Historic California
Posts, Camps, Stations and Airfields
Naval Postgraduate
School, Monterey
The U.S. Naval Postgraduate School is
located on the grounds of the old Hotel Del Monte within the
city of Monterey. The elegant old hotel opened in 1880 and in
1942 was leased to the Navy with an option to buy. The Navy used
it as a pre-flight training school for Naval air cadets throughout
the war. A curriculum of marine engineering was also added during
the war. After the war the Navy bought the hotel and its 600
acres of land and enlarged the school. In 1951 the Naval Academy's
postgraduate school moved here from Annapolis, MD. In the postwar
years the school ranked academically with the best graduate universities
in the country. Some 80% of the Navy's postgraduate students
attended the school.
History
by Justin Ruhge
The Naval Postgraduate School is located
at Monterey. Originally established in Annapolis, MD. on June
9, 1909, the school was moved to the spacious grounds of the
former Hotel del Monte in 1951. The Hotel Del Monte opened in
1880 and over the years earned a worldwide reputation for elegance.
In late 1942, the hotel was offered to both the Army and Navy.
The Navy accepted the Del Monte's offer and opened a preflight
school on the grounds in February 1943. Following World War II
Congress authorized the purchase of the hotel and 600 acres of
the grounds for just under $13 million.
Many new laboratories have been added since then to accommodate
the ever-changing curriculum. More than 50,000 academic degrees
from bachelor to doctorate have been awarded since 1945 when
Congress first authorized the school to grant them. There were
then 3,400 officers at the post-graduate school.