FORT ROMIE, Monterey County — October 2026. A farming colony supported by the Salvation Army helped shape the early settlement known as Fort Romie near Soledad. In the Monterey History and Art Association’s Lost Towns of Monterey County, historian Meg Welden describes a project designed to help city families settle on agricultural plots.
Why Fort Romie?
The historical account says the Salvation Army acquired about 600 acres near Mission Soledad from Charles Romie and used his surname for the colony. Settlers received small plots and basic agricultural supplies, with the opportunity to purchase land through installments. About 20 families took part in an early wave of settlement.
Why did the first venture struggle?
According to the report, many participants had little farm experience and faced successive drought, dust, wind and inadequate water supplies. Irrigation assistance later helped a different group establish more viable farms. By 1905, the source describes a more stable group of families, along with a common store, school and Methodist Episcopal church. A rural mail-delivery route followed in 1914.
How to interpret the record
This is a history of land settlement, not evidence of a modern Salvation Army program, affordable-housing application or current ownership rights. Residents researching present property boundaries should use current county records. The archive contains an apparent date typo in its introduction to this section, so the founding year has deliberately not been asserted here.
Historical source: Monterey History and Art Association, Lost Towns of Monterey County, March 1996, page 9.
Historical research; no new housing or land grant is being announced in 2026.
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