Historic Monterey

12. Colton Hall

Monterey, CA

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This beautiful old building was constructed in the 1840s and then named after the Reverend Walter Colton. Rev. Colton arrived in Monterey by boat in 1845 and was named the first Alcalde or municipal magistrate of the American Period by Commodore Robert F. Stockton. Colton Hall is the most important public office in continuous use in Monterey County. It has been used as Monterey's City Hall, a county court house, a public school, the sheriff's office, and the headquarters of Monterey's city police. In 1849 shortly after construction on the building was completed, Colton Hall hosted 48 delegates to the California Constitutional Convention - the building's greatest moment of glory. As a result of these deliberations, California entered the Union in 1850 as the 31st state. 100 years after its original construction it has been expertly restored by the City of Monterey. The meeting room where this delegation took place has been preserved to look as it did during those historic six weeks between September and October of 1849. Rev. Walter Colton describes the building: "It is built of a white stone, quarried from a neighboring hill, and which easily takes the shape you desire. The lower apartments are for schools; the hall over them - seventy feet by thirty - is for public assemblies. The front is ornamented with a portico, which you enter from the hall. It is not an edifice that would attract any attention among public buildings in the United States; but in California it is without a rival." Content Provided By: Historic Monterey