Colton Hall

No state plaque stands here; two society bronzes do. Walter Colton, Monterey's first American alcalde, wrote that the hall was paid for with town-lot sales, taxes on liquor shops and fines on gamblers, and built by the labor of convicts. The 1931 Native Sons tablet tells the convention story. The 2010 Daughters of the American Revolution bronze counts suffrage among the constitution's notable articles, and that article gave the vote to white men alone. Indians, as it called Native Californians, could be admitted only case by case, by a two-thirds vote of the legislature.

What the plaque says

Colton Hall In this building from September 1 to October 13, 1849 assembled the convention which drafted the constitution under which California was admitted to statehood, September 9, 1850. The forty-eight delegates met on the upper floor which ran the length of the main building. Robert Semple was chairman and William G. Marcy, secretary. The stairway leading to the convention hall was in the rear of the building. Reverend Walter Colton, first American alcalde in Monterey, erected this building, which bears his name, as a public hall and school house. Colton and Robert Semple established in Monterey on August 15, 1846, the first American newspaper in California. Tablet placed by Historic Landmarks Committee, Native Sons of the Golden West June 3, 1931. Colton Hall - Site of California's Original Constitution Forty-eight men of diverse education and cultural backgrounds from throughout California converged upon Monterey in September in 1849 to frame a constitutional government for California. Working together as Californians, they created this important cornerstone of government. The deliberations, conducted in English and Spanish, took place in Colton Hall. On October 13, 1849, the delegates signed and submitted a state constitution to the people of California. It was ratified by popular vote on November 13, 1849. The 1849 Constitution was notable in that it featured articles on suffrage, women's property rights, prohibition of slavery, establishment of the state's eastern boundary, and specified that all laws and ordinances would be published in English and Spanish. On September 9, 1850, the Congress of the United States of America approved the constitution, making California the 31st state. California State Society, Daughters of the American Revolution March 7, 2010

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Vásquez House — steps away
• House of Four Winds — steps away
• Larkin House — steps away
• Gutiérrez Adobe — steps away