Pebble Beach, California
Encyclopedia
Pebble Beach is an unincorporated community
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Monterey County
Monterey County, California
Monterey County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, its northwestern section forming the southern half of Monterey Bay. The northern half of the bay is in Santa Cruz County. As of 2010, the population was 415,057. The county seat and largest city is Salinas...

, California. It lies at an elevation of 3 feet (1 m). Pebble Beach is a small coastal resort destination, home to the famous golf course
Golf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...

, Pebble Beach Golf Links
Pebble Beach Golf Links
Pebble Beach Golf Links is a golf course located in Pebble Beach, California, on the west coast of the United States.Pebble Beach is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful courses in the world. It hugs the rugged coastline and has wide open views of Carmel Bay, opening to the Pacific Ocean,...

.

As well, the Inn at Spanish Bay and Pebble Beach Lodge and half of the seven golf courses inside the Pebble Beach community are among the local assets owned by the Pebble Beach Company, a subsidiary of Plaut Inc. Residents pay homeowner association fees for road maintenance as well as Monterey County property tax
Property tax
A property tax is an ad valorem levy on the value of property that the owner is required to pay. The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state or a municipality...

es. Application of the property tax revenues is the realm of the Pebble Beach Community Services District, a public agency with an elected board of directors that manages essential functions including fire protection and emergency medical services, supplemental law enforcement, wastewater collection and treatment, recycled water distribution, and garbage collection, disposal and recycling. The community's post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

 is named Pebble Beach, however, the U.S. Census Bureau aggregates census returns from Pebble Beach as part of the larger census-designated place
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...

 of Del Monte Forest
Del Monte Forest, California
Del Monte Forest is a census-designated place located in Monterey County, California. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a total population of 4,514, down from 4,532 at the 2000 census. The census area includes the separate well-known community of Pebble Beach...

.

The area is also partly administered by the Del Monte Forest Foundation, a non-profit organization designated by Monterey County and the California Coastal Commission
California Coastal Commission
The California Coastal Commission is a state agency in the U.S. state of California with quasi-judicial regulatory oversight over land use and public access in the California coastal zone....

 to acquire and manage certain properties by conservation easement and, as well, as by fee title. The Foundation comprises a volunteer board of 12 members working to preserve the open space within the Del Monte Forest. Except for two representatives of the Pebble Beach Company, all must be property owners and residents of the Forest.

The ZIP Code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

 is 93953, and the community is inside area code 831
Area code 831
North American area code 831 is a California area code which covers Salinas, Hollister, Monterey, Santa Cruz and the northern Central Coast. It was created in a split from area code 408 on July 11, 1998.-Monterey County:*Aromas*Boronda*Carmel Highlands...

.

History

The name Pebble Beach was originally given to a rocky cove, a small part of the Rancho Pescadero
Rancho Pescadero (Barreto)
Rancho Pescadero was a Mexican land grant in present day Monterey County, California given in 1836 by Governor Nicolás Gutiérrezto Fabián Barreto. Pescadero means fishing place in Spanish...

 Mexican land grant awarded to Fabián Barreto in 1836. Barreto died and the land went through several owners. In the 1850s, Chinese immigrants formed a series of fishing settlements along Carmel Bay including one at Stillwater Cove, next to Pebble Beach. They collected abalone
Abalone
Abalone , from aulón, are small to very large-sized edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae and the genus Haliotis...

 and various fish. In 1860, David Jack
David Jack (businessman)
David Jack , also known as David Jacks, was a powerful Californian landowner, developer, and businessman. Born in Scotland, he emigrated to California during the 1849 Gold Rush, and soon acquired several thousand acres in and around Monterey, shaping the history of Monterey County in the first...

 bought the Mexican land grant, then sold it in 1880 to the Pacific Improvement Company (PIC), a consortium of The Big Four railroad barons. By 1892, the PIC laid out a scenic road that they called the 17-Mile Drive
17-Mile Drive
The 17 Mile Drive is a scenic road through Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach, California, much of which hugs the Pacific coastline and passes famous golf courses and mansions. It also serves as the main road through the gated community of Pebble Beach. Inside this community, non-residents have to pay...

, meandering along the beaches and among the forested areas between Monterey and Carmel. The drive was offered as a pleasure excursion to guests of the PCI-owned Hotel Del Monte, and it was intended to attract wealthy buyers of large and scenic residential plots on PIC land. Sightseers riding horses or carriages along the 17-Mile Drive sometimes stopped at Pebble Beach to pick up agate and other stones polished smooth by the waves, and they commented on a few unusual tree formations known as the Witch Tree and the Ostrich Tree—the latter formed by two trees leaning on each other. At that time, the Chinese fishing community continued in existence despite mounting anti-Chinese sentiment among Monterey residents of European heritage. At roadside stands, Chinese-American girls sold shells and polished pebbles to tourists. In the 1900s, the automobile began replacing horses on 17-Mile Drive, and by 1907 there were only automobiles.
In 1908, architect Lewis P. Hobart
Lewis P. Hobart
Lewis Parsons Hobart was an American architect whose designs included San Francisco's Grace Cathedral, several California Academy of Sciences buildings, and the 511 Federal Building in Portland, Oregon....

 was hired by PIC manager A.D. Shepard to design the Pebble Beach Lodge, a rustic log-cabin-style one-story inn completed by 1909. The rambling lodge, featuring private patio nooks and a wide pergola made of local logs, was positioned halfway along 17-Mile Drive, overlooking Pebble Beach. The great hall or assembly room was 35 by wide and was flanked by massive fireplaces at each end. A tavern and kitchen supplied food and drink, and cabins could be rented for overnight guests. Operated under the same management as the Hotel Del Monte, food service was available at all hours, including fresh local abalone chowder. The lodge was built as the community center for the wealthy residents of the Del Monte Forest
Del Monte Forest, California
Del Monte Forest is a census-designated place located in Monterey County, California. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a total population of 4,514, down from 4,532 at the 2000 census. The census area includes the separate well-known community of Pebble Beach...

, and was popular as a rest stop for 17-Mile Drive motorists. Finley Brown Morse, a distant cousin to Samuel F. B. Morse
Samuel F. B. Morse
Samuel Finley Breese Morse was an American contributor to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system based on European telegraphs, co-inventor of the Morse code, and an accomplished painter.-Birth and education:...

 known as the inventor of Morse Code, was hired in the 1910s to manage the PIC. In 1916, Morse convinced the PIC to create a golf course at the edge of Pebble Beach and Stillwater Cove. The lodge burned down on December 17, 1917, while the course was being completed, and a completely different structure replaced it: the Del Monte Lodge. Hobart worked with Clarence Tantau to create a luxurious multi-story hotel, and Hobart designed a signature "Roman Plunge" pool to the east of the hotel. The golf course and the new lodge held a grand opening on February 22, 1919.

Morse formed the Del Monte Properties Company on February 27, 1919, and acquired the extensive holdings of the PIC, which included the Del Monte Forest, the Del Monte Lodge and the Hotel Del Monte. Morse brought his son on board as president in 1948. The lodge was expanded with offices and a shopping arcade. In 1954, Morse's son-in-law was named president of the Del Monte Properties Company.

Finley Brown Morse died in 1969. Alfred Gawthrop Jr served as Chairman of Del Monte Properties through the 1970s. On March 30, 1977, the Del Monte Properties Company was reincorporated as the Pebble Beach Corporation. The Del Monte Lodge was renamed the Lodge at Pebble Beach.

In May 1979, 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...

, then chaired by Marvin Davis
Marvin Davis
Marvin H. Davis was an American industrialist and philanthropist...

, purchased the Pebble Beach Corporation. When the film company was sold to Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....

 in 1985, Davis kept several company assets not directly related to the film and TV industry, including the Pebble Beach Company and the Aspen Skiing Company
Aspen Skiing Company
The Aspen Skiing Company, known locally as "Ski Co", is a commercial enterprise based in Aspen, Colorado in the United States.-History:Founded in 1946 by Walter Paepcke, it operates the Aspen/Snowmass resort complex, comprising four ski areas near the town of Aspen...

.

In 1990 Davis sold the Pebble Beach Company to the Japanese businessman Minoru Isutani, who made it a subsidiary of the Japanese resort company Taiheiyo Club Inc. under a holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...

 called the Lone Cypress Company. Isutani was investigated by the FBI in the early 1990s for money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...

. Isutani's $341M loss taken on the sale of Pebble Beach was cited as an example.
In 1999 the Pebble Beach Company was acquired from Cypress by an investor group led by Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...

, Arnold Palmer
Arnold Palmer
Arnold Daniel Palmer is an American professional golfer, who is generally regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men's professional golf. He has won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, dating back to 1955...

, and Peter Ueberroth
Peter Ueberroth
Peter Victor Ueberroth is an American executive. He served as the sixth Commissioner of Major League Baseball from 1984 to 1989. He was recently the chairman of the United States Olympic Committee; he was replaced by Larry Probst in October 2008....

. In 2000, the company initiated Measure A, a controversial development proposal. Eastwood appeared in a $1 million advertising campaign urging voters to help save the forest. In 2006, the plan went before the California Coastal Commission for approval. On June 14, 2007, the plan was submitted again. Commissioner Sara Wan called it "wholesale destruction of the environment," and Measure A was denied in an 8 to 4 vote.

A famous landmark, known as the "Witch Tree," stood for decades at Pescadero Point until it fell during a storm on January 14, 1964. It was sometimes used as scenic background in movies and television. It was displayed as part of the coast of Italy, in the 1951 movie Mr. Imperium, with Lana Turner, Ezio Pinza, Majorie Main and Barry Sullivan. That tree was also part of the background in an early scene from the 1956 movie Julie, featuring Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...

, while she was fleeing from her psychopathic husband, played by Louis Jourdan.

Pescadero Point is the site of the "Ghost Tree", a landmark Monterey Cypress tree. The tree gives its name to a dangerous extreme surfing location known to have storm waves as large as 60 feet (18.3 m) high. Effective 2009, the surf break of Ghost Tree is off limits, the result of a decision by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that personal watercraft, which are a necessity for the tow-in only surf spot, are not permitted in specified waters of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Demographics

The community has 4,531 residents and is relatively affluent
Affluence in the United States
Affluence in the United States refers to an individual's or household's state of being in an economically favorable position in contrast to a given reference group...

, home to many retirees and well-educated
Educational attainment in the United States
The educational attainment of the U.S. population is similar to that of many other industrialized countries with the vast majority of the population having completed secondary education and a rising number of college graduates that outnumber high school dropouts. As a whole, the population of the...

 workers in the social service (education and health care), management and finance sectors. While Monterey County has a very large Hispanic population, Pebble Beach is more ethnically homogenous, with 91.4% of the population being White, 5.3% Asian, 2.3% Hispanic or Latino and 0.4% African American. The median household income
Median household income
The median household income is commonly used to generate data about geographic areas and divides households into two equal segments with the first half of households earning less than the median household income and the other half earning more...

 is $99,788, with 54% with incomes between $50,000 and $150,000 and a little more than a quarter of households, 26.2%, with incomes exceeding $150,000. Household income
Household income in the United States
Household income is a measure commonly used by the United States government and private institutions, that counts the income of all residents over the age of 18 in each household, including not only all wages and salaries, but such items as unemployment insurance, disability payments, child support...

 figures, however, may not accurately reflect the area's wealth as 50.8% of households received social security income and 30.8% were retired. Less than half of the population 16 or over, 46.4%, are employed. Of those who work, the plurality (25%) are employed in the social service, education and health care sector, followed by the management (15%) and finance sectors (15%). 2.3% of the population live below the poverty level
Poverty in the United States
Poverty is defined as the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. According to the U.S. Census Bureau data released Tuesday September 13th, 2011, the nation's poverty rate rose to 15.1% in 2010, up from 14.3% in 2009 and to its highest level...

. The area's adult population is fairly well-educated, with 61% having at least a Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

, and 98% having a high school diploma, compared to 25% and 80% at the national average, respectively.

Golf

Pebble Beach has seven public and private 18-hole golf courses. Pebble Beach Golf Links
Pebble Beach Golf Links
Pebble Beach Golf Links is a golf course located in Pebble Beach, California, on the west coast of the United States.Pebble Beach is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful courses in the world. It hugs the rugged coastline and has wide open views of Carmel Bay, opening to the Pacific Ocean,...

, The Links at Spanish Bay, and Spyglass Hill
Spyglass Hill Golf Course
The Spyglass Hill Golf Course, also known as "the Glass", is a golf course located on the Monterey Peninsula in California, United States. The course is part of the Pebble Beach Company, which also owns the Pebble Beach Golf Links, The Links at Spanish Bay, and the Del Monte Golf Course.Spyglass...

 are owned by the Pebble Beach Company and are all public courses. Poppy Hills is also a public course. Private courses located at Pebble Beach are Cypress Point Club
Cypress Point Club
Cypress Point Club is a private golf club in California. The club has a single eighteen hole course, one of eight on the Monterey peninsula near Monterey, California. The course is well known around the world for its series of three holes that play along the Pacific Ocean: the 15th, 16th and 17th,...

 and the private Monterey Peninsula Country Club
Monterey Peninsula Country Club
The Monterey Peninsula Country Club is a golf club located in Pebble Beach, California.Seth Raynor designed the Dunes course in 1926, but died before construction was complete. Local Robert Hunter was called in to finish out the construction of the course...

's two courses, the Dunes Course and the Shore Course. The Pebble Beach Company also owns a nine hole par-3 course in Pebble Beach called the Peter Hay course, and Del Monte Golf Course a few miles away in Monterey, which is the oldest continuously operating course in the Western United States.

Several of these courses are widely celebrated, especially Pebble Beach Golf Links. Designed by Jack Neville and Douglas Grant, it is the most famous course in the Western United States, and the only course which has ever beaten Pine Valley Golf Club
Pine Valley Golf Club
Pine Valley Golf Club is a golf course in Pine Valley, Camden County, in southern New Jersey. It was ranked the number one course in Golf Magazines 100 Top Courses in the U.S. and the World in 2009.-History:...

 to top spot in Golf Digest
Golf Digest
Golf Digest is a monthly golf magazine published by Condé Nast Publications in the United States. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competitive golf. Condé Nast Publications also publishes the more specialized , and Golf World Business. The...

's
biennial list of America's 100 greatest courses. Pebble Beach Golf Links has been the site of the US Open in 1972, 1982, 1992, 2000, and 2010.

AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (formerly known as the Crosby Clambake) is held here annually in February. The tournament began in 1937.

Concours d'Elegance

The annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance
The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is an automotive charitable event held each year on the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California, considered the most prestigious event of its kind. It is the finale of a week long festival of classic cars events in the Monterey area every year...

 auto show
Auto show
An auto show, or motor show, is a public exhibition of current automobile models, debuts, concept cars, or out-of-production classics. It is commonly attended by automobile manufacturers. Most auto shows occur once or twice a year...

 has been held in Pebble Beach since 1950. The event focuses on classic car
Classic car
A classic car is an older car; the exact meaning is variable. The Classic Car Club of America maintains that a car must be between 20 and 40 years old to be a classic, while cars over 45 years fall into the Antique Class.- Classic Car Club of America :...

s, and each year features a particular marque as its focus. In addition to the car competition, there is an auction, a classic car tour, and an automotive art exhibit.

Geography

Pebble Beach is in Monterey County
Monterey County, California
Monterey County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, its northwestern section forming the southern half of Monterey Bay. The northern half of the bay is in Santa Cruz County. As of 2010, the population was 415,057. The county seat and largest city is Salinas...

 on the Monterey Peninsula
Monterey Peninsula
The Monterey Peninsula is located on the central California coast and comprises the cities of Monterey, Carmel, and Pacific Grove, and unincorporated areas of Monterey County including the resort and community of Pebble Beach.-Monterey:...

 at 36°33′59"N 121°56′48"W. It is bordered by Carmel-by-the-Sea
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
Carmel-by-the-Sea, often called simply Carmel, is a small city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and incorporated in 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, the town is known for its natural scenery and rich artistic history...

 to the south, Pacific Grove
Pacific Grove, California
Pacific Grove is a coastal city in Monterey County, California, USA, with a population of 15,041 as of the 2010 census, down from 15,522 as of the 2000 census...

 to the north, the City of Monterey
Monterey, California
The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...

 to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Big Sur
Big Sur
Big Sur is a sparsely populated region of the Central Coast of California where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. The name "Big Sur" is derived from the original Spanish-language "el sur grande", meaning "the big south", or from "el país grande del sur", "the big...

 is about a 40 miles (64.4 km) drive south on scenic State Route 1
California State Route 1
State Route 1 , more often called Highway 1, is a state highway that runs along much of the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. It is famous for running along some of the most beautiful coastlines in the world, leading to its designation as an All-American Road.Highway 1 does not run...

. Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...

 and San Francisco are about 45 and 120 miles (193.1 km) to the north, respectively.

Geology

Pebble Beach owes much of its picturesque qualities to the granitic rock
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

 outcroppings visible along the coast. These are characteristic of the Salinian Block
Salinian Block
The Salinian Block or Salinian terrane is a geologic terrane which lies west of the main trace of the San Andreas Fault system in California. It is bounded on the south by the Big Pine Fault in Ventura County, and on the west by the Nacimiento Fault...

, a geologic province which runs from the Baja California Peninsula
Baja California Peninsula
The Baja California peninsula , is a peninsula in northwestern Mexico. Its land mass separates the Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of California. The Peninsula extends from Mexicali, Baja California in the north to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur in the south.The total area of the Baja California...

 and up through California west of the San Andreas Fault
San Andreas Fault
The San Andreas Fault is a continental strike-slip fault that runs a length of roughly through California in the United States. The fault's motion is right-lateral strike-slip...

.

Environmental issues

There are several habitat types within Pebble Beach, including intertidal zone, littoral
Littoral
The littoral zone is that part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore. In coastal environments the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged. It always includes this intertidal zone and is often used to...

 zone and pine forest. The Monterey Pine
Monterey Pine
The Monterey Pine, Pinus radiata, family Pinaceae, also known as the Insignis Pine or Radiata Pine is a species of pine native to the Central Coast of California....

 forest is habitat to numerous rare
Rare species
A rare species is a group of organisms that are very uncommon or scarce. This designation may be applied to either a plant or animal taxon, and may be distinct from the term "endangered" or "threatened species" but not "extinct"....

 and endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...

 including Hickman's potentilla
Hickman's potentilla
Potentilla hickmanii is an endangered perennial herb of the rose family. This rare plant species is found in a narrowly restricted range in two locations in coastal northern California, in Monterey County, and in very small colonies in San Mateo County...

 and Yadon's piperia, both of which are federally protected species. Hickman's potentilla was first discovered within the Del Monte Forest in present day Pebble Beach by the botanist, Alice Eastwood
Alice Eastwood
Alice Eastwood was a Canadian American botanist. Born in Toronto, she moved to the United States at 14, and from age twenty to thirty, was a teacher in Denver, Colorado and taught herself botany. In 1890 she assumed a post in the herbarium at the California Academy of Sciences...

 in the year 1900. After a survey in 1992 by Earth Metrics Inc. this plant was listed as a protected species by the U.S. Government.

Schools

The public schools serving Pebble Beach are Carmel High School, Carmel Middle School, and River School, all located in Carmel
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
Carmel-by-the-Sea, often called simply Carmel, is a small city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and incorporated in 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, the town is known for its natural scenery and rich artistic history...

, and Forest Grove School, Pacific Grove Middle School, and Pacific Grove High School
Pacific Grove High School
Pacific Grove High School is a public high school located in Pacific Grove, California, between Carmel and Monterey.-History:The City of Pacific Grove formed the Pacific Grove Unified School District in 1895. On June 32, 1896 the City passed a bond issue to build the town's first high school...

, all located in Pacific Grove
Pacific Grove, California
Pacific Grove is a coastal city in Monterey County, California, USA, with a population of 15,041 as of the 2010 census, down from 15,522 as of the 2000 census...

. Pebble Beach is also home to Stevenson School
Stevenson School
Stevenson School is a private, coeducational PK–12 school for boarding and day students...

, a coed half-boarding, half-day private high-school. The high school runs alternative radio station KSPB
KSPB
KSPB is a radio station broadcasting a Variety format. Licensed to Pebble Beach, California, USA, the station serves the Santa Cruz area. The station is currently owned by Stevenson School and features programing from Public Radio International...

, which broadcasts BBC World Service when students are not operating the station.

Other features

Pebble Beach has few businesses apart from those owned by the Pebble Beach Company (except the golf course
Golf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...

s, a private school
Stevenson School
Stevenson School is a private, coeducational PK–12 school for boarding and day students...

, one gas station, and a deli
Delicatessen
Delicatessen is a term meaning "delicacies" or "fine foods". The word entered English via German,with the old German spelling , plural of Delikatesse "delicacy", ultimately from Latin delicatus....

) and no sidewalk
Sidewalk
A sidewalk, or pavement, footpath, footway, and sometimes platform, is a path along the side of a road. A sidewalk may accommodate moderate changes in grade and is normally separated from the vehicular section by a curb...

s. Most of the very expensive houses are hidden behind old-growth
Old growth forest
An old-growth forest is a forest that has attained great age , and thereby exhibits unique ecological features. An old growth forest has also usually reached a climax community...

 trees. It is quiet, secluded, and somewhat gloomy in foggy weather, which occurs quite frequently on the Peninsula in general, and in particular here where it meets the Pacific head-on.

Pebble Beach is a gated community
Gated community
In its modern form, a gated community is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly-controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences. Gated communities usually consist of small residential...

, but differs from most gated communities. The Pebble Beach Company gets $9.50 in revenue per car from tourists driving along the 17-Mile Drive
17-Mile Drive
The 17 Mile Drive is a scenic road through Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach, California, much of which hugs the Pacific coastline and passes famous golf courses and mansions. It also serves as the main road through the gated community of Pebble Beach. Inside this community, non-residents have to pay...

. Residents are issued small license plate badges that are attached near their cars' license plates or in their windshields.

Famous residents

  • Al Bernardin
    Al Bernardin
    Al Bernardin was an American restaurateur and businessman who invented the McDonald's Quarter Pounder in 1971 as a franchise owner in Fremont, California. The creation of the Quarter Pounder earned him the nickname "Fremont's hamburger king."Bernadin later became McDonald's vice president of...

    , inventor of the Quarter Pounder
    Quarter Pounder
    The Quarter Pounder is a hamburger product sold by international fast food chain McDonald's, originally containing a patty with a precooked weight of a quarter of a pound .-History:...

  • Clint Eastwood
    Clint Eastwood
    Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...

    , actor-director
  • Gary Kildall
    Gary Kildall
    Gary Arlen Kildall was an American computer scientist and microcomputer entrepreneur who created the CP/M operating system and founded Digital Research, Inc....

    , computer scientist and microcomputer entrepreneur
  • Greg London
    Greg London
    Greg London is an American singer, entertainer and impressionist. After a solo hit show in London's West End, he enjoyed a lengthy residency in Reno, Nevada before announcing his move to the Las Vegas Strip in mid 2010.-Early life:...

    , singer-actor-impressionist
  • George Lopez
    George Lopez
    George Lopez is an American comedian, actor, and talk show host. He is mostly known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom George Lopez. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including the Mexican American culture...

    , comedian
  • Tibor Rudas
    Tibor Rudas
    Tibor Rudas is a Hungarian entrepreneur, known for the conceptualization of The Three Tenors concerts, featuring José Carreras, Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti.- References :...

    , musical impresario and originator of The Three Tenors
  • Alan Shepard
    Alan Shepard
    Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. was an American naval aviator, test pilot, flag officer, and NASA astronaut who in 1961 became the second person, and the first American, in space. This Mercury flight was designed to enter space, but not to achieve orbit...

    , astronaut
  • Charles R. Schwab
    Charles R. Schwab
    Charles R. "Chuck" Schwab is the founder and chairman of the Charles Schwab Corporation.-Early life:Schwab was born in Sacramento, California. Despite having the same name, he is not related to Charles M. Schwab, the American steel magnate of the first half of the Twentieth Century...

    , stock broker

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