| The
Manchester area begins just south of the Bridgeport
District at Mallo Pass Creek and extends to just
south of the town of Manchester. It comprises the
vacation house community of Irish Beach, long stretches
of farmland, Manchester State Beach and the town
of Manchester. The principal road through the area
is Highway One. Mountain View Road, located just
south of Manchester, leaves the area via 25 miles
of slow mountain road to arrive in Boonville, part
of the Anderson Valley. Manchester has a population
of about 400 and has a post office and the largest
grocery/hardware store on the Elk Coast. Manchester
State Beach is the principle recreation area with
large areas for public use.
 |
|
The expansive beauty of Manchester State
Beach can be seen in this photo looking
south towards the Point Arena Lighthouse.
A large beach, nearly 5 mile2 long, Manchester
State Beach is a beautiful public recreation
area. Long sandy driftwood stretches of
beach characterize this area as ideal for
solitude, camping, horseback riding, jogging
and picnicking.
|
As
one enters the Manchester Area from the north, one
encounters a public Vista Point over looking the
mouth of Mallo Pass Creek on the west side of the
road. The name Mallo Pass comes from the early Spanish
name Gran Mal Pass meaning Great Bad Pass as it's
200 foot depth seriously impeded travel along the
coast. This gulch was so rugged that even the strongest
travelers dreaded the crossing. When the pass was
muddy, wagons had to be dismantled and lowered with
a block and tackle to cross. Sometimes a pulley
was employed to cross. Even this could be very hazardous
as a woman and her child were lost to the gorge.
Traveling across this pass did not become routine
until the 1930's when an all weather bridge was
built.
|
This
photo was taken from the Vista Point just
north of Irish Beach. This public area is
popular for travelers and locals alike.
High above the Pacific Ocean, one can see
a sweeping panorama extending from the wild
ocean and beaches to the houses of Irish
Beach. |
Next
one encounters the sign for the Victorian Gardens
Bed and Breakfast Inn on the east side of the road.
The Victorian Gardens is a restored Victorian farmhouse
situated on 90 acres of land east of the highway.
Open for lodging and dinners, it is one of the few
inns on this stretch of the coast. Next one encounters
the housing community of Irish Beach. Consisting
of mainly vacation homes, Irish Beach has permanent
residents also and their own Volunteer Fire Department.
Homes along the ocean often have spectacular views
of the ocean and Manchester State Beach.
 |
Irish
Beach is the only actual subdivision on
the Elk Coast and consists primarily of
permanent residents and vacation houses,
many of which are for rent. This photo was
taken from one of the only condominiums
here located high in the hills above the
rest of the homes. |
Houses
to the east of Highway One are more numerous and
easier to buy or rent. Long paved roads on the east
side of the highway are ideal for walking or jogging.
A pond is available to the owners or renters for
fishing. A road just south of the last house winds
it's way down to the beach but is only available
to owners or renters.
|
This
scene, located looking north from Alder
Creek, shows a valley stretching to the
sea. Hwy 1 can be seen on the right. This
valley is a branch of the San Andreas Fault
where the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
went out to sea. Extensive damage was done
to the towns and local ranches. Land slides
covered crop land and the Point Arena Lighthouse
was knocked down. |
There is interesting history involving a near range
war between settlers and loggers around the turn
of the century. Homesteaders arrived in the area
around 1891, which was before the area was surveyed
and available for settlement. In 1893 the area was
opened to settlement and all the ranchers went to
San Francisco together to file their claims. The
State Land Office informed them that the area was
already claimed by a timber company. The homesteaders
sued and 18 years later the suit was still unsettled.
During that time the homesteaders continued to work
the land even through the great earthquake of 1906.
In 1911 the timber company had completed a rail
line to the area and hired 20 gunfighters to evict
the ranchers. Although the gunfighters were called
"guards", they were actually ex cons hired
just after their release from San Quentin. The settlers
asked for help from the law but no one ever came
to help. The situation was finally defused when
a fight between the "guards" broke out
and one shot another. There was talk of the "guards"
riding into Greenwood and shooting up the place.
Finally an armed load of townspeople arrived and
disarmed the "guards" and loaded them
onto a ship destined for San Francisco. The timber
company eventually bought the land for $400 per
160 acre parcel of virgin redwood.
|
|
Alder
Creek, shown here, is also a public entrance
to Manchester State Beach. As you enter
you will pass by the abundant crop land. |
Just
before you arrive in Manchester, there area several
entrances to Manchester State Beach. The first
encountered is at Alder Creek Beach Road. This
road will take you to the north end of Manchester
State Beach. If one takes a walk on the bluffs
above the beach at this entrance, you will encounter
2 deserted houses built in the style of the 60's.
These 2 homes built right next to each other look
like they once held someone's dream and one wonders
what happened to allow them to decay away. Local
word has it that these 2 homes were built by 2
lumbermen who worked in Elk. After feeling like
they wanted to "get out of town", they
sold the nearly new homes in the mid 60's along
with the large acreage to the state to become
part of Manchester State Beach. Since then the
homes have just sat there becoming condemned relics
of a past dream.
 |
|
This photo was taken in the spring time
looking north from the Alder Creek area
of Manchester State Beach. If this photo
looks familiar, perhaps you've seen one
just like it used on the Elk Coast Brochure
for 1998. Spring wild flowers are plentiful
in the area. A long stretch of the Elk Coast
is visible in the distance stretching through
Bridgeport and Elk. The topography of the
coast can clearly be seen with the coastal
plain followed by the hills to the east.
You can see a small group of houses on the
cliffs to the right of the picture belonging
to Irish Beach. |
The
main entrance to Manchester State Beach can be found
on Kinney Road, just north of Manchester. Here there
is a State Park with approximately 46 primitive
campsites nestled in the dunes about a half mile
from the beach. One can also walk a level mile to
the environmental campsites. For more accommodating
camping, visit the Manchester Beach KOA. This site
offers many of the services one comes to expect
at a KOA plus their Kamping Kabins and other treats.
The
town of Manchester has a population of about 450.
Services include a Post Office, a large grocery
and hardware store, a school and other small businesses.
The Garcia Grange offers a hearty breakfast on the
last Sunday of each month and is located just east
of Hwy 1 on Crispin Lane. Amoung the first settlers
in the Manchester area were Awasa and Jane Saunders
who left Maine in 1856. Awasa came west with his
own lumber mill equipment traveling around Cape
Horn while Jane took the new train across the isthmus
of Panama. They were bound for Eureka when their
ship foundered off of Point Arena. They settled
at Brush Creek the first lumber mill there in 1857.
They left the area in 1879 when the lumber market
collapsed.
When
one leaves the Manchester area heading south, you
will cross the Garcia River, a small stream with
a metal bridge for the highway. The Garcia is named
for a 1844 Mexican land grant to Rafael Garcia,
brother-in-law to Stephen Smith of Rancho Bodega.
The mexican government awarded Garcia 40,000 acres
extending from the Garcia River to Mallo Pass to
the north. He built a Ranchero where one sees the
Stornetta dairy farms where Mountain View Road meets
Highway One today. Garcia erected a guardhouse on
the river's north bank where a caretaker looked
over his property and grazing cattle. This guardhouse
still stood in 1904 by one report. Garcia's land
grant was denied by the California State Land Commission
in 1854, but he left many marks of his presence. |
