Winter 2025

The arrival in Monterey of a foreign ship laden with goods was a cause for celebration— both for local consumers and for government officials. On such occasions, great balls or “bailes grandes” were held at Custom House. The balls were heavily attend- ed, with guests spilling out onto the eastern veranda, which at the time stood on the edge of a small cliff, with the bay below. Lanterns were strung outside to provide ambience and light. In “TwoYears Before The Mast,” Richard Henry Dana provides a vivid description of 1832 Monterey. “Monterey, as far as my observation goes, is decidedly the pleasantest and most civi- lized-looking place in California…The pretty lawn on which it stands, as green as sun and rain could make it… the adobe houses, with their white walls and red-tiled roofs, dotted about the green…” The 1840s brought Custom House into its current configuration. In 1841, the Mexican gov- ernment hired Thomas Larkin to add a second story to the north wing, and to expand the cen- tral portion of the building. Materials for the 1841 project included 5,000 adobe bricks and 8,000 tiles. Larkin was later tapped to add the two-story south wing, with work com- pleted in 1846. Custom House, as it appears today, is a struc- ture from the Mexican era. The 1840s also brought renewed incursions to Monterey—this time from the Americans. Tensions were running high between the two A 1903 photo of a new, electrified Monterey-Pacific Grove Railway streetcar with riders, and Custom House in the back- ground. The trolley was established in 1890, and was horse-drawn until 1903. Operations ceased in 1923. 116 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 5 Railroad tracks were laid within mere feet of Custom House. In 1890, trolley tracks were placed on Alvarado Street, to the immediate west of Custom House. Photo: Pat Hathaway Collection, Monterey County Historical Society