Hopkins Marine Station (1918-1950)

Pacific Grove, California

In 1916, through the efforts of the third President of Stanford University, Ray Lyman Wilbur and the Stanford Board of Trustees, a land exchange was negotiated with the Pacific Improvement Company that secured five acres of land at a rocky headland named Point Almeja for the immediate purpose of relocating the Hopkins Seaside Laboratory. Having been the site of Pacific Grove's Chinese fishing community for many years, this particular location was known to the residents of the Monterey peninsula, as China Point. During the first years of the Hopkins Seaside Laboratory, this vibrant and picturesque fishing village became particularly dear to a number of students and researchers, as it was the home of Quock Tuck Lee; an exceptionally skilled collector whose efforts provided the necessary material for important research associated with the comparative embryology of primitive fishes.

With the China Point property secured, the next stage in the development of the research facility at this location was initiated in January of 1917, when the Board of Trustees of Stanford University approved plans and authorized the construction of a new building at a cost not to exceed $23,000.

On October 26, 1917, with the construction of the new building in process, the Board of Trustees, in recognition of the financial support provided by long-time Stanford Trustee, Mr. Timothy Hopkins, during the life of the original seaside laboratory, named this new facility the HOPKINS MARINE STATION OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY.

The chapters below are the initial efforts aimed at presenting the history of the thirty-two years of Hopkins Marine Station located at China Point in Pacific Grove.