The town had its beginning in 1875 as a summer Methodist camp, where several hundred people assembled to worship amidst rough tents. In time, the fragrant pines and fresh sea air brought others to the Pacific Grove Retreat to rest and meditate. The first camp meeting of the Pacific Coast branch of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle was held here in June 1879. Fashioned after the Methodist Sunday school teachers’ training camp established in 1874 at Lake Chautauqua, N.Y., this location became part of a nation-wide educational/cultural network.
In November 1879, after the summer campers returned home, Robert Louis Stevenson wandered into the deserted campgrounds: “I have never been in any place so dreamlike. Indeed, it was not so much like a deserted town as like a scene upon the stage by daylight, and with no one on the boards.” —from The Old Pacific Capitol
By 1889, the resort was incorporated, becoming the City of Pacific Grove. The last P.G. Chautauqua was held in August 1926.
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