 (establishment of post office)
Coordinates:36.2703°N -121.8075°W
Elevation Footnotes:[1]
Elevation Ft:135
Elevation M:41
Postal Code Type:ZIP code
Postal Code:93920[2]
Area Code Type:Area code
Blank Name:FIPS code
Blank Info:06-44427
Blank1 Name:GNIS feature ID

Big Sur Village is an unincorporated community in the Big Sur region, in Monterey County, California, United States. It is located along a 1-longNaN-long stretch of Big Sur Coast Highway in the Big Sur Valley south of Carmel, California. The village contains the largest collection of shops and visitor services along the entire 71mile segment of California State Route 1 between Malpaso Creek near Carmel Highlands[3] in the north and San Carpóforo Creek near San Simeon in the south.[4] The population of the entire coastal region is about 1,463.[5] The collection of small roadside businesses and homes is often confused with the larger region, also known as Big Sur. On March 6, 1915, United States Post Office granted the English-speaking residents' request to change the name of their post office from Arbolado to Big Sur.[6] Caltrans also refers to the village as Big Sur.[7] [8]

Services

Services along about of the highway include a post office, the Big Sur Bakery, the Big Sur Lodge with 62 rooms, cafe, a bar and grill, a gallery, a pub and restaurant, yoga studio, artists studios, the Big Sur Grange Hall, a few apartments, one of three gas stations along the coast, and a visitor center with tourist information at Big Sur Station, the western terminus of the Pine Ridge Trail.[9]

Transportation

Until about 1924, a rough dirt road that was often impassible in winter connected residents with Carmel and Monterey to the north. The road extended south to Posts and Castro Canyon, ending near the present-day location of Deetjen's Big Sur Inn.[10] The 30-mile (48 km) trip from Carmel could take three days by wagon or stagecoach.[11] The state began constructing a paved two-lane road in 1924. When completed on June 17, 1937, it was initially named the Roosevelt Highway.[12]

Public transportation is available to and from Monterey on Monterey–Salinas Transit. The summer schedule operates from Memorial Day to Labor Day three times a day, while the winter schedule only offers bus service on weekends. Service can be interrupted by high winds and severe weather.[13] There is a single shuttle van that operates during the summer on Thursday through Sunday from the Big Sur Station to Pfeiffer Beach.[14]

Etymology

The name "Big Sur" has its origins in the area's early Spanish history. While the Portolá expedition was exploring Alta California, they arrived at San Carpóforo Canyon near present-day San Simeon on September 13, 1769. Unable to penetrate the difficult terrain along the coast, they detoured inland through the San Antonio and Salinas Valleys before arriving at Monterey Bay, where they founded Monterey and named it the provincial capital.[15]

The Spanish referred to the vast and relatively unexplored coastal region to the south of Monterey as el país grande del sur, meaning "the big country of the south". This was often shortened to el sur grande (the big south).[16] [17] The two major rivers draining this portion of the coast were named El Rio Grande del Sur and El Rio Chiquito del Sur.

The first recorded use of the name "el Sud" (meaning "the South") was on a map of the Rancho El Sur land grant given by Governor José Figueroa to Juan Bautista Alvarado on July 30, 1834.[18]

Post office

Big Sur's first post office, named "Posts", was in the home of W.B. Post.[19]

The homesteaders changed the name of their post office to Arbolado (Spanish for woodland) but that was confused by the post office for Alvarado, a street in Monterey. The post office operated at Posts from 1889 to 1910. The residents then petitioned the United States Post Office in Washington, D.C., to change the post office name to Big Sur, and the rubber stamp using that name was returned on March 6, 1915, cementing the name in place.[20] [21] The ZIP Code is 93920.[2] The community is inside area code 831.[22]

History

Archaeological evidence shows that the Esselen lived in Big Sur as early as 3500 BC, leading a nomadic, hunter-gatherer existence.[23] [24] Beginning in about 1771, the Native Americans were forcibly relocated and conscripted as laborers at the Carmel Mission, where their way of life were lost to them, and their population was decimated by disease, starvation, overwork, and torture.[25]

The first known European settler in Big Sur was George Davis, who in 1853 claimed a tract of land along the Big Sur River. He built a cabin near the present day site of the beginning of the Mount Manuel Trail.[26] In 1868, Native Americans Manual and Florence Innocenti bought Davis' cabin and land for $50. In the winter of 1869, Michael and Barbara Laquet Pfeiffer were on their way to the south coast of Big Sur when they were forced to stop for the season in the Sycamore Canyon area near present-day Big Sur Village. They liked the area so much they decided against moving south again the following spring. They brought four children with them: Charles, John, Mary Ellen, and Julia. They later had four more: William, Frank, Flora, and Adelaide. After the Homestead Act of 1862 was passed by Congress, he filed for patents on his land in 1883 and 1889.[27] The family supported themselves by ranching and beekeeping.[28] [29]

The Pfeiffer's son John Martin Pfeiffer and his wife Zulema Florence Swetnam built a cabin near the north bank of the Big Sur River in 1884. Another of the oldest establishments along the coast is the Big Sur River Inn and Restaurant founded in 1934.[30]

In August 1972, the Molera Fire burned the hills above Big Sur. The slopes above the village rise abruptly from around to more than . Slopes angle from 25 to 90 degrees. During the following winter, four tributaries of the Big Sur River were struck with so much rain that on November 18, 1972, a mudflow deposited several feet of mud around the Post Office and a few other nearby buildings.[26] [31] [32]

Government

At the county level, Big Sur Village is represented on the Monterey County Board of Supervisors by Mary Adams.[33] In the California State Legislature, Big Sur Village is in, and in .[34] In the United States House of Representatives, the Village is in [35]

Notes and References

  1. April 16, 2020.
  2. Web site: ZIP Code(tm) Lookup . . April 16, 2020 . July 9, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210709185712/https://tools.usps.com/go/ZipLookupResultsAction!input.action?resultMode=0&city=BigSur&state=CA . live .
  3. Book: Surfer Magazine. Surfer Magazine's Guide to Northern and Central California Surf Spots. 13 January 2011. 21 February 2006. Chronicle Books. 978-0-8118-4998-2. 97. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20171116175824/https://books.google.com/books?id=aFL2nb0SE3kC&pg=RA1-PA97. 16 November 2017.
  4. Web site: Chatfield. Michael. Big Sur Magic – Carmel Magazine. Carmel Magazine. 14 December 2016. 5 May 2014. live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170428194516/http://www.carmelmagazine.com/archive/14sp/big-sur.shtml. 28 April 2017.
  5. Web site: The Pacific Coast Highway through Big Sur . ROAD TRIP USA . 16 April 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191001011025/https://www.roadtripusa.com/pacific-coast/california/central-california/big-sur/ . 1 October 2019 . live .
  6. Book: Gudde, Erwin Gustav. California Place Names: The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names. 1998. University of California Press. Bright, William. 9780520266193. fourth, rev. and enl.. Berkeley. 37854320. 379. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180109200344/https://books.google.com/books?id=ibMwDwAAQBAJ. 2018-01-09.
  7. 2008 Place Names in California Department of Transportation, State of California. February, 2009
  8. Web site: Change in Big Sur Post Office retail service hours . about.usps.com . 24 April 2020.
  9. Web site: Cortez . Felix . The Village Shops in Big Sur close to being Sold . KSBW . 16 April 2020 . en . 5 May 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180725075802/http://www.ksbw.com/article/the-village-shops-in-big-sur-close-to-being-sold/9613365 . 25 July 2018 . live .
  10. Web site: About Us / California Democratic Party. California Democratic Party. 30 May 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130513114018/http://www.cadem.org/about. 13 May 2013.
  11. Book: Elliott, Analise. Hiking & Backpacking Big Sur. 2005. Wilderness Press. Berkeley, California.
  12. Web site: Naval Facility (NAVFAC) Station History. The Navy CT / SECGRU History. Joseph A.. Glockner. June 1, 2008. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20110928130525/http://www.navycthistory.com/NAVFACStationsHistory.txt. September 28, 2011.
  13. Web site: 22 Big Sur – Monterey. Monterey Salinas Transit. 26 August 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160914215148/https://www.mst.org/wp-content/media/22.pdf. 14 September 2016.
  14. Web site: Monterey Ranger District . 28 August 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180829073836/https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/lpnf/alerts-notices/?cid=stelprdb5347980 . 29 August 2018 . live .
  15. Book: Bolton, Herbert E. . 1927 . Fray Juan Crespi: Missionary Explorer on the Pacific Coast, 1769–1774 . HathiTrust Digital Library . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140322103835/http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000288788 . 2014-03-22 .
  16. Web site: History of Big Sur California. bigsurcalifornia.org. 2016-09-06. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160801150314/http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/history.html. 2016-08-01.
  17. Jensen, Jamie Road Trip USA: Cross-Country Adventures on America's Two-Lane Highways page 146
  18. Web site: Diseño del parage llamado el Sud y solicitado por Juan Bauta. Alvarado: Rancho El Sur, Calif. . United States District Court (California: Southern District) . 2020-04-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180209063724/http://oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb7d5nb474/?brand=oac4 . 2018-02-09 . live .
  19. News: 142 . 63 . 4 March 1945 . Bir Sur Pioneers . 19 . cdnc.ucr.edu . Oakland Tribune . 16 February 2022 . February 16, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220216042232/https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=OT19450304.1.19&srpos=9&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22W+B++Post%22+monterey-------1 . live .
  20. Book: Woolfenden . John . Big Sur: A Battle for the Wilderness 1869–1981 . 1981 . The Boxwood Press . Pacific Grove, California. 72.
  21. Web site: A Dirty Journey to the Lost City of the Santa Lucias. Stuart. Thornton. 2020-04-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20181120043222/http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/local_news/a-dirty-journey-to-the-lost-city-of-the-santa/article_5ff3137f-0c6a-5847-ae0c-b8ea5e5fee66.html. 2018-11-20. live.
  22. Big Sur: Images of America, Jeff Norman, Big Sur Historical Society, Arcadia Publishing (2004), 128 pages,
  23. Book: Elliott . Analise . Hiking & Backpacking Big Sur . 2005 . Wilderness Press . Berkeley, California . 21.
  24. Web site: Pavlik. Robert C.. Historical Overview of the Carmel to San Simeon Highway. Historic Resource Evaluation Report on the Rock Retaining Walls, Parapets, Culvert Headwalls and Drinking Fountains along the Carmel to San Simeon Highway. California Department of Transportation. 17 December 2011. November 1996. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20120711011720/http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist05/projects/bigsur/pdfs/chmp_hist.pdf. 11 July 2012.
  25. Book: Pritzker . Barry M. . Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples . 2000 . Oxford Univ. Press . Oxford [u.a.] . 978-0-19-513877-1 . registration .
  26. Web site: Henson. Paul. Donald J. Usner. The Natural History of Big Sur. University Of California Press. 12 August 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20100617070622/http://sulcus.berkeley.edu/wjf/m/NaturalHistoryOfBigSur.pdf . June 17, 2010. 1993.
  27. Web site: Micheal Pfeiffer of Monterey County 2 Land Patents . The Land Patents . 16 April 2020 . en.
  28. Web site: Hiking in Big Sur - Oak Grove Trail Loop. HikingInBigSur.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20191124122515/http://www.hikinginbigsur.com/hikes_oakgrove.html. 2019-11-24. live.
  29. Book: Heid. Analise Elliot. Hiking & backpacking Big Sur: a complete guide to the trails of Big Sur, Ventana Wilderness, and Silver Peak Wilderness. 2013. Wilderness Press. 978-0899977270. 84. Second.
  30. Web site: A modern traveler's guide to the magic of old Big Sur. October 19, 2022. Los Angeles Times. June 18, 2023. June 14, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230614110357/https://www.latimes.com/travel/story/2022-10-19/big-sur-history-river-inn-highway-1. live.
  31. Zatkin, Robert. Salinan/Naciemento Amalgamated Terrane Big Sur Coast, Central California May 19–21, 2000
  32. News: Looking back: Big Sur mudslide, 1972 . 19 April 2020 . Monterey Herald . 26 November 2017 . August 1, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200801224327/https://www.montereyherald.com/2017/11/26/looking-back-big-sur-mudslide-1972/ . live .
  33. Web site: Monterey County Supervisorial District 5 (North District 5) . County of Monterey . April 15, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200411124716/https://www.co.monterey.ca.us/government/board-of-supervisors/district-5-mary-adams . April 11, 2020 . live .
  34. Web site: Statewide Database . UC Regents . February 2, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150201113744/http://statewidedatabase.org/gis/gis2011/index_2011.html . February 1, 2015 . dead .
  35. September 24, 2014.

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