The Chinese Fishing Villages of Carmel Bay

“View of Chinese Fishing Village near Monterey, California. No. 837.” Online Archive of California. Accessed August 17, 2022. https://oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb7199n8ht/?docId=hb7199n8ht&NAAN=13030&brand=oac4&layout=printable-details.

Carmel Bay is a small bay south of Monterey Bay on the central coast of California. Home to diverse marine wildlife, protected coves, and a dramatic coastline, it was a prime fishing location for early Chinese settlers in California in the 1800s. Pescadero Point and Point Lobos, the locations that frame the bay, were the sites of two important Chinese fishing villages, examples of Asian American roots in California. My family, the Jungs, settled in Pescadero Point.

The Chinese inhabitants of the villages made their living by fishing for abalone, shrimp, squid, and fish, and selling shell souvenirs to the growing number of tourists as the area became more developed in the 1880s and 1890s.

The land of my ancestors is known as Stillwater Cove, along 17 Mile Drive.