Monterey, Monterey County
Monterey was the capital of California under Spain and Mexico, and the first state constitution was written at Colton Hall in 1849. Sardine canneries later lined the waterfront street that John Steinbeck made famous as Cannery Row. The last of them closed in 1973, and in 1984 the Monterey Bay Aquarium opened in a converted cannery at the end of the row.