[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 5 (Friday, January 8, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E21]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       IN HONOR OF THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA, CA

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                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 8, 2016

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a native Californian to mark 
the 100th anniversary of my hometown, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California's 
most charming coastal community. Carmel was founded as a unique and 
special city by artists and writers. It is now known around the world 
for its charm and scenic coastal beauty. It is also where my parents 
Fred and Janet Farr raised me and my sisters, and where my wife Shary 
and I raised our daughter Jessica. So I am especially pleased to speak 
on the occasion of this special remembrance.
   Carmel may be celebrating 100 years as an incorporated city, but its 
history stretches back much further. In many ways, Carmel and the 
greater Monterey Peninsula is where California began. The Esselen 
natives called Carmel's estuaries, canyons, hills, beaches, and forests 
home for thousands of years. The first Europeans passed Carmel in 1547 
when the explorer Juan Cabrillo sailed up the California coast on 
behalf of the Spanish Empire. In 1770, the recently canonized Father 
Junipero Serra accompanied the Portola expedition north from Mexico to 
establish a settlement in Monterey. In 1771, Serra established the now 
famous mission in Carmel as one of the eventual 21 such missions 
established along the California coast. Serra, himself, is interred at 
the Mission.
   By the end of the nineteenth century various investors made sporadic 
attempts to develop a township in the area adjacent to the old mission. 
Finally in 1902, the Carmel Development Company under James Frank 
Devendorf and Frank Powers filed a subdivision map and took other steps 
to found a town at Carmel's current site. By 1905, the Carmel Arts and 
Crafts Club formed to support Carmel's small community of artists. That 
arts community grew dramatically following the 1906 San Francisco quake 
as artists fleeing the destruction of their city were drawn to the 
beautiful community by the sea with the burgeoning reputation as an 
arts colony. The new residents were offered home lots for ten dollars 
down and whatever they could pay on a monthly basis. Many prominent 
artists became associated with Carmel, including Robinson Jeffers, 
Sinclair Lewis, and Jack London, to name just a few. All this growth 
built Carmel to the point in 1916 that it could incorporate as a full-
fledged city.
   This background gave Carmel a vibrant energy as it continued to 
develop in the 20th Century. By the 1940s when my parents moved us to 
Carmel, it had grown into a thriving small town. As I grew up during 
the 1950s, every street was filled with families and children. My 
father was a local lawyer who got elected to the California State 
Senate in 1955 and represented the area in Sacramento until 1966. He 
returned to save the Robinson Jeffers home and the Odello artichoke 
fields at the mouth of the valley. Now in the 21st Century, the same 
beauty and culture that built Carmel has made it a global tourism 
destination. What will the next 100 years bring?
   Mr. Speaker, I know I speak for the whole House as well as my fellow 
Carmelites, in celebrating this first 100 years of our wonderful little 
city.

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