WALKING TOUR
The National Steinbeck Center offers weekly Literary Walking Tours in the summer season, led by docent volunteers. The 75 minute tours cover Steinbeck literary locations in historic Oldtown Salinas, the city of John Steinbeck’s birth. Focusing on the downtown area, this tour visits places like Bell’s Candy Shop from East of Eden and the J.E. Steinbeck Feed Store at 332 Main Street (now The Cherry Bean Coffee Shop) where John’s father tried his hand at being a shopkeeper.

Other tour locations include: the site of Steinbeck’s elementary and high schools, the Courthouse where Steinbeck’s father worked as County treasurer, Muller’s Funeral Parlor on Main Street (from East of Eden), the site of the family church, and the Steinbeck House, his birthplace and boyhood home.

TOUR LINKS
Alameda Street
Archer Street
Capitol Street
Cayuga Street
Central Avenue
El Paso Place
Los Laureles
Main Street
Maplepark
Santa Lucia
Walking Tour Home

Selected readings from Steinbeck and personal anecdotes from the oral histories from the Center archives have been incorporated into the tours. Designed and led entirely by a team of local docent volunteers who are long time residents, this tour is a great way to establish the “sense of place” so crucial to John Steinbeck’s works.

Tours have a limit of 12 people on a first come, first served basis. The route is flat and approximately 1 mile in length. More walking and bus tours will also be offered during the annual Steinbeck Festival, held the first full weekend in August. For more information call (831) 775-4721.

In his novel East of Eden, Pulitzer Prize winning author John Steinbeck said of his hometown:

“Salinas was the county seat, and it was a fast growing town. Its population was due to cross the two thousand mark any time. It was the biggest town between San Jose and San Luis Obispo, and everyone felt that a brilliant future was in store
for it”

Salinas was to be John Steinbeck's home for the formative years of his life and the catalyst for some of the finest literature produced in America in the twentieth century. Much of Central Avenue is still as it was in John Steinbeck's day, including many of the changes he witnessed over time. A number of large dignified turn of the century family homes remain, many now in commercial rather than residential use. Some have been listed on the National Register for Historic Places such as 154 and 146 Central and 66 Capitol. The evolution of changing tastes and economic conditions are apparent along the residential Central Avenue as well as the commercial 100-200 blocks of Main Street which are also included in this district.

This walking tour begins on Central Avenue at Salinas Street, proceeds west to Capitol Street, turns right on Capitol Street to Archer, turns right on Cassidy Street, crosses Central to Cayuga Street, turns left on Gabilan Street and turns left on Main Street.