Jolon was established in the 1860s to meet the needs of miners traveling to the Los Burros Mining District on the coast. It later developed into the center of commercial and social activity in southern Monterey County. Its gradual demise began with the completion of the Southern Pacific Railroad and the subsequent development of the King City area. The town came under ownership of William Randolph Hearst in the 1920s. In 1940 Hearst sold the property to the U.S. Army, its current owner.