Exploring the Monterey State Historic Park

Some of my favorite places I’ve visited while traveling were spots that I just happened upon. Such is the case with the Monterey State Historic Park. We were leaving Monterey when this building caught our eye.

My sister and I agreed it deserved more investigation so we stopped the car and headed inside. Turns out this building dates to 1845 and is called Casa del Oro. It began life as a general store and is now part of the Monterey State Historic Park. Inside we met a lovely docent who told us all about the building and the park. Turns out we stumbled upon a historic site that included the oldest government building in California!

Before we headed there we stopped at the Pacific House which contained a museum devoted to the history of Monterey.

As you can see it contains a lot of interesting information. The museum is interactive and it was a lot of fun walking around and learning about the area.

We then moved on to the Custom House – the oldest government building in the state. It’s also State Historic Landmark #1!

The interior of the Customs House is recreated to look just as it did the 1840’s when it served as the entryway for sailors arriving in the port of Monterey.