Allen Knight

At the age of seventeen during World War I Knight enlisted as a merchant seaman on the Falls of Clyde, a four-masted clipper ship en route from San Francisco to Honolulu. While stationed in the crow's nest during the journey, he spotted the twin-funnel-powered Sea Eagle emerging on the horizon, commanded by the German sea raider Count Felix von Luckner, notorious for sinking fourteen Allied ships. As the wind picked up, the captain of the Clyde chose to make a dash for Honolulu. After a four-day pursuit, with sails fully extended, the Clyde outpaced the Sea Eagle, ultimately finding safe haven in Pearl Harbor.[1][2]

In February 1922, venturing from San Francisco to Tokyo, he and his band embarked on a nearly year-long journey. Subsequently, a three-year sojourn in China led to his marriage on January 12, 1923 at the American Consulate in Shanghai to Raissa, a young "White Russian" refugee woman whose family fled during the Bolshvick Revolution. Their return to San Francisco saw Knight establish himself in business with Francis P. Wilson as an insurance salesman and yacht broker. Their marriage concluded in 1926 and Knight went back to traveling. In the late 1920s, he embarked on a five-month journey across Europe.[1][2][5]

In 1929 Knight moved to Carmel-by-the-Sea at the Monte Verde Street address, taking up the sole job opportunity as a meter reader at PG&E. After four years, he married Maud Adele Hawes (1906–1981) on January 1933 in San Luis Obispo, California. Adele and Knight returned to Carmel and had three children.[1]

Knight became a musician and bandleader, showcasing his piano skills for leisure or financial sustenance. He engaged with three amateur theater groups. He performed at the First Theater in Monterey and at the Forest Theater in Carmel.[1][6] He and Ruthie McElroy were seen in melodramas such as Tatters of Squatter's Gulch, The Drunkard, and Ten Nights in a Bar-Room.[5]

In January 1937 Knight and his orchestra performed during the inauguration of the "Valley Ranch Club," currently recognized as the Mission Ranch.[7]

Carmel-by-the-Sea, Monterey, California

The design of the Sundial Lodge was inspired by Knight's visit to eastern Europe in the late 1920s. He asked the owners of a Czech hotel in Prague to share their blueprints, which he gave to architect Albert L. Farr to design the Sundial apartments. He commissioned Michael J. Murphy to do the construction on the property where Knight's parents and his two aunts had purchased three lots on Monte Verde Street 7th Avenue. The Sundial Court Apartments was Carmel's first apartment building.[3] Knight got financial backing for the construction from friends Mary L. Hamlin and Alys Miller.[8]

In 1929 the family cottage on Monte Verde and 7th was relocated to Guadalupe Street and 6th Avenue to facilitate the construction of the Sundial Lodge.[9][6][3]

In 1935 Knight expanded his home by adding a second story. The following year, in 1936, he embarked on a three-year endeavor to further enlarge his residence on Guadalupe Street. In response to his maritime collection's expansion, he initiated the construction of "The Ship," north of his home. The Ship was crafted using timbers reclaimed from the steam schooner J.B. Stetson, wrecked off Cypress Point in 1934.[10] The stone edifice, reminiscent of a seafaring craft or "stone lighthouse," was crafted using water washed granite boulders, incorporating portholes and planks from the Aurora, Knight's own four-masted schooner that had run aground on Monterey Bay in 1932. The furniture, designed to withstand inclement weather, was repurposed from dismantled sailing ships that had met their fate along the shores of the Monterey Peninsula. The shelves and tables held an array of ship models with books, charts, and keepsakes.[9][6][1] In the backyard of what was also known as "Knight Acres," was a darkroom.[10]

The new ship home was fully completed in 1939, and both residences still stand at the intersection of Guadalupe Street and 6th Avenue.[1] By 1960, Allen's collection encompassed artifacts from fifty-seven sunken or disassembled vessels, with a compilation of 9,000 ship photographs, a comprehensive research library, 250 log books, and 30 intricately crafted ship models.[1][11]

Knight took photographs whenever he found himself near a harbor. Following his relocation to Carmel, he embarked on regular trips to San Francisco to capture images of anchored and berthed vessels both there and in the East Bay. He also documented the Monterey fishing fleet during the mid to late 1930s, and he recorded military ships that visited Monterey, along with various shipwrecks that occurred in the vicinity. In addition to his personal photographs, Knight acquired glass and sheet film negatives, producing prints from them. He obtained a significant collection of figurehead photographs from the Carmel-based photographer L.S. Slevin. Knight's endeavors extended to photographing and amassing an assortment of Pacific Coast ferry boats, tugboats, river boats, and steam schooners, alongside larger transoceanic cargo vessels and passenger liners.[10]

Just before the United States' involvement in World War II, Knight established the California State Guard Nautical Corps. Devoting two years to this endeavor, he contributed his service until the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard took up their roles in the Pacific region, subsequently assuming the Corps' responsibilities.[1] Amidst World War II, he advanced to the rank of Lieutenant Commander within the State Guard.[10]

In the years that followed, Knight transitioned into the role of a real estate broker in Monterey, assuming the role of president for the Monterey Realty board in both 1949 and 1953.[2]

Knight had positions as a board member and president of the Monterey History and Art Association.[1] He served for over ten years on the Carmel City Council on two separate occasions, during which he held the position of mayor from 1950 to 1952,[12] and a member of the Carmel Police Commission. He helped in the establishment of the Carmel Planning Commission.[1][6] Knight became a spokesperson for mental health and a member of the Carmel Sanitary Board for 23 years.[13] He was also a director of the Carmel Boys' Club and the Navy League as vice president.[4]

Acquiring a ranch in Carmel Valley, California Knight, known as 'the Skipper,' along with his children referred to as 'the crew,' engaged in constructing roads, houses, and laying pipelines. Between 1953 and 1956, soldiers they encountered via the Christian Science Monitor Youth Forum spent their time at the ranch.[1][5]