Monterey Breakwater
Historic Cannery Row
Recurring winter storms wreaked havoc on the Monterey fishing fleet every few years (top). On April 29, 1915, such a storm, with 60-mile-per-hour winds, destroyed or damaged nearly 50 boats. On Thanksgiving morning 1919, more than 93 vessels were tossed onto the beach, and the offices of the Pacific Steamship Company was blown off the wharf and into the bay.
Monterey businessman and civic activist Harry Ashland Greene, “Breakwater Harry,” was an early and staunch advocate for building a breakwater to protect the vulnerable harbor (middle). From 1911 to 1931, Greene and others lobbied the state legislature and congress for funding. Finally, in 1932, the breakwater was constructed. Greene and Monterey Mayor Dr. John Sandholdt are seen standing in the first carload of rocks for the new breakwater.
The Monterey breakwater (bottom), seen here in an aerial view in 1932, was originally designed to be 750 feet long but had to be extended to 1,700 feet to adequately protect the fishing fleet. The Depression-era project kept a number of local workers on the job. The 11th Cavalry Band commemorated the project launch by playing their composition “The Breakwater March.”
Marker can be reached from Cannery Row.
Courtesy hmdb.org
