It contains one of the world's largest stands of native Monterey pines, endangered Gowen cypress, and rare maritime chaparral plant communities.

[6][7]: 114 Governor Juan Alvarado granted two square leagues of land named Rancho San Jose y Sur Chiquito in 1839 to Marcelino Escobar.

[9] When Mexico ceded California to the United States following the Mexican–American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored.

[8] While waiting for his case to be decided, Castro sold his 8,876 acres of land in 1854 to Joseph S. Emery and Abner Bassett for $700, leaving to them the legal fight for ownership.

[12] On September 6, 1888, shortly after the patent for Rancho San Jose y Sur Chiquito was approved, almost all of the claimants banded together to form the Carmelo Land and Coal Company.

Some built cabins on land east of Point Lobos, and old houses on the ranch property still bear Portuguese names, like Victorine and Morales.

[14][15] Alexander MacMillan Allan, a successful race track architect and real estate developer from Pennsylvania, purchased 640 acres of Point Lobos from the Carmelo Land and Coal Company in 1898.