Point Lobos is just south of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, and at the north end of the Big Sur coast of the Pacific Ocean. Point Lobos nearly became the site of a town. In 1896, the Carmelo Land and Coal Company subdivided the land into 1,000 lots and named the new town "Carmelito". Engineer Alexander Allan purchased the land and over many years bought back the lots that had been sold and erased the subdivision from the county records.
The two native cypress forest stands are protected, within Point Lobos State Reserve and Del Monte Forest. The natural habitat is noted for its cool, moist summers, almost constantly bathed by sea fog.
The Allan family retained the land to the east of Highway 1. Eunice Allan Riley, one of Alexander's three daughters, repurchased the last subdivided lots in the 1950s. In 1960, 750 acres (300 ha) underwater acres were added as the first marine reserve in the United States. The marine reserve was designated an ecological reserve in 1973, and in 1992, was added to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the largest in the nation.* Wikipedia
