Stilwell Hall, Fort Ord

Stilwell Hall on May 1, 2002.  Stilwell Hall was a 52,000-square-foot building that stood on a precipice at the edge of the Monterey Bay on the west side of Highway 1 on Fort Ord property.
The building was constructed between November 1940 and September 1943 under the initiative of General Joseph W. Stilwell.  It served as a recreational facility for military members for just over fifty years before Fort Ord was closed in 1994.  Abandoned, Stilwell Hall fell into disrepair and was torn down in 2003 after severe coastal erosion threatened to cause the structure to collapse into the Monterey Bay.  Today the former site is the parking lot for the Fort Ord Dunes State Park.  (Vern Fisher - Monterey Herald)

Monterey Sardines, circa 1957

Fishermen unload their catch of sardines on Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey circa 1957.  In the mid-20th century, the sardine fishery off the Monterey coast seemed bottomless, resulting in a network of canneries along the waterfront on Cannery Row. At their peak, they processed millions of pounds of fish each year while providing jobs to thousands. In the 1940s, the Pacific coast sardine catch accounted for around 25% of the total seafood catch in the U.S..  Sardines started to decline by the mid-1940s.  The current thinking is that a combination of over-fishing, pollution, and the natural cycle of the sardine contributed to the rapid decline in the late 1940s.  (Monterey Herald Archives) 

Bing Crosby and Phil Harris, Crosby Pro Am, 1955

Bing Crosby (seated) listens to Phil Harris carry on during the 1955 Crosby Pro-Am at the Pebble Beach Golf Links on January 15, 1955.  (Monterey Herald Archives)  

Fort Ord Basic Training, 1969

Learning to salute during basic training at Fort Ord on Sept. 5, 1969.  (Monterey Herald Archives)

Soap Box Derby, 1972

Two soap box derby racers get the checkered flag at the finish line during the Soap Box Derby Championships at Laguna Seca Raceway on July 30, 1972.  (Monterey Herald Archives)

Spring Equinox Celebration at Limekiln Creek, 1968

A crowd estimated at over 200 gathered for the Spring Equinox Celebration at Limekiln Creek on the Big Sur coast, March 20, 1968.  (Monterey Herald Archives)

Cesar Chavez in Salinas, 1970

UFW president Cesar Chavez attends a rally for farmworkers in the Salinas Valley in September 0f 1970. (Photo: Monterey Herald)

Kenneth Melville, 1981

Kenneth Melville, aka, Blanco Diablo in his cabin in the Willow Creek area of Big Sur on April 12, 1981. Melville worked a gold mine for over 50 years in the area and was at odds with the U.S. Forest Service who wanted to have his cabin and other surrounding structures razed. (Robert Fish/Monterey County Herald archives)

Boat Launching, 1966

The Anthony Boy vessel was the first launching of a Monterey Clipper hull in over thirty years and occurred at the Monterey Boatworks near Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove in 1966.   (Monterey County Herald Archives)

Water Skiing in Monterey Harbor, 1958

Angelo de Maria and Bill Clapper blow some damp notes to herald next month's water ski show of the Monterey Peninsula Water Ski Club and the Monterey Jazz Festival.  They donned skin-diving suits and clutched baritone horns yesterday, Sept. 1, 1958 to pose for this shot east of Monterey Municipal Wharf No. 2.  The show will be the same weekend as the Monterey Jazz Festival, Oct. 3-5, 1958.  Both water skiers are qualified to toot these instruments on land or sea.  De Maria has a small dance combo, while Clapper is a music teacher for the Monterey Public Schools.  (Monterey Herald Archives)

Varmints Mini-Bike Club, 1971

A woman wipes mud off the face of a young mini-bike rider who is a member of the Fort Ord Varmints mini-bike club in 1971.  (Monterey Herald Archive)

Bob Hope at the Crosby Pro Am, 1982

Bob Hope, wearing a 1981 Michigan Rose Bowl sweater, entertains the gallery as he participates in a celebrity round of golf at the Pebble Beach Golf Links during the 1982 Crosby Pro Am.  (Monterey Herald Archives)

Heritage Harbor Groundbreaking, 1977

Breaking ground for the Heritage Harbor shopping center were (left to right) developer Don Berry, Monterey Mayor Gerald Fry, Monterey Urban Renewal Agency Chairman John Bouldry, project architect Paul Davis and Mrs. Berry on Dec. 16, 1977.  The development, located on 4.5 acres between Fisherman's Wharf and the Doubletree Inn, will hold 80-100 shops, boutiques, galleries and restaurants in 116,301 feet of retail space.  (Monterey County Herald Archives)

1960 Paraplegic Fishing Trip

A paraplegic fishing trip on the Randy II out of the Monterey Harbor circa 1960.

President Bill Clinton in Salinas, 1996

President Bill Clinton speaks to thousands assembled on W. Alisal Street in front of the courthouse in Salinas on August 8, 1996.  (Vern Fisher - Monterey Herald)

Monterey Rodeo Parade, 1968

Cowboys and horse drawn wagons ride on Alvarado Street in Monterey during the parade for the Monterey Rodeo at the Monterey Fairgrounds in 1968.  (Monterey Herald archives)

Samuel F.B. Morse, 1969

Samuel F.B. Morse pictured here in his Pebble Beach home in February 1969 working on his watercolor paintings. Samuel Finley Brown Morse was born on July 19, 1885 in Newtonville, Mass.  He was the great nephew of the inventor and painter of the same name.  Morse is credited with founding Del Monte Properties and building the Del Monte Lodge.  He built the Pebble Beach Golf Links along with three other golf courses in Pebble Beach.  Morse who a short time later, died after this photo was taken on May 10, 1969.  (Photo: Monterey Herald Archives)

Morse Fire in Pebble Beach, May 1987

Firefighters from the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey work on the "Morse Fire" as it begins to cross Los Altos Drive in Pebble Beach on May 31, 1987.  The Morse Fire in Pebble Beach consumned over thirty homes  (Orville Myers - Monterey Herald archives)

Ornette Coleman, Monterey Jazz Festival, 1967

Ornette Coleman performs at the 1967 Monterey Jazz Festival.  Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s, a term he invented with the name of an album.

The Paupers at Monterey Pop Festival, 1967

The Paupers from Canada, Denny Gerrard, Chuck Beal, Skip Prokop and Adam Mitchell arrive at Monterey Airoport to play at the Monterey Pop Festival.
(Photo: Monterey County Herald,  June 15, 1967)