Old Hilltown’s First Post Office and Ferry: A Salinas River Crossing Remembered by State Landmark 560

OLD HILLTOWN, Monterey County — October 2026. Before modern traffic on Highway 68, a settlement beside the Salinas River developed around farming and a crossing where travelers relied on a ferry. The Monterey History and Art Association’s 1996 account, Lost Towns of Monterey County, traces Hilltown’s beginnings to 1852, when James Bryant Hill acquired 6,700 acres of Rancho Nacional.

A post office and farming community

According to that historical study, Hill’s agricultural operation attracted settlers and small businesses. Hill became the postmaster in 1854, and the account says the post office continued operating until 1864. The settlement stood near the river crossing, rather than constituting a modern incorporated city.

The ferry and the bridge

The local history account dates a ferry license to 1867. California State Parks describes the Hill Town Ferry under Hiram Cory as one of the river’s early crossings and says it operated until a bridge was built in 1889. The state notes the 1877 regulated tolls: 12½ cents for a pedestrian, 25 cents for a rider on horseback and $1 for a wagon drawn by six horses. Those are historic prices, not current charges.

Where is the marker?

California Historical Landmark 560 is recorded at the southwest corner of Spreckels Boulevard and Old Highway 68, approximately three miles southwest of Salinas. The landmark was registered December 31, 1956. It commemorates the historic ferry; travelers should not expect an operating service or preserved nineteenth-century village.

Sources: California State Parks — Hill Town Ferry, Landmark No. 560; Monterey History and Art Association, March 1996, pp. 6–7.

Editorial note: This is a historical feature, not a report that the ferry is open in 2026. Historical descriptions are attributed to the named archives.

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