McAbee Beach

From the California Gold Rush to nearly the turn of the century, Portuguese whalers launched boats from this beach, rowed into the bay to intercept whales migrating along the Monterey coastline, towed harpooned whales back ashore, and removed and boiled the blubber to extract oil for lamps. Whaling from the beach ended in the late 1800s when kerosene provided a more economical way to light a room. At the turn of the century, John B. McAbee purchased the golden sand beach on Ocean View Avenue, the original name of Cannery Row, and pursued one of the first commercial ventures there by renting boats, tents, and small cottages to seasonal tourists, though he was unable to make a dependable income from them. After the Chinese fishing village at China Point, now Hopkins Marine Station and the second largest Chinese settlement on the West Coast, was destroyed by fire in 1906, Chinese villagers leased McAbee Beach, built a smaller settlement there, and occupied the beach until the late 1920s as the village grew and spread along the rocky Monterey coastline with the growth of the sardine industry.

Monterey, California · United States