Abbie Jane Hunter
Abbie Jane Hunter (1855–1918)
Born
Abigail Jones Goldsmith

1856 (1856)
San Francisco, California, US
DiedNovember 1918(1918-11-00) (aged 62–63)
OccupationReal estate development
SpouseJohn J. Hunter
Children1

Abigail Jane Hunter (1855–November 1918), was as an early pioneer businesswoman, real estate developer, and visionary of Carmel-by-the-Sea. She is best known as Carmel's first woman real estate developer and important contributor in Carmel's early years. In 1889, she worked with Santiago James Duckworth to help build a Catholic summer resort called Carmel City. Hunter is credited with coining the name Carmel-by-the-Sea and utilizing it in promoting Carmel City through newspaper advertisements and postcard mailers. After an unsuccessful undertaking, she sold her Carmel holdings in 1900.[1][2]

Early life

Hunter was born in San Francisco, California, in 1855.[2][3] She was the daughter of J. Gillet Goldsmith.[4] and Annie Johnston (1820-1898).[5] The family left New Orleans and moved to San Francisco in 1849. Abigail became a music teacher and organist. She married John J. Hunter on September 6, 1876 in San Francisco,[6] and lived on 355 First Street.[7] They had one child, Wesley R. Hunter (1876-1966), who was born on February 12, 1876, at San Francisco’s Hunters Point, named for his father.[2][8] The Hunters were divorced on September 4, 1903, in San Francisco.[9]

Professional background

Carmel City

Carmel City Map by W. C. Little (1888).
Carmel City Catholic Summer Resort advertisement.

In early 1888, the Pacific Improvement Company wanted to extend the Pacific railroad from Monterey to the Carmel River. Real estate developer Santiago J. Duckworth wanted to use this railway to establish a Catholic retreat near the Carmel Mission, in what would be called "Carmel City." However, the railroad was only extended from Monterey to the Asilimar in Pacific Grove, California. On February 18, 1888, Duckworth signed an agreement with French businessman and Monterey businessman Honoré Escolle, to sell 324 acres (131 ha) to Duckworth and his brother the property to build a Catholic Community.[10]: p27  The land began at the top of the Carmel Hill and ran past Hatton Ranch, down through Ocean Avenue to Junipero Avenue.[11]

In March 1888, Duckworth authorized W. C. Little, of Monterey, to survey the Carmel property and provide a subdivision map of the townsite with 135 blocks divided into four tracks. In July 1888, Duckworth began selling lots.[12][1]: p15  In April 1889, Duckworth placed an announcement in the local newspapers for the sale of lots, highlighting the advantages and proximity to the Southern Pacific Railroad.[12][1]: p15 

Real estate developer Abbie Jane Hunter’s uncle, carpenter Delos Edward Goldsmith (1828-1923) from Ohio, moved to Carmel in late 1888. Goldsmith and Hunter, with her son Wesley Hunter, started buying lots and building their first homes.[8]

In December 1889, Abbie Hunter bought 7 lots in Carmel City from Duckworth.[13] Her uncle Goldsmith purchased 5 lots in March 1890.[2] In 1889, Duckworth set aside 5 lots on Broadway Avenue (now Junipero), between 6th Avenue and Ocean Avenue, for Carmel City's first 18-room Hotel Carmelo. Hunter built the hotel with the help of Goldsmith and her son, Wesley Hunter. The Hotel Carmelo was purchased by the Carmel Development Company in April 1903 and dismantled. It was then moved down Ocean Avenue to Monte Verde Street where it became the shell for the present Pine Inn.[1][14]: p11 

In 1889, Hunter was responsible for getting the Carmel community bathhouse at the end of Ocean Avenue at the Carmel beach built with the help of Goldsmith and Wesley Hunter. The bathhouse was built to attracts tourists and had a boardwalk running from the main door to the beach with a cupola and windows across the front to view the ocean. It was torn down in 1929.[10]: p33 [14]: p10 [15]

In 1889, Duckworth advertised lots from $50 (equivalent to $1,629 in 2022) to $150 (equivalent to $4,886 in 2022) through his Duckworth Bros. Co., in Monterey.[16] In 1890, Duckworth printed a subdivision map, showing a 18-room Hotel Carmelo, cottages, and lots for sale.[13] On November 17, 1892, Duckworth decided to go into politics and directed all of his unsold lots to Escolle as his agent. In December 1889, Duckworth sold another 207 lots. Most of the people that bought the lots were school teachers and administrators from San Francisco.>[14]: p8 

Women's Investment Company

Women's Real Estate Investment Co. return address, addressed to W. T. Dummage in 1893.

In May 1891, Hunter formed the Women's Real Investment Company in San Francisco, what would become Carmel's first development group.[17] She was appointed President of the Investment Company on August 16, 1891. The company headquarters were in the California Academy of Sciences building.[18]

In July 1891, Hunter promoted lots in Carmel that could be purchased through her Women's Real Investment Company for $100 (equivalent to $3,257 in 2022) to $300 (equivalent to $9,771 in 2022).[19]

Hunter, of 355 First Street, was arrested in February 1892, when Duckworth brought charges of embezzlement. Duckworth said that Hunter was collecting money for her own use on property sold on the installment plan and that she had formed a conspiracy against Duckworth. It was also said that she transferred all her property to her mother, Annie Goldsmith.[20] Hunter won the civil action and was able to show that Duckworth actually owed her money.[2]

In February 1895, Hunter was apprehended and arrested in San Francisco on a charge of obtaining money by false pretenses and failing to produce a deed to a client, Mary O'Donnell, who had bought a lot in the Sunnyside tract of San Francisco.[21][22] Hunter was released on $3000 (equivalent to $105,528 in 2022) bail. The San Francisco court drop the charges, but the bank foreclosed on her home in Carmel-by-the-Sea on Guadalupe Street and 4th Avenue.[23][24]

Carmel-by-the-Sea

In July 1892, Hunter's Women's Real Investment Company became the active developer and acquired 164 acres of the Carmel City tract through its investors.[10][25][24] In 1892, Hunter sent out a bulk mailing postcard promoting Carmel-by-the-Sea instead of a Catholic retreat:

"Carmel-by-the-Sea an ideal summer resort! Just the place for summer homes and camping parties. Balmy Climate – Grand Bathing Beach – Excellent Trout Fishing. Pure mountain water supplied by the Pacific Improvement Co. Carriages meet all trains at Monterey. Building lots 40 x 100 can be purchased at slight cost and on very easy terms by applying to The Women’s Real Estate Investment Co., Rooms 53-54, Academy of Sciences Building, San Francisco."[13]

References to Carmel City as a Catholic resort were never used again. William T. Dummage was sent to Carmel as the resident agent in 1892, to sell lots for Hunter. Dummage and his wife went on to build the Mary Dummage Shop. On August 16, 1891, Hunter's agents, Dummage and Goldsmith, managed to sell 300 lots, mainly to teachers, professors, and writers. Escolle continued to sell lots, but without a unified development plan, sales were slow.[1][24] In addition, during the Panic of 1893 the United States went into a five-year depression that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. Sales were stagnant and the Carmel project was losing money.[14]: p5 

Abbie Jane Hunter House

Two Queen Anne-style cottages built by Delos E. Goldsmith. The one on the left was built for Augusta Robertson and the one on the right was for Abbie Jane Hunter.

In 1892 and 1894, Goldsmith built two Queen Anne-style cottages. The Abbie Jane Hunter House is a historic one-and-one-half story wood-framed Queen Anne style residence, located on the northeast corner of 4th Avenue and Guadalupe Street in Carmel-by-the-Sea. The house was designed by Douglas Knox Friser and built in 1894 by Delos E. Goldsmith and is named after Hunter.[26][27]

The house is a small, rustic cottage that is characteristic of the early cottages that were built in Carmel City at that time. The house was originally built as a summer residence for Hunter. She used the cottage as a studio and as a place to entertain fellow artists and friends.[28][29][27][10]: p31  The house later belonged to the William Askew family.[14]

The Hunter house was registered, by Kent L. Seavey, with the California Register of Historical Resources on May 13, 2002. It qualifies as a historic house under the California register criterion, in the area of history as one of the earliest remaining example of residential design in Carmel City, and for its association with Abbie Jane Hunter, Carmel's first woman real estate developer, and as an example of a design by Delos Goldsmith, Carmel's first master builder.[27]

Sold her Carmel holdings

By 1900, Hunter's Carmel enterprise was almost bankrupt. On January 5, 1900, Hunter sold her holdings,[14]: p8  that included 713 lots and 89.3-acre (0.361 km2) to Saunders. This made Saunders the owner of most of the Carmel property.[24][30]

In 1900, Saunders was involved in the Fort Miller Power Company and sold his Carmel property to San Francisco attorney Frank Hubbard Powers in November 1900. In 1902, real estate developer James Franklin Devendorf became Powers's partner. They establish the Carmel Development Company on November 25, 1902, which laid the foundation to establish an artists and writers' colony that became Carmel-by-the-Sea in 1903.[24]

In 1905, Hunter helped organize the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club with several other ladies involved in the club.[1]

Death

Hunter died in November 1918 at the age of 63.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Grimes, Teresa; Heumann, Leslie. "Historic Context Statement Carmel-by-the-Sea" (PDF). Leslie Heumann and Associates1994. pp. 15–16. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Neal Hotelling (12 Jul 2019). "The early days of developing the town and the mysterious Abbie Jane Hunter" (PDF). Carmel Pine Cone. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. pp. 26–27. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
  3. ↑ Goldsmith, Abigail (1856). "1860 United States Federal Census" (Database). United States of America, Bureau of the Census.
  4. ↑ "Died - Goldsmith". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. November 21, 1886. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
  5. ↑ "Deaths - Goldsmith". The San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco, California. April 2, 1898. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
  6. ↑ "Married". The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, California. September 13, 1876. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
  7. ↑ "Calvary Presbyterian Church". WM. C. Brown. San Francisco, California. 1883. p. 29. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  8. 1 2 "Wesley Hunter". Carmel Pine Cone. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. 1966-06-23. pp. 26–27. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
  9. ↑ "The following divorces were granted yeserday". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. September 5, 1903. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Seavey, Kent (2007). Carmel, A History in Architecture. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California: Arcadia Pub. pp. 27–32. ISBN 9780738547053. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  11. ↑ "Carmel City. The Beautiful Spot Decided Upon For a Catholic Summer Resort". Monterey Cypress. Monterey, California. 20 Apr 1889. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
  12. 1 2 "Carmel City. Great Enterprise of a Montereyan. S. J. Duckworth's Plan to Build Up a Catholic Summer Resort". Monterey Cypress. Monterey, California. 14 Dec 1889. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
  13. 1 2 3 Larry Scriviani (April 26, 2004). "Santiago Duckworth and the Catholic Resort". Harrison Memorial Library. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hale, Sharron Lee (1980). A tribute to yesterday: The history of Carmel, Carmel Valley, Big Sur, Point Lobos, Carmelite Monastery, and Los Burros. Santa Cruz, California: Valley Publishers. p. 6. ISBN 9780913548738. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
  15. ↑ Gilliam, Harold; Gilliam, Ann (1992). Creating Carmel: the Enduring Vision. Salt Lake City: Peregrine Smith Books. p. 62. ISBN 9780879053970. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  16. ↑ "Duckworth Bros". Monterey Cypress. Monterey, California. January 19, 1889. p. 11. Retrieved 2024-01-11.
  17. ↑ "Old Bath House". Carmel Pine Cone. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. 1945-07-06. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
  18. ↑ "Will Use Electricity. Recent Representative Sales". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. 16 Aug 1891. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
  19. ↑ "Country Real Estate". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. July 2, 1891. p. 11. Retrieved 2024-01-11.
  20. ↑ "Alleged Conspiracy Against a Prominent Resident of Monterey". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. February 7, 1892. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  21. ↑ "Did Not Own The Lot". The San Francisco Call. San Francisco, California. February 10, 1895. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  22. ↑ "An Investment Company Unsuccessfully Dabbles In Real Estate". The San Francisco Call. San Francisco, California. February 15, 1895. p. 11. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  23. ↑ "Mrs. Hunter's Defense, She Denies That She Ever Swindled Mary O'Donnell". San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco, California. 7 Mar 1895. p. 14. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 Neal Hotelling (19 Jul 2019). "What if trains had come to carmel and Pebble Beach? We'll never know" (PDF). Carmel Pine Cone. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. pp. 27–28. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
  25. ↑ Fink, Augusta (2000). Monterey County: The Dramatic Story of its Past. Valley Publishers. p. 221. ISBN 9780913548622. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  26. ↑ Dramov, Alissandra; Momboisse, Lynn A. (2016). Historic Homes And Inns Of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California: Arcadia Publishing. p. 88. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  27. 1 2 3 "DPR 523 Forms Volume I A-69" (PDF). City of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. May 13, 2002. Retrieved 2023-04-02.
  28. ↑ "Carmel Inventory Of Historic Resources Database" (PDF). City Of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  29. ↑ "Abbie Jane Hunter". Adventures Of A Home Town Tourist. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. October 30, 2014. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  30. ↑ "Real Estate Transactions". The Californian. Salinas, California. 5 Jan 1900. p. 3. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
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