18 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY july 18-24, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com Legend has it that we have a salt-carrying man to thank for the name of Monterey County’s largest city. The story comes from John McDougall, who was described in a series of 1930 articles in the Salinas Index-Journal as “one of Salinas’ oldest residents,” residing here for “more than half a century,” giving the legend some weight. In a 1930 manuscript, titled “Looking Back Down an Old Trail Through the Eyes of a Pioneer,” McDougall described a time when he was in a room with a who’s who of Salinas history—Eugene Sherwood, Jesse D. Carr, James Bardin Sr. and many others—who met in the Half Way House between Monterey and San Juan Bautista on an unknown date, but roughly around 1854, according to historical texts. The settlers of this area now known as the Salinas Valley were discussing how to establish a town here. Sherwood reportedly pulled out a map of the original survey of the city, McDougall recalled. The next logical question was then posed—What should the town be named? As the discussion unfolded, a man barged into the room, holding a “handful of stuff that looked like salt,” according to McDougall. It was an educated guess on McDougall’s part, as the man had reportedly gathered it along the shore of the former salt ponds that were prominent in the area. One of the meeting attendees—P. Soto—checked it out and said in Spanish, “Es Salina.” Another, Captain El Graves, had an idea. “Addressing the gathering he said, ‘Let’s take that ‘Es’ and put on the other end of the next word and call it ‘Salinas,’” McDougall wrote. And here we are, approaching the quartoseptcentennial of that day, and on the 150th anniversary of Salinas’ incorporation as a city—a city that began on Ohlone lands and now has more than 161,000 residents, being widely considered a juggernaut of agricultural production not just in the state or country, but the world. Take a stroll or drive through the sprawling city, and you’ll see plenty of streets, buildings and institutions with names unique to Salinas. Who, or what, are they named after? The following are brief snapshots of the history behind the names. Alisal The East Salinas community, annexed into the city in 1963, was named after the Spanish term for sycamore trees, which were native in the region. During the Mexican rule of California, Gov. Jose Figueroa granted nearly 9,000 acres of land known as Rancho El Alisal to brothers Feliciano and Mariano Soberanes, and to William Edward Petty Hartnell (the namesake of today’s Hartnell College, more on him later). At one point in the 1930s, an area of Alisal was known as “Little Oklahoma” due to the number of farmers fleeing the Dust Bowl from Oklahoma seeking jobs in California. Hartnell College The 104-year-old Hartnell College, with campuses throughout the Salinas Valley, owes its name to an Englishman born in 1798. William Edward Petty Hartnell arrived in Monterey in 1822 to help with a hide-andtallow trade, according to history compiled by Hartnell College and Sean Roney. The business went under about a decade later, but Hartnell, who had since become a Mexican citizen, was granted 2,971 acres of Rancho El Alisal, just a few miles southeast of present-day Salinas. On a portion of the property, Hartnell opened a school in March 1834, known as the “first publicly supported school in the state” due to receiving funds from the governor, as described by Hartnell graduate and former instructor, Dick André. The school, named Colegio de El Patrocino de San Jose, lasted two years before closing due to financial constraints. Hartnell died in 1854 and his name faded into history, until 1947, when the students of Salinas Junior College, which opened in 1920, petitioned the Salinas Union High School District board to rename the college after him. The name officially changed to Hartnell College on July 1, 1948. Boronda Road Boronda Road is perhaps known by many Salinas residents as a major thoroughfare that wraps around the northern edge of the city. Its namesake was a ranchero who built the Boronda Adobe, which now serves as a museum operated by the Monterey County Historical Society. As a teenager, José Eusebio Boronda moved to Monterey with his family in 1817, according to history compiled by Robert B. Johnston. He was later granted more than 2,000 acres by the Mexican government for his rancho in 1840 known as Rancho Rincon del Sanjon, described as having a “view to the south across the Salinas Plain to Mount Toro and the hills bordering the south bank of the Salinas River.” When the new town of Salinas was being built near Boronda’s ranch, he granted a right-of-way to the County of Monterey for a road along its boundaries. He settled down in 1880 in a house beside the road now known as Boronda Road. Sherwood Many places in Salinas bear Eugene Sherwood’s name: Sherwood Elementary School, Sherwood Hall, Sherwood Park, Sherwood Village and more. Sherwood, a British army captain, was born in London in 1828 and arrived in San Francisco in 1856 with a land purchasing group, who bought up land that would become Salinas. Over the years, he donated land in Salinas for a park, railroad, churches, schools and streets. Carr Lake Carr Lake, the 480-acre ag land in the center of Salinas, was named after Jesse D. Carr, a Tennessee native and 1859 Salinas Valley settler who owned the land. He also helped found the city’s first bank, and was a member of the Board of Freeholders who in 1900 drafted a charter for Salinas City. Earlier this year, the City of Salinas and Big Sur Land Trust broke ground on Ensen Community Park, located on a six-acre portion of the property. “Ensen” is an indigenous word that means blackberry, which was an important fruit for indigenous peoples’ diet who lived in the area that is now Carr Lake. Louise J. Miranda Ramirez, Tribal Chairwoman of the Ohlone/ Costanoan-Esselen Nation, suggested the name. What’s in a Name? From salt to sycamore trees and settlers, there is a story behind every name in Salinas. By Erik Chalhoub Salinas at 150
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjAzNjQ1NQ==