Shipwrecks of the Monterey Peninsula

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, countless seafaring vessels met an unfortunate fate on the rocky shores of the Monterey Peninsula. Utilizing fantastic photos of shipwrecks from the Pacific Grove Library’s Tuttle Collection, Stuart Thornton tells the tales behind local shipwrecks including the Natalia, which went aground off the Custom House in 1834, to the over 70 foot long Roderick Dhu that became trapped offshore of Asilomar Beach in 1919. The presentation will also explain why so many shipwrecks used to occur here and how technological advances have slowed the number of maritime disasters off Monterey County.

Stuart Thornton is a Guide at Monterey State Historic Park, where he developed the “Shipwrecks of the Monterey Peninsula” talk. When he is away from the park, Stuart often works on writing projects including authoring the guidebooks Moon Monterey & Carmel and Moon Northern California Road Trips.