Carmel-by-the-Sea, often called Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, on the Central Coast. According to the 2020 census, the city had a population of 3,220, which is fewer than the 3,722 people counted in 2010. Located on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is a place where many visitors go to enjoy its natural beauty and rich artistic history.

In 1771, Spanish settlers established a community when Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo was moved from Monterey by St. Junípero Serra. This mission, called Mission Carmel, was the main center for the mission system in California until a law in 1833 changed how missions were managed, leading to the area being divided into land grants. After the U.S. took control of California in 1848, the settlement was largely abandoned and remained unused until Santiago J. Duckworth created a summer colony there in 1888. In 1902, the Carmel Development Company was formed, turning Carmel into an art colony and seaside resort. The city officially became incorporated in 1916.

History

The first Europeans to see Carmel were sailors led by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in 1542. They sailed along the California coast but did not land. Sixty years later, in 1602, Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno landed in what is now called Carmel Valley. People believe he named the river running through the valley Rio Carmelo to honor three Carmelite friars who were religious leaders on his journey.

The Spanish started to settle in the area in 1770. Gaspar de Portolá, along with Franciscan priests Junípero Serra and Juan Crespí, visited the region to find a place for a mission. Portolá and Crespí traveled by land, while Serra traveled by ship with supplies. They arrived eight days later. At the same time, the colony of Monterey was created, which became the capital of California and remained so until 1849. During the late 1700s and early 1800s, many Ohlone people died from European diseases, overwork, and poor food at the missions where the Spanish required them to live.

Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo was built on June 3, 1770, in Monterey. It was later moved to Carmel Valley by Junípero Serra because of conflicts between soldiers at the nearby Presidio and Native Americans.

In December 1771, a wooden stockade about 130 by 200 feet became the new Mission Carmel. Simple buildings made of mud and plaster were used for the first church and homes. Later, wood from nearby trees was used to build a structure that could withstand rain. This was a temporary church until a permanent stone building was made. In 1784, Serra died and was buried at the Mission next to Crespí, who had died the year before. Serra was buried with full military honors. Carmel Mission holds the state’s first library.

When Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821, Carmel became Mexican territory. In 1848, Mexico gave California to the United States after the Mexican-American War. In the 1850s, "Rancho Las Manzanitas," the area that later became Carmel-by-the-Sea, was bought by French businessman Honoré Escolle. Escolle owned the first commercial bakery, pottery kiln, and brickworks in Central California.

William Martin of Scotland arrived in Monterey in 1856 with his family. His son, John Martin, bought land near the Carmel River in 1859. He built the Martin Ranch on 216 acres that extended to the Carmel River and homes in Carmel-by-the-Sea. The ranch was called the Mission Ranch because it was close to the Carmel Mission. They farmed potatoes and barley and had a milk dairy.

In 1888, Escolle and Santiago J. Duckworth submitted a subdivision map to the Monterey County Recorder. By 1889, 200 lots were sold. The name "Carmel" was previously used for a place 13 miles east of present-day Carmel. A post office called Carmel opened in 1889, closed in 1890, reopened in 1893, moved in 1902, and closed for good in 1903. Abbie Jane Hunter, founder of the San Francisco-based Women’s Real Estate Investment Company, first used the name "Carmel-by-the-Sea" on a promotional postcard.

In 1902, James Franklin Devendorf and Frank Hubbard Powers, acting for the Carmel Development Company, submitted a subdivision map for the area that became Carmel. They asked Michael J. Murphy to help build houses. From 1902 to 1940, Murphy built nearly 350 buildings in Carmel. The Carmel post office opened the same year. In 1899, Fritz Schweninger opened the first bakery on Ocean Avenue, called the Carmel Bakery. In 1910, the Carnegie Institution created the Coastal Laboratory, and scientists moved to the area.

In 1905, the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club was formed to support artists and create artistic works. After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, many artists, writers, musicians, and creative people moved to Carmel to escape the disaster. New residents were offered home lots with a $10 down payment, little or no interest, and monthly payments they could afford. In 1906, the San Francisco Call featured a full page about the "artists, writers, and poets at Carmel-by-the-Sea."

The Carmel Arts and Crafts Club held exhibitions, lectures, dances, and plays at places like the Pine Inn Hotel. They later built a clubhouse on Casanova Street in 1907. By 1914, the club was nationally recognized.

In 1911, Carmel started a tradition of performing Shakespeare plays, beginning with Twelfth Night, directed by Garnet Holme of UC Berkeley. Future mayors Perry Newberry and Herbert Heron were part of the cast. Twelfth Night was performed again in 1940 at Heron’s Carmel Shakespeare Festival and in 1942 and 1956.

In 1915, during the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, items from Carmel were shown in the Monterey County exhibit at the California Building. This included natural and industrial products from the area. A performance called Junipero Serra or The Padres from the Forest Theater was held on July 30–31, 1915, in the Court of the Universe. Perry Newberry wrote and directed the pageant, which honored Father Junipero Serra and included local leaders like Frederick R. Bechdolt and Grant Wallace. About 25,000 people attended the shows.

Carmel became a city in 1916. In 1925, Paul Aiken Flanders built the Flanders Mansion and used it as a model for the Hatton Fields subdivision. The city bought the Flanders Mansion and 14.9 acres in 1972 for $275,000 (equivalent to

Geography

Carmel is located on the Monterey Peninsula, in the southern part of Monterey Bay on the Central Coast of California.

Marine protected areas near Carmel include the Carmel Pinnacles State Marine Reserve, Carmel Bay State Marine Conservation Area, Point Lobos State Marine Reserve, and Point Lobos State Marine Conservation Area. These areas help protect ocean life in the waters around Carmel.

Carmel-by-the-Sea is in an area with some earthquake risk. The main threats are the San Andreas Fault, which is about thirty miles northeast, and the Palo Colorado Fault, which runs offshore through the Pacific Ocean several miles away. Other nearby faults that may be active include the Church Creek Fault and the San Francisquito Fault.

Carmel-by-the-Sea has a cool summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csb), which is common in coastal parts of California. Summers are usually mild, with cloudy mornings caused by marine layer clouds that may bring light rain, often followed by clear skies in the afternoon.

The most pleasant weather occurs in September and October, known as "Indian summer," with average high temperatures of 72°F (22°C). The rainy season runs from October to May.

Carmel-by-the-Sea receives an average of 20 inches (500 mm) of rain each year, and the average yearly temperature is 57°F (14°C).

Carmel has followed a plan to develop the area in a way that preserves its natural beauty and keeps its unique character, which the city describes as "a village in a forest overlooking a white sand beach." Carmel-by-the-Sea became a city in 1916 and by 1925 aimed to be "primarily, essentially, and predominantly a residential community" (Carmel-by-the-Sea City Council, 1929).

New buildings must be built around existing trees, and new trees are required on lots that lack enough trees.

The one-square-mile village does not have street lights or parking meters. In the past, buildings, homes, and shops did not have street numbers. In October 2025, the city council approved a plan to start assigning numbers to buildings, due to growing use of technology that requires street addresses.

Demographics

The 2020 United States census reported that Carmel-by-the-Sea had a population of 3,220. The population density was 3,034.9 people per square mile (1,171.8/km²). The racial composition of Carmel-by-the-Sea was 88.9% White, 0.4% African American, 0.5% Native American, 3.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.6% from other races, and 5.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino individuals of any race made up 6.0% of the population.

The census reported that 99.2% of the population lived in households, 0.4% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.5% were institutionalized.

There were 1,721 households, of which 12.9% included children under the age of 18, 42.5% were married-couple households, 3.1% were cohabiting couple households, 37.1% had a female householder with no partner present, and 17.3% had a male householder with no partner present. 41.5% of households were one person, and 26.8% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 1.86. There were 912 families (53.0% of all households).

The age distribution was 10.2% under the age of 18, 3.7% aged 18 to 24, 11.6% aged 25 to 44, 28.3% aged 45 to 64, and 46.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 63.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 81.3 males.

There were 3,056 housing units at an average density of 2,880.3 units per square mile (1,112.1 units/km²), of which 1,721 (56.3%) were occupied. Of these, 60.5% were owner-occupied, and 39.5% were occupied by renters.

In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $115,729, and the per capita income was $87,422. About 0.0% of families and 4.9% of the population were below the poverty line.

Arts and culture

In 1907, Carmel's first cultural center and theatre, the Carmel Arts and Crafts Clubhouse, was built. Poets Austin and Sterling performed their "private theatricals" there. By 1913, The Arts and Crafts Club had begun organizing lessons for aspiring painters, actors, and craftsmen.

As theatrical activities grew, two competing indoor theatres were built between 1922 and 1924: the Arts & Crafts Hall and the Theatre of the Golden Bough, designed and built by Edward G. Kuster and originally located on Ocean Avenue. In 1935, after a production of By Candlelight, the Golden Bough was destroyed by fire. Kuster, who had previously bought out the Arts and Crafts Theatre, moved his operation to the older facility and renamed it the Golden Bough Playhouse. In 1949, after remounting By Candlelight, the playhouse again burned to the ground. It was rebuilt and reopened in 1952.

In 1931, the Carmel Sunset School constructed a new auditorium with Gothic-inspired architecture and seating for 700. Often doubling as a performing arts venue for the community, the facility was bought by the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea in 1964, renaming the venue the Sunset Theatre. In 2003, following a $22 million renovation, the Sunset Center re-opened with the 66th annual Carmel Bach Festival.

In 1949, the first Forest Theater Guild was organized. For most of the 1960s, the outdoor theater lay unused and neglected, with the original Forest Theater Guild having ceased operations in 1961. In 1968, Marcia Hovick's Children's Experimental Theater leased the indoor theater and continued until 2010. In 1972, a new Forest Theater Guild was incorporated and continues to produce musicals, adding a film series in 1997.

In 1905, novelist Mary Austin moved to Carmel. She is best known for her tribute to the deserts of the American Southwest, The Land of Little Rain. Her play, Fire, which she also directed, had its world premiere at the Forest Theater in 1913. Austin has been credited as suggesting the idea for the outdoor stage.

In 1906, San Francisco photographer Arnold Genthe joined the Carmel arts colony, where he was able to pursue his pioneering work in color photography. His first attempts were taken in his garden, primarily portraits of his friends, including the leading Shakespearean actor and actress of the period, Edward Sothern and Julia Marlowe, who were costumed as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Of his new residence, he wrote, "My first trials with this medium were made at Carmel where the cypresses and rocks of Point Lobos, the always varying sunsets and the intriguing shadows of the sand dunes offered a rich field for color experiments."

According to the Library of Congress, where over 18,000 of his negatives and prints are on file, Genthe "became famous for his impressionistic portrayals of society women, artists, dancers, and theater personalities."

Photographer Edward Weston moved to Carmel in 1929 and shot the first of numerous nature photographs, many set at Point Lobos, on the south side of Carmel Bay. In 1936, Weston became the first photographer to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship for his work in experimental photography. In 1948, after the onset of Parkinson's disease, he took his last photograph, an image of Point Lobos. Weston had traveled extensively with legendary photographer Ansel Adams, who moved to the Carmel Highlands in 1962, a few miles south of town.

Government

Carmel is a city that follows state laws and is led by a mayor and four city council members. The current mayor is Dale Byrne. The elected council members include Mayor Pro Tem Robert Delves, Jeff Baron, Alissandra Dramov, and Hans Buder. Chip Rerig is the City Administrator, and Brandon Swanson is the Assistant City Administrator.

The City of Carmel-by-the-Sea has created a "sphere of influence" that includes neighborhoods such as Carmel Woods, Hatton Fields, Mission Fields, Mission Tract, Carmel Point, and Carmel Hills. These areas are officially part of unincorporated Monterey County, which provides most basic services like law enforcement, street repairs, and public transportation. Except for a few shopping areas near the entrance of Carmel Valley, these areas have few businesses and mainly serve as places where people live, not work.

In July 2024, the Carmel-by-the-Sea City Council decided to assign street addresses for the first time in the city. However, there is still no mail delivery to homes in Carmel-by-the-Sea, unlike nearby residential areas in "county-Carmel."

Argyll Campbell was the city attorney of Carmel from 1920 to 1937. He helped create many of Carmel's first zoning laws and rules. These laws limited the size of residential homes and lots, restricted commercial development on the beach, preserved native trees, limited building height to one or two stories, banned chain restaurants and billboards, and required no sidewalks or streetlights in residential areas. These rules have helped keep Carmel's character as a village.

On the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, Carmel is represented by Supervisor Kate Daniels.

In the California State Assembly, Carmel is part of the 30th Assembly district, represented by Democrat Dawn Addis. In the California State Senate, Carmel is part of the 17th senatorial district, represented by Democrat John Laird.

In the United States House of Representatives, Carmel is part of California's 19th Congressional District, represented by Democrat Jimmy Panetta.

Education

Carmel is part of the Carmel Unified School District, which has schools in the area such as Carmel High School, Carmel Middle School, Tularcitos Elementary School, and Carmel River School.

Media

The Californian, which was previously called The Carmel Sun, was published weekly from 1936 to 1937 by E.F. Bunch in Carmel-By-The-Sea.

The Carmel Pine Cone is the town’s weekly newspaper and has been published since 1915. It reports on local news, politics, arts, entertainment, opinions, and real estate.

In February 2009, Carmel was used as a main location for a 24-day movie shoot of The Forger.

In February 2021, Carmel was used as a main location for the movie All the Old Knives.

Transportation

Carmel-by-the-Sea does not have traffic lights to keep the city's home-like feel.

Bus service in Carmel is operated by Monterey–Salinas Transit of Monterey County. Carmel is one of the cities that uses Route 5, and it is the last main stop before the bus ends at Carmel Rancho.