Salinas

Salinas is the county seat and largest municipality of Monterey County, California. Salinas is located just outside the southern portion of the greater Bay Area and 10mi east-southeast of the mouth of the Salinas River, at an elevation of about 52ft above sea level. The population was 155,662. The city is located at the mouth of the Salinas Valley roughly eight miles from the Pacific Ocean and has a climate more influenced by the ocean than the hot-summer interior. The city consists mostly of late 20th century single family homes and low-level apartments, ranging from modest bungalows to spacious luxury homes, and serves as the main business, governmental and industrial center of the region. The marine climate is ideal for the floral industry, grape vineyards, and vegetable growers. Salinas is known for its vibrant and large agriculture industry and as the hometown of writer and Nobel Prize in Literature laureate John Steinbeck, who based several of his novels there.HistoryThe land currently occupied by the city of Salinas is thought to have been settled by Native Americans known as the Esselen prior to 200 AD. Between 200 and 500 AD, they were displaced by the Rumsen group of Ohlone speaking people. The Rumsen-Ohlone remained as the inhabitants of the area for approximately another 1200 years, and in the 1700s, were the group of native inhabitants contacted and recorded by the first Spanish explorers of the Salinas area.