Your Reading List on Carmel's History,
People, Places and more.  Enjoy!

Preamble - Documents on Carmel History - Reading Worthy or Viewing

  • City of Carmel-by-the-Sea authored 2016 Centennial booklet (a brief 100 year history) - PDF HERE
  • In Carmel's General Plan you can find the Historic Context Appendix, Great Reading - PDF HERE 
  • A Citizen's Committee was formed in 1991, 25 years in advance of the Centennial.  This 24 page report reflects the dreams of this Committee on what they'd like to see in our Village in 2016 - PDF HERE
  • Nearing the Centennial year CRA leaders prepared a special issue of The Voice - that summarizes the 2016 Report sections and provides status (or not) from the ideal progress envisioned back in 1991- PDF HERE
  • Here is a great article on the history of the Carmel Mission Basilica and Father Serra - link here
  • Here is a great page with video's on the Frank Lloyd Wright House known as the "Walker House" - link here
  • And don't miss these two history of Carmel History Video's (both narrated by Clint Eastwood)
       1. Bohemian Soul: A Colony Awakens video link here and
       2. Don't Pave Main Street video link here

Top Books - on Carmel's History & Culture

  • Carmel at Work and Play - Author(s) Daisy Bostick & Dorothea Castelhun - Published 1925
  • Creating Carmel, The Enduring Vision - Author(s) Harold & Ann Gilliam - Published 1992
  • Carmel...a Great Place to Live - Publisher Ron G. Wilks - Published 2023 (a photo coffeetable book)
  • Carmel-by-the-Sea Past & Present - Author Alissandra Dramov - Published 2022
  • The Gilded Edge, Two Audacious Women.... - Author Catherine Prendergast - Published 2021
  • Historic Buildings of Downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea - Author Alissandra Dramov - Published 2019
  • Stories of Old Carmel - Author(s) The Carmel Residents Association - Published 2016
  • Carmel Impressions, a cultural biography of Dene Denny & Hazel Watrous - Author David J. Gordon - Published 2016
  • Historic Homes and Inns of Carmel-by-the-Sea - Authors Alissandra Dramov & Lynn A Momboisse - Published 2016
  • Carmel-by-the-Sea, California's Storybook Town Coloring Book for all Ages - By Jan Kokler - Published 2016
  • Legendary Locals of Carmel-by-the-Sea - Author Lisa Crawford Watson - Published 2015
  • Beloved Trees of Carmel-by-the-Sea - Author Shambhala Master & L.M. McDermott - Published 2014
  • Carmel-By-The-Sea, The Early Years (1903-1913) - Author Alissandra Dramov - Published 2013
  • River in Ruin: The Story of the Carmel River - Author Ray A. March - Published 2012
  • Carmel's Fairy Tale Cottages - Author Mike Barton - Published 2011
  • The Secret History of Carmel - Author John Thompson - First Published in 2011
  • Carmel, A History in Architecture (Images of America) - Author Kent Seavey - Published 2007
  • Carmel - A Timeless Place - Author Steve Shapiro - Published 2007
  • Carmel-by-the-Sea (Images of America) - Author Monica Hudson - Published 2006
  • Cottages by the Sea, The Handmade Homes of Carmel, America's First Artist Community - Author Linda L. Paul - Published 2000
  • Carmel by-the-Bates - by Bill Bates - Published 1990 (yes, same title one dated 1988))
  • Old Carmel in Rare Photographs - By S. Levin - Published 1995
  • Carmel by-the-Bates - by Bill Bates - Published 1988
  • A Tribute to Yesterday: The History of Carmel, Carmel Valley, Big Sur, Point Lobos, Carmelite Monastery, and Los Burros - Author Sharron L. Hale - Published 1980
  • The Fairy Tale Houses of Carmel - Author Joanne Mathewson - Published 1977
  • Bill Bates in Carmel - By Bill Bates - Published 1977
  • The Seacoast of Bohemia: An Account of Early Carmel - Author Franklin Walker - Published 1973
  • Curious Customer of Carmel - Author El Frieda Liese - First Published 1968
  • The Stone Mason of Tor House - Author  Melba Berry Bennett - Published 1966 
  • Carmel-by-the-Sea - The Story and Picture - Author Emil White - First Published 1961
  • Carmel Today and Yesterday - Author Daisy Bostick - First Published in 1945

...and these covering close by people & areas beyond our Village...

  • Secret Monterey, a Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure - Author David Laws - Published 2022
  • The Life & Times of Jo Mora - Author Peter Hiller - Published 2021
  • Humbled: How California's Monterey Bay Escaped Industrial Ruin - Authors Glenn Church & Katherine McKenzie - Published 2020
  • Boss:  The Story of S.F.B. Morse, the Founder of Pebble Beach - Author Charles Osborne - Published 2018
  • Nature Wisdom: Mystical Writers of the Big Sur-Monterey Coast - Author Elayne Fitzpatrick - Published 2014
  • Preserving Nature: A Field Guide to the Art and Artists of the Monterey Bay - Author(s) Cynthia W. Weick & Joaquin Turner 
  • The Monterey Pine Forest - Author The Monterey Pine Forest Watch - Published 2011
  • My Napenthe - Author Romney Steele - Published 2009

  • Storied Land: Community and Memory in Monterey - Author John Walton - Published 2001

  • Voices from the Sea - Author Margaret Wentworth Owings - Published 1998

      ...not books but very interesting webpages worthy of reading: https://talesfromcarmel.com/ and https://www.folksinging.org/blog/

More....now mostly fiction-ish

The following 8 books are outstanding mysteries set in Carmel with a combo of fiction and real local characters by a local author!

    • Murder in the Pines - Author Kathryn Gualtieri - Published 2011
    • Murder Takes the Stage - Author Kathryn Gualtieri - Published 2012
    • The Laundryman's Daughter - Author Kathryn Gualtieri - Published 2013
    • The Missing Bohemian - Author Kathryn Gualtieri - Published 2015
    • A Brush with Death - Author Kathryn Gualtieri - Published 2016
    • The Red Scare - Author Kathryn Gualtieri - Published 2017
    • Murder By Candlelight - Author Kathryn Gualtieri - Published 2019
    • No Mind for Murder - Author Kathryn Gualtieri - Published 2020
  • Bohemian Murders - Author Dianne Day - Published 1998
  • Gnome Alone in Carmel - Author Karyl Hall - Published 2017
  • Lost in Carmel, a Novel - Author Terry Lee - Published 2019
  • Hollywood in Monterey, Chronicles of a Cop - Author Sgt Bill Cassara - Published 2020
  • The Artist Colony - Author Joanna Fitzpatrick - Published 2021
  • The Gilded Edge - Author Catherine Pendergast - Published 2021

Please let us know if there is more to add to this roster - by emailing [email protected]. 

PS:  I'm gathering missing items from this list and will retake the picture to include all of these.  Some are hard to get, sorry about that.  And our amazing Carmel Library and their History teams have much more and many if not all of these above to offer as well...check it out - https://ci.carmel.ca.us/local-history and https://ci.carmel.ca.us/library