Pacific Valley

Also known in its early years as Shut-In Valley — “the Marvelous Shut-In Valley,” as The San Francisco Call titled its 1897 feature on the place. The valley at the heart of this whole story. On a September day in 1869, William Lucas Plaskett brought his family down out of the Santa Lucias by ox team, looked over a shelf of land where the mountains meet the sea, and claimed some two thousand acres of it — naming the place Pacific Valley. It was hard to reach and hard to live on, which was exactly what he wanted: room, grass, and no one to crowd him. The family’s creek, ridge, rock, and beach all still carry the Plaskett name here, and the little Pacific Valley School on the east side of the coast road has gathered the community since 1880. Today it is the unincorporated community of Pacific Valley (Plaskett), on Highway 1 in southern Monterey County — the ground the family has held and farmed for more than 150 years.

Stories set here

story

The Baronettes: An Acadian Origin, and a Signer Who Was Not Ours

The family says Sarah Barnes came of French Acadians expelled in 1755, and that her mother was first cousin to a signer of the Declaration. One of those is likely; the other does not survive checking.

place history

Before Big Sur: The Mendocino Years

Fifteen years before Pacific Valley, William Lucas Plaskett rehearsed his dream in Anderson Valley — where the family named a daughter Mendocina, left their name on a mountain meadow that still carries it, and stopped twelve feet short of a different life.

place history

1864 Frank Muma → Curnell Mansfield & Jim Prewitt
1864 U.S. Government → Curnell H. Mansfield · 160 acres
1869-09-01 US Government → William Lucas Plaskett · 2000 acres
1884 Jim Prewitt → Curnell H. Mansfield
1890 Various → Curnell H. Mansfield · 4000 acres

The people of Pacific Valley

Everyone the family archive records in the story of this place. Descendants: if one of these is yours, we’d love to hear from you.

William Lucas Plaskett 1818–1909 · 13 stories
Mabel Eva Sans Plaskett 1896–1964 · 8 stories
Byron Gianavil Plaskett 1846–1911 · 5 stories
Dudley Plaskett 1869–1949 · 5 stories
William Nicholas Alderson 1956– · 5 stories
Alvis Davis · 4 stories
Byron Plaskett 1835–1906 · 4 stories
Curnell H. Mansfield 1835–1906 · 4 stories
Ed Dutton · 4 stories
George Harlan 1885– · 4 stories
Henry Kilsdonk · 4 stories
Jasper Mansfield 1860– · 4 stories
Marion Plaskett 1848–1906 · 4 stories
Paul Harlan · 4 stories
Reason Alpha Plaskett 1852–1933 · 4 stories
Robert Plaskett 1835–1908 · 4 stories
Alice Dutton · 3 stories
Alice Stewart Harlan · 3 stories
Esther Smith · 3 stories
Frank Digges · 3 stories
Jessie Anderson · 3 stories
Jim Prewitt · 3 stories
Lawson McKern Plaskett 1883–1966 · 3 stories
Lucy Plaskett Davis 1886–1975 · 3 stories
Margaret Voss Krenkel 1874–1964 · 3 stories
Marion Smith · 3 stories
Olive Plaskett 1882–1939 · 3 stories
Roy Plaskett · 3 stories
Sarah May Barnes Plaskett 1827–1923 · 3 stories
Wilbur Harlan 1882–1881 · 3 stories
William Lucas 1551–1621 · 3 stories
William Plaskett 1812– · 3 stories
Albert Sans 1908– · 2 stories
Alfred Davis 1912– · 2 stories
Alice Eastwood 1859–1953 · 2 stories
Bessie Robinson · 2 stories
Bob Digges · 2 stories
Charley Digges · 2 stories
Charley Krenkel 1906–1989 · 2 stories
Charley Plaskett 1872– · 2 stories
Corrine Harris · 2 stories
Dave Moro · 2 stories
Esther Harlan · 2 stories
Francis Marion Plaskett 1854–1906 · 2 stories
Geneva Evans · 2 stories
George Dutton · 2 stories
James M. Krenkel 1862–1943 · 2 stories
Jean Thomas · 2 stories
Jimmy Smith · 2 stories
Joe Moro · 2 stories
John Lowe · 2 stories
Laurence Thomas · 2 stories
Leonidas Hamlin Plaskett 1848–1918 · 2 stories
Leta Burton · 2 stories
Linwood Mitchell 1860– · 2 stories
Luneta Thelen · 2 stories
Lynna Mitchell · 2 stories
Mabel Sans 1831–1932 · 2 stories
Martha Corrine Bennett Plaskett 1852–1931 · 2 stories
Michael Dani 1840– · 2 stories

Born, lived, or died at Pacific Valley

Horry Mansfield 1784–1911 · born here
William Lucas Plaskett 1818–1909 · lived or worked here
Barnett Abraham Barnes 1820– · died here
Sarah May Barnes Plaskett 1827–1923 · lived or worked here
Curnell H. Mansfield 1835–1906 · lived or worked here
Byron Gianavil Plaskett 1846–1911 · lived or worked here
Dewey Mansfield 1850– · born here
Martha Corrine Bennett Plaskett 1852–1931 · lived or worked here
Reason Alpha Plaskett 1852–1933 · lived or worked here
Rachel Ann Ray 1853–1889 · died here
Albert Plaskett 1856–1939 · died here
Mendocina May Plaskett Mansfield 1856–1936 · born here
William E. Plaskett 1866–1952 · died here
James Samuel Plaskett 1870–1961 · born here
Edwin E Mansfield 1871– · born here
Lillie Bell Mansfield 1873–1951 · born here
Sallie M Mansfield 1873– · born here
Asa G Mansfield 1874– · born here
Asa Z. Mansfield 1874–1905 · born here
Lula Frances Mansfield 1874–1963 · born here
Georgianna Plaskett 1876–1929 · born here
Laura W Mansfield 1876– · born here
Frances Marion Plaskett 1878–1966 · born here
Love Plaskett 1878– · born here
Richard L. Plaskett 1878–1847 · born here
Jasper A. Mansfield 1878– · born here
Dora Mansfield 1878–1966 · born here
Walter Mansfield 1879– · born here
Curnell Louis Mansfield 1880–1962 · born here
Edward Abbott Plaskett 1881–1973 · born here
Irene Plaskett Sans 1881– · born here
Arthur Plaskett 1882–1939 · born here
Tlells Mansfield 1882– · born here
Wells Mansfield 1882–1881 · born here
Wlells Mansfield 1882– · born here
Minnie M Mansfield 1883– · born here
Della Olive Mansfield 1885–1969 · born here
Sherman T Mansfield 1885– · born here
Mary Bell Mansfield 1886– · born here
Irene Plaskett 1886–1881 · born here
Fannie Harriet Plaskett 1887–1961 · born here
Maud Mansfield 1888–1953 · born here
Clarence Plaskett 1888–1916 · born here
James G Mansfield 1888– · born here
Fannie Mansfield 1889–1973 · born here
Billy Plaskett 1890–1961 · born here
Sadie D. Plaskett 1890– · born here
Gertrude Mansfield 1890–1975 · born here
Curnell Mansfield 1892–1972 · born here
Frankie Mansfield 1892–1893 · born here
Clarence L. Plaskett 1894– · born here
Isabelle Plaskett 1895– · born here
James S. Plaskett 1895–1961 · born here
Mabel Eva Sans Plaskett 1896–1964 · lived or worked here
Horace Mansfield 1896–1974 · born here
Eade Plaskett 1898–1936 · born here
Jessie H. Plaskett 1898–1936 · born here
Jessie Plaskett 1898–1937 · born here
Laurence Plaskett 1898–1936 · born here
Albert Edward Sans 1901–1965 · died here
Cyril Asa Mansfield 1904–1927 · born here
Etta Plaskett 1904– · born here
Alta Mansfield 1916– · born here
Thelma Plaskett 1917– · born here
Winston Lawson Plaskett 1918–1919 · born here
Curnell Montgomery Paul Mansfield 1919–1926 · born here
Clifford Keith Plaskett 1919–1991 · born here
Shirley Joyce Merritt 1945–1945 · born here