Custom House
Monterey, Monterey County, California
Marker Inscription
Custom House Constructed in 1827 by the Mexican government to collect custom duties from foreign shipping, a principle revenue source when Monterey was the capital of Alta California, Mexico's northernmost province. Thomas O. Larkin, US consul to Alta California, contracted with the Mexican government in 1841 to rebuild and enlarge the Custom House. Commodore John Drake Sloat raised the American flag over this building on July 7, 1846 to signal the passing of California from Mexican to American rule. Restored through the efforts of the Native Sons of the Golden West with the assistance of the people of California. State Registered Historical Landmark No. 1 Registered June 1, 1932 National Historic Landmark designated 1960 Plaque placed by the Native Sons of the Golden West, the California State Parks Foundation, and California State Parks Rededicated 2014, the 150th anniversary of California State Parks
Erected by Native Sons of the Golden West
The Story
Built by the Mexican government in 1827, Monterey's Custom House collected duties on foreign shipping when the town was the capital of Alta California, Mexico's far northern province. U.S. consul Thomas O. Larkin contracted to enlarge it in 1841, and on July 7, 1846 Commodore John Drake Sloat raised the American flag over the building, signaling California's passage from Mexican to U.S. rule. Later restored, it stands today as California's first registered historical landmark.
Why it matters
This is where American California began, the customs post over which the U.S. flag first flew and Mexican Alta California gave way to the westward reach of the United States.
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Related people
- · Thomas O. Larkin
- · John Drake Sloat
Related events
- · Raising of the American flag at Monterey, July 7, 1846
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Site of the Original Flagstaff, 1846
Monterey, CA · est. 1997
This spot in Monterey marks where the original flagstaff stood when Commodore John Drake Sloat raised the American flag on July 7, 1846, claiming California for the United States. The seizure came during the war with Mexico, and the territory was formally ceded two years later under the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. A 1997 dedication by the state park commission and the Native Sons of the Golden West preserves the memory of that morning.
John B. Montgomery
San Francisco, CA
On July 9, 1846, at the height of the Mexican-American War, Commander John B. Montgomery of the U.S.S. Portsmouth came ashore and raised the American flag over the little bay-side settlement of Yerba Buena — soon to be renamed San Francisco. The act signaled the United States' seizure of California from Mexico. In 1924 the Daughters of the American Revolution marked the spot.
Bear Flag Raising, June 14, 1846
Sonoma, CA · est. 1914
In June 1846, a small band of American settlers in Mexican Alta California seized the town of Sonoma and raised a hastily made flag bearing a grizzly bear and a lone star, proclaiming a short-lived "California Republic." The uprising, remembered as the Bear Flag Revolt, unfolded just as the United States and Mexico slid into war. Within weeks U.S. forces took control, and the improvised banner became the ancestor of California's state flag.
Bear Flag Monument
Sonoma, CA
On June 14, 1846, a band of American settlers known as the Bear Flag Party raised a homemade flag on this spot and declared California's independence from Mexican rule, launching the short-lived Bear Flag Republic. Weeks later, on July 9, 1846, Lieutenant Joseph W. Revere lowered the Bear Flag and raised the American flag, following the U.S. seizure of Monterey by Commodore John Drake Sloat. This monument, erected by the Native Sons of the Golden West and the State of California, commemorates those events.