Colton Hall Museum and Jail

At 570 Pacific St in Monterey, Colton Hall is a small, free museum in the building where delegates drafted California’s first constitution in 1849. Upstairs, a recreated meeting room and exhibits on early Monterey bring the convention into focus; the constitution was written in English and Spanish. Step outside to see the gardens, bear sculptures and historic stonework, then visit the adjacent Old Monterey Jail for its stone walls and scratched graffiti. A balcony adds a view over the grounds.

A school and meeting hall becomes a museum

Walter Colton designed and oversaw the construction of Colton Hall between 1847 and 1859. He had arrived in Monterey as a chaplain and became the town’s first American alcalde, or chief magistrate. The building was intended for public meetings and a school, and opened in 1849. It was Monterey’s first public building constructed under the American flag and the first Greek Revival-style building on the Pacific Coast.

In October 1849, delegates gathered here to draft California’s first state constitution. The document was written in English and Spanish. The convention gives the building its place in the story of California’s move toward statehood; California became the thirty-first U.S. state in 1850. Colton Hall later served as a school, courthouse and county seat.

The museum and Old Monterey Jail

The museum is on the second floor, with exhibits about early Monterey and a recreation of the convention meeting room. Artifacts and reproductions help explain the drafting of the constitution. From the balcony, you can look out over the grounds.

The Old Monterey Jail is next to Colton Hall and can be explored on a self-guided visit. Its stone walls preserve graffiti scratched into the surface. Outside, paths pass garden areas, bear sculptures and old stonework. The grounds and nearby historic buildings also make it easy to extend a visit along Monterey’s downtown Path of History, marked by round yellow tiles set into the sidewalk.