Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1112638
C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 9 125 A happy Morse moment with children Jack, Nancy, Mary (the author's mother) and Sam Jr. at River Ranch, the family's Carmel Valley property, circa 1937. The Ranch is enjoyed by the patriarch's descendants to this day. Pacific Grove were under PIC ownership. As par t of his plan to regain solvency for the company, he sold off much of the plots in one auction, retaining some of the land near the Point Pinos Lighthouse. There, he laid out a nine-hole golf course, instantly making the lots that surrounded the links much more valuable. An underperforming Pacific Grove hotel, The El Carmelo, sited downtown on Lighthouse Avenue, was sold to a gentleman named H.R. Holman, who built a depar t- ment store on the proper ty that served the community for many years. Today the build- ing is being renovated as a luxury condo- minium project. An interesting side note: there was only one way into Pacific Grove. An Army base, the Presidio of Monterey, stood between the two cities. Holman was concerned that in case of a war, the base would be closed off, and wanted the PIC to open the 17-Mile Drive to public traffic, an idea that was anathema to Morse. A compromise was reached in the form of Highway 68, the two-lane road that connects PG to Highway 1 and which to this day bears the name "Holman Highway." But it was Pebble Beach that garnered most of Morse's attention in those days. Photo: Julian P. Graham courtesy of Loon Hill Studios Author Charles Osborne cherishes this statue of his grandfather scultped by artist Jo Mora. Photo: Ethan Russell