Gonzales

History

Gonzales was founded by Dr. Mariano Gonzalez and his brother Alfredo Gonzales on land that was originally Rancho Rincon de la Puente del Monte. The rancho was given to their father, Teodoro Gonzalez, in 1836 while he was serving as alcalde of Monterey. The brothers laid out the 50-block town on approximately in 1874 in a grid of northeast to southwest and northwest to southeast streets. In 1872, they granted a right-of-way through town to Southern Pacific Railroad, which subsequently built a depot for freight and passengers. The dominant commerce at the time was grain raising and cattle ranching. The Gonzalez brothers are also credited with constructing one of the first irrigation systems in the Salinas Valley. They built a dam and head gate on the nearby Salinas River and miles of canals throughout the area. In the early 1900s, Gonzales became a predominantly Swiss dairy community when John B. Meyenberg brought his original milk processing procedures to the region. His Alpine Milk Company, later known as the Meyenberg Milk Products Company, opened its first plant in Gonzales in 1906. At one time, there were 7,000 cows within five miles of town being milked. Prior to being nicknamed the "Wine Capital of Monterey County", Gonzales was known as "The Heart of the Salad Bowl" (due to its central location in the agricultural valley). Before that it was nicknamed "Little Switzerland" (due to the similarities of the valley landscape to Switzerland as well as the predominantly Swiss community at the time). Dairy farming gave way to orchards and row crops in the 1920s and prospered due to the rich soil and advancements in irrigation, machinery and transportation facilities. These improvements to agriculture technology turned the Salinas Valley into the nation's premier…

Geography

Gonzales is located in northern Monterey County at , in the Salinas Valley. U.S. Route 101 passes through the northeast side of the city, with access from three exits. US 101 leads northwest to Salinas, the county seat, and southeast to Soledad. According to the United States Census Bureau, Gonzales has a total area of , of which , or 1.95%, are water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• California/Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay

  Aphelocoma californica (Vigors, 1839) · Aves
  1,590
• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  1,197
• Acorn Woodpecker

  Melanerpes formicivorus (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  1,123
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  1,078
• California Towhee

  Melozone crissalis (Vigors, 1839) · Aves
  1,018
• Western Bluebird

  Sialia mexicana Swainson, 1832 · Aves
  984
• Oak Titmouse

  Baeolophus inornatus (Gambel, 1845) · Aves
  935
• California Quail

  Callipepla californica (Shaw, 1798) · Aves
  926

Most recent

• M 2.57 — 2026-09-21
  12 km W of Lake Nacimiento, CA
• M 2.59 — 2026-09-17
  2 km ENE of Aromas, CA
• M 2.62 — 2026-09-17
  21 km E of Alum Rock, CA
• M 2.66 — 2026-08-11
  5 km NW of Pinnacles, CA
• M 2.57 — 2026-08-11
  6 km NW of Pinnacles, CA
• M 3.94 — 2026-08-11
  6 km NW of Pinnacles, CA