Del Monte Forest, California

Del Monte Forest is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Monterey County, California. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a total population of 4,514, down from 4,532 at the 2000 census. The census area includes the separate well-known community of Pebble Beach. Alternatively Del Monte Forest is a habitat area of the same location, which originally occupied considerably more area prior to urban development of the 20th century. The forest is dominated by Monterey Pine, but also contains other important tree species and a variety of rare and endangered plant species.Geography and ecologyDel Monte Forest is located at 36°35'11" North, 121°56'51" West.According to the United States Census Bureau, Del Monte Forest has a total area of 10.6sqmi, of which, 8.0sqmi of it is land and 2.6sqmi of it is water. The total area is 24.54% water.This location is a habitat for a number of limited range and endangered species.HistoryThe Del Monte Forest was originally part of the resort complex of the Hotel del Monte in Monterey, California. The resort hotel was built by Charles Crocker, one of the California's Big Four railroad barons, through Southern Pacific Railroad's property division, Pacific Improvement Company (PIC). The hotel first opened on June 10, 1880. Samuel Finley Brown Morse formed the Del Monte Properties Company on February 27, 1919, and acquired the extensive holdings of the PIC, which included the Del Monte Forest, the Del Monte Lodge (since renamed the Lodge at Pebble Beach) and the Hotel Del Monte. The actual hotel building and surrounding grounds was acquired by the United States Navy after World War II to be the Navy's new location of the Naval Postgraduate School.