Colton Hall, Monterey California
Posted by: 
WalruZ
N 36° 35.862 W 121° 53.845
10S E 598619 N 4050811
Monterey's first public hall and site of the California Constitutional Convention.
Waymark Code: WMD61
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 05/20/2006
Views: 32
In this building met the convention that drafted the Constitution under which California was admitted to statehood on September 9, 1850. Robert Semple was chairman and William G. March secretary. The 48 delegates met from September 1 to October 15, 1849 on the upper floor, which ran the length of the main building. The stairway leading to the convention hall was in the rear of the building. Rev. Walter Colton, first American alcalde in Monterey, erected this building as a public hall and schoolhouse, he and Robert Semple established California's first American newspaper in Monterey on August 15, 1846.
The ground floor houses some city offices. The second floor, which was originally built as a public meeting hall, houses a neat museum. The grounds feature many nice gardens, statues and plaques, including a "walk of history" culminating in an oversized bronze replica of the Great Seal of the State of California, dedicated to it's designer who is memorialized nearby.
Although there are many plaques on the grounds, the official California Historic Marker was nowhere to be seen - perhaps you can find it?