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Places to Stay

Places to Eat

Restaurants

Coffee, Tea + Sweets

Wineries Taps and Tastings

Things to Do

Arts & Culture

Beach Boardwalk

Beachs & Parks

Outdoor & Wildlife

Request Wildlife Guide

View Wildlife Guide Online

Dog-Friendly

Upcoming Events

Plan Your Trip

Contact Us

Getting to Santa Cruz

Request a Travel Guide

View Travel Guide Online

View Map Online

Travel Itineraries

Frequently Asked Questions

Lifestyle

Blog

Destinations

Aptos

Capitola/Soquel

Davenport

Pleasure Point

San Lorenzo Valley

Santa Cruz

Scotts Valley

Watsonville

Monterey Bay

Meetings

Film

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Press Room

About Santa Cruz County

Santa Cruz History

Relocation

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  • The Root of the Matter – Agriculture’s Magnificence

    As the first industry and a cornerstone of the Santa Cruz County economy, our agriculture roots here are deep. With generations of families committed to the blossoms of farming, the certified organic movement was born here, an incredible collection of farmers’ markets and u-pick opportunities became available to the community, and astonishingly fresh, sumptuous dishes landed on local restaurant menus highlighting our county’s exquisite produce.

    Santa Cruz County: On the Map for Ag in California—and Worldwide

    California accounts for 36% of all organic production in the United States and Santa Cruz County is a significant contributor. The California Department of Food and Agriculture lists Santa Cruz County as the number three county, behind L.A. and Monterey Counties. With organic gross sales of nearly $951 million, Santa Cruz County’s “top organic commodities include strawberries, apples and lettuce.” And our wonderful produce is enjoyed by people the world over: “Watsonville food processors freeze and distribute more fruits and vegetables than any other single area in the U.S. More than $280 million a year is spent on transporting fresh and processed farm crops to worldwide destinations” (from the City of Watsonville’s economic profile).

    California grows a lot of strawberries; in fact, it produces more than 91% of the country’s strawberry crop (National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2021). Santa Cruz County and neighboring Monterey County have long been major players in berry production.

    From fields in the Pajaro Valley, Watsonville’s very own Driscoll’s has been growing a variety of berries for more than a century. Driscoll’s shares some of the art’s intricacies on its website: “Planting the berries is a delicate process and the correct timing is critical. Each row must be laid out so that it has exactly the right slope, to ensure that irrigation water will flow smoothly throughout the field. The length of the growing season depends upon the berry type, the plant, and the climate of each unique growing region. For example, strawberries take 30 days to mature from flower to fruit. The berries are picked every three days, and the fields must be re-planted every year.” Driscoll’s has “proprietary varieties” of strawberries; some are organic. After starting with thousands of varieties, they select the top 1% to sell under the Driscoll’s name. Its naturally grown strawberries are never genetically modified.

    Martinelli’s Company Store in Watsonville

    Another long-standing agricultural powerhouse is Martinelli’s, which celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2018. The company takes apples grown in the Pajaro Valley and transforms them into refreshing juice and cider—from the signature, apple-shaped 10-ounce bottle of “still apple juice” to the 25-ounce bottles of sparkling cider, which has expanded from the original apple to flavors like apple-cranberry and apple-pomegranate. Martinelli’s products have received 50-plus medals for excellence at various competitions. A fun local outing is visiting the Martinelli’s Company Store in Watsonville where you can learn more about its history, taste products, and purchase favorites to take home.

    Did you know that Watsonville played a special role in apple history? In the early 1900s, it was the world’s largest producing region. Its annual harvest peaked at 2.5 million boxes. These facts came from the Foodshed Project, a Santa Cruz Community Farmers’ Markets educational program that includes farmers, food artisans, community-based organizations and local chefs. The program also employs graduates of a local program FoodWhat?!, orchestrating transformation and youth empowerment through agriculture.

    Also known for apples: Watsonville’s Gizdich Ranch, which is fourth-generation family owned and operated and features apple orchards and berry fields. Their products include fresh-pressed apple juice, berry jams, and its beloved pies—all found in many local stores. You can also buy these items, and more, at the pie shop and deli located onsite. When the Gizdich family began farming in 1937, apples were the main crop, but the new olallieberry—a cross between a logan and blackberry—soon followed. Today, Gizdich Ranch offers rotating “u-pick” activities to the public. For a fee and depending on the season, people can come pick strawberries, olallieberries, boysenberries, and apples, and take them home. Many families stay on the picturesque grounds to have a post-picking picnic, either bringing food from home or purchasing lunch from the deli.

    Picking Fruit

    In addition to Gizdich Ranch, there are lots of farms and venues that offer local fruit picking with gorgeous surroundings as a backdrop. These include Watsonville’s Live Earth Farm (includes tomatoes, berries, and apples) and Crystal Bay Farm (berries), and Davenport’s Swanton Berry Farm, which has been around since 1983 and also has a delightful indoor farm stand with comfortable seating and lots of products for sale—from take-home jam jars to fresh strawberry shortcake. And in October, coastal pumpkin patches in North County—including one at Crystal Bay—are a fall favorite.

    Agricultural fields in Watsonville, California

    Enjoying the Fruits of our Land’s and Farmers’ Labor

    Farmers’ markets play a critical role in the regional food system, as they enable small farmers to regularly sell the fresh produce they grow to provide crucial income and also give the community direct access to a variety of fruits and vegetables. With our county’s abundance of produce, and the plethora of farmers’ markets, it’s easy for restaurants to make fantastic dishes. For more on information on Santa Cruz County famers’ markets and the abundance of produce available to the community and restaurateurs, click here.

    History, Organic Roots, and Learning More

    From the economic impact and cultural significance to being forerunners in the Certified Organic movement, Santa Cruz County offers a rich timeline of agricultural impact in the area and around the world. Learn more about the history, organic movement, and more.

    A Taste for All

    We offer our heartfelt thanks to the dedicated, tireless farmers whose hands work with our fertile, rich soil, chefs whose imagination fuel the inspiration of the cuisine of Santa Cruz County, motivated farmers market managers who see to the details of delivering product to people, neighbors, community, and countless others who appreciate and respect the spirit of agriculture. Whether your taste leans to strawberries or Brussels sprouts, olallieberries or Pinot or you prefer picking your own and creating your own sumptuous masterpiece, or having one of our many excellent restaurants do it for you, Santa Cruz County is Neverland for real food foodies.

    Tara Fatemi Walker

    December 16, 2022
    Food & Drink, Heritage Tourism
  • Santa Cruz Lime Kiln Hikes

    Santa Cruz Lime Kiln Hikes

    Tucked away in the mountains and dotting the landscape of the UC Santa Cruz campus stand the ruins of a once prosperous industry that helped put Santa Cruz on the map. The lime industry, which helped produce the mortar and plaster used to build the foundations of Santa Cruz and many cities across California, transformed the future of California when the Gold Rush brought thousands of new residents to the area. Many who came to Santa Cruz in the mid-1800s quickly realized that the area’s resource-rich environment, from the redwoods to the limerock, offered an even more lucrative future than gold. Before Santa Cruz became the city we know and love today, our town was one of the state’s largest lime producers. 

    The remnants of this once thriving industry now stand quiet; they loom hidden underneath layers of moss, overgrown ferns, and lush foliage. These ruins were once fiery lime kilns that utilized the high heat of burning redwood to produce lime from the nearby quarry sites. The intense heat of over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit would condense the limerock over the course of five days into blocks of lime which were eventually utilized as building materials. The entire multi-day cycle of loading the kiln, firing the rock, cooling the lime, and moving the finished product could yield over 1,000 barrels of lime. The lime produced in Santa Cruz represented a third of California’s lime supply and three-quarters of the lime supply for San Francisco. When need for lime drastically decreased after the introduction of cement, lime kilns were abandoned and slowly returned to the forest.

    Cowell Lime Works Historic District located near the main entrance to UCSC
    Cowell Lime Works Historic District located near the main entrance to UCSC — #3 hike

    Visitors to Santa Cruz can stumble upon the ruins of these ancient lime kilns in several different areas. Here is a short list of the best lime kiln hikes that stretch from the redwood forests of Felton to the UC Santa Cruz campus and beyond! While visiting these portals to Santa Cruz’s past, remember that these are ruins requiring conservation and preservation. Please do not vandalize, graffiti, climb, or remove pieces of the landmarks. Respectfully view our history but leave no trace when hiking these trails and visiting these unique pieces of local history.

    Fall Creek Lime Kiln
    Fall Creek Lime Kiln

    Fall Creek Lime Kiln
    Difficulty: Intermediate

    Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park has a northern sector known as the Fall Creek unit, which features 20 miles of hiking trails spanning over 2390 acres of land. The main trails wind along a rushing river that leads up into the lush redwood forests. At the top of the Fall Creek Loop on the Lime Kiln trail, hikers can find the ruins of the largest standing lime kiln in the Santa Cruz area. These quiet ruins are covered in moss and luscious ferns, slowly becoming a part of the forest once again. The trail is roughly 3-5 miles depending on whether you hike the entire loop or just hike up to the lime kilns and back, and gains about 500ft elevation.

    Pogonip Lime Kiln
    Pogonip Lime Kiln

    Pogonip Lime Kiln
    Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate

    The Pogonip trails stretch across grassy plains, redwood forests, and includes a large lime kiln not far from the UC Santa Cruz campus. Vistors can reach the lime kilns by three different hikes. First, visitors can begin at Spring Street and follow the Spring trail up to the Spring Box trail which leads into the mountains for a roughly 4 mile round-trip trek. Second, begin your hike from Stevenson College on the UCSC campus and cross the road for a shortcut to the Rincon trail for a roughly 1.5 mile round trip excursion. Lastly, begin from Highway 9 and hike up the U-Conn trail to the lime kiln trail for a roughly 2.5 mile roundtrip hike. Hikers can find this lime kiln just past the intersection of the Spring Box and Rincon trails. For a special added bonus, above this lime kiln, visitors can explore a rock garden full of cairns, or rock piles, built over the years out of the leftover limestone discarded in the quarry.

    Cowell Lime Works Historic District located near the main entrance to UCSC 
    Cowell Lime Works Historic District located near the main entrance to UCSC 

    Cowell Lime Kilns
    Difficulty: Beginner

    The Cowell Lime Kilns are located on the UC Santa Cruz campus near the main entrance and represent the ruins of what was once the largest site of lime production in the state. Lime was produced at this site since 1853 and was later bought by Henry Cowell who oversaw operations here them from their peak in 1865 to the 1920’s when the demand for lime greatly decreased. At its peak, the Cowell Lime Kilns were the largest lime producers in California and were a major supplier of lime to San Francisco during the Gold Rush. The ruins are easily accessible to the public, and there are several parking areas right next to the kilns making this an easy hike for everyone trying to learn about the extensive history surrounding lime in the Santa Cruz area.

    Monica Multer

    November 14, 2022
    Heritage Tourism, Outdoor + Wildlife
  • Discover the Dreamy Victorians of Walnut Avenue

    Lined with grand Victorian homes, vintage streetlamps, and a wondrous tree canopy, Walnut Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz is a visual treat any time of year. Yet come fall, when leaves are set ablaze with vibrant fall colors, it’s absolutely magical. The next time you’re enjoying downtown’s shops, eateries, or farmers’ market, stray two blocks from from the main drag and you’ll be treated to one of the most enchanting streets in Santa Cruz.

    DOWNTOWN’S FIRST RESIDENTIAL STREET

    Walnut Avenue is notable for being the first residential street in downtown Santa Cruz. Residents have discovered moonshine bottles, rolls of 19th century wallpaper, and hand-forged nails hidden in walls and unearthed during renovations. Thanks to these magnificent homes, the stretch of Walnut between Chestnut and Center streets feels like stepping back in time. If it weren’t for the cars, you wouldn’t know what era you were in.

    HISTORIC HOMES THAT TELL A STORY

    You needn’t be an architectural buff to be charmed by Walnut Avenue’s ornately-detailed, restored Victorian homes. The term Victorian is actually a catch-all to describe a variety of styles-Stick-Eastlake, Queen Anne, Italianate-that were popular in the late 1800s and are spotted along Walnut Avenue. Don’t know your cornices from your balustrades? Check out this brochure produced by the City of Santa Cruz. It lends a quick overview of the architectural styles and details that grace Walnut Avenue.

    As you admire the homes, look closely and you’ll notice blue, oval plaques adorning many of the facades. Each one notes a tidbit of information about the historic home. The plaques are part of a program of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History (MAH) to honor historically and architecturally significant structures throughout Santa Cruz County. (In fact, the West Cliff Inn is an historical property that is also a B&B.) Marla Novo, who manages the museum’s collections, says she loves walking down Walnut Avenue. “It’s a treasure of structures that house stories about our community’s history,” she says. “The MAH’s Historic Landmark program aims to share these stories, connecting us with our past and each other.”

    Here are a few noteworthy homes that bear the blue plaque:

    219 Walnut: Dramatic, pink-hued shingles make this grand Queen Anne hard to miss. It was built in 1895 for Carl E. Lindsay, the District Attorney of Santa Cruz at the time.

    241 Walnut: Prominent Santa Cruz contractor Lewis McCornick, who worked on the nearby high school, built this cottage-like home in 1877 as a Christmas Day anniversary gift for his wife Maggie.

    234 Walnut: This wildly impressive Stick Eastlake home is noted as the John G Tanner Love Nest and a gift to his bride Mollie Bowen. Don’t miss the ornate archway that frames the adjacent driveway.

    240 & 244 Walnut: This delightful pair of Queen Annes form the cutest house twinsies in town. Note the flickering gas lamp that illuminates the front porch of 244.

    A KALEIDOSCOPE OF FALL COLORS

    Walnut Avenue is one of only two thoroughfares in Santa Cruz that sport a brilliant, leafy canopy (you’ll find the other on Catalpa Street in Midtown). In autumn, the variety of mature trees turns the skyline and sidewalks into a kaleidoscope of fall colors.

    For a little background on these trees, we tapped Leslie Keedy, the City of Santa Cruz’s Urban Forester. Yep, that’s a real job title, and Leslie explained that residents in the 1970s planted many of Walnut’s trees specifically to create a canopy. Did you know that in addition to adding beauty to neighborhood streets, tree canopies are credited with slowing traffic and discouraging crime? These residents chose the London Plane, a relative of the American Sycamore and identifiable by its multi-hued bark that resembles a blotchy camouflage pattern. Thanks to being fast-growing and bullet-proof in urban environs, the London Plane is the most frequently planted tree in California. Stroll Walnut and you’ll also see vibrant Liquidamber, an impressive century-old Bunya Bunya tree (northwest corner of Walnut & Chestnut), and a spectacular Gingko that turns a shock of yellow in fall.

    TAKE A SELF-GUIDED WALKING TOUR

    While photos hint at Walnut Avenue’s beauty, nothing compares to exploring it in person. The City of Santa Cruz produces an informative brochure that will guide you to Walnut’s significant homes and lend a good intro to its architectural significance. Want more self-guided walking tours? Check out Self-Guided Walking Tours in Santa Cruz County for gorgeous and interesting architecture and neighborhoods throughout the county.

    Garrick Ramirez

    October 1, 2022
    Arts + Culture, Attractions, Heritage Tourism, Things to Do
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  • Bachelors and Trolleys and Bears, Oh My! A History of DeLaveaga Park and Golf Course

    Bachelors and Trolleys and Bears, Oh My! A History of DeLaveaga Park and Golf Course

    In the summer of 1894, Jose Vicente DeLaveaga attended a meeting where Santa Cruz city leaders aired their hopes of one day building a city park with a baseball field and picnic areas. A lifelong bachelor and loner who had come to Alta California as the child of aristocrats during the Gold Rush and prospered in finance, DeLaveaga had developed a love of nature, gardening, winemaking, and all things bucolic after moving to Santa Cruz in his twenties. He had also, it seemed, imbibed the aristocratic notion of noblesse oblige, or helping those less fortunate.

    When DeLaveaga fell ill and died two months later, just shy of his 50th birthday, people were stunned to learn that he had left his 640-acre hilltop estate to the City and County of Santa Cruz for a park, along with a $125,000 trust fund to build a home for the elderly and disabled and an estimated $2 million to charity. The family challenged the will, and the city never got the trust fund, but it now had the makings of an incredible park.

    Then, as now, the park’s hilltop perch offered spectacular views of the countryside and Monterey Bay, but it had almost no infrastructure and was hard to find. That quickly changed over the next few years. By 1910, landowner Patrick Morrissey had widened the road to the park and constructed a grand entry with stone gateposts, streetlights, an archway, and rowboats planted with colorful flowers, while one of the founders of the electric company PG&E electrified a trolley line running all the way to the entrance.

    By this time the park had a duck pond and a race track, and in 1911 it got its baseball field thanks to the Odd Fellows. Not to be outdone, the Saturday Afternoon Women’s Club funded and built a rustic Rose Pergola and tea house on the hill overlooking the grand entrance in 1912.

    The park grew in popularity as a destination for families looking to relax and take in the views of the Bay. Soon the park even had a zoo with a small herd of tule elk, bison, bears, peacocks, and monkeys. Historian Eric Ross Gibson, in his fascinating history of the park, describes a scene where the silent film star Mary Pickford hand-feeds caramels to one of the park’s gentle bears, which had been selected to appear in one of her movies.

    When the trolley tracks were torn up in 1926, park attendance fell off. The zoo closed during the Great Depression, and in the late 1940s a Navy training center was built on the property and the grand entry closed. The park lost its luster and popularity. It wasn’t until 1960 that help arrived in the form of a park master plan that included such public benefits as a shooting range and a golf course.  

    In 1970 an 18-hole championship golf course designed by course architect Bert Stamps opened as the park’s crowning glory. The city-owned DeLaveaga Golf Course offered a reasonably priced alternative to some of the spendier links found around Monterey Bay and featured the stylish DeLaveaga Lodge restaurant, which overlooked the course and served up “good food, man-sized drinks, and a cordial atmosphere,” according to one 1972 magazine article. The course’s first head golf pro was Gary Loustalot, whose son Tim Loustalot, along with his wife Jamie, now runs the golf concession along with the newly redesigned restaurant, the Grille at DeLaveaga.

    In the 1980s, a disc golf course opened at the park. Designed by legendary disc golfer Tom Schot, DeLaveaga Disc Golf Course, affectionately known as “DeLa,” is regarded as one of the best courses in the world and hosts the World Championship every year. The course is located in Upper DeLaveaga Wilderness Park, a pine and oak tree-covered ridgeline that overlooks the Monterey Bay, with expansive ocean views including the most famous: “Top of the World” (Hole 27).

    Today, the park is also home to a network of hiking and mountain biking trails, as well as the Santa Cruz Shakespeare Festival held each summer at the Audrey Stanley Grove overlooking the bay.  DeLaveaga Park features two softball fields, two bocce ball courts, a sand volleyball court, horseshoe pits, a children’s playground, picnic areas, and a large turf area called The Meadow. An Archery Range offers a course consisting of two one-way trails (14 targets on each), 28 outdoor field targets, and a practice range with five targets huts.

    Read more about DeLaveaga Golf Course.  

    Traci Hukill

    March 29, 2022
    Heritage Tourism, Parks, Things to Do
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  • The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk: A Look Back in Time

    A nostalgic look back at the West Coast’s oldest amusement park

    Since its opening in 1907 as the “Coney Island of the West,” the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has been the backdrop for scores of noteworthy cultural events through the years, from Duke Kahanamoku’s historic 1913 surfing exhibit to the Miss California pageant to major motion pictures, including Lost Boys and the Dirty Harry vehicle Sudden Impact.

    Read on to learn about these historical nuggets from yesteryear at this iconic seaside amusement park. If you are visiting the Boardwalk today, be sure to take the self-guided historical walking tour.

    The history of the Boardwalk itself is equally lively, telling the tale of a growing seaside town and a freewheeling spirit of fun and innovation that powered the amusement park through the 20th century and into the 21st. We recently took a tour through some old photos and enjoyed them so much we thought we’d share.

    SC Boardwalk black and white image of Turnover Pies store front

    From 1917 to 1968, you could always get a turnover pie at the Boardwalk. Flaky pastry wrapped around chicken or maybe a nice warm huckleberry or apple filling made for an inexpensive snack (precisely 15 cents in 1933, when this picture was taken). Plus you could “See ‘em made”! And get buttermilk! So the thrills didn’t have to stop just because you got off the Giant Dipper.

    SC Boardwalk black and white image in 1941 of Fred Quadros & Shirley Wightman on the Trapeze

    For almost 20 years, between 1927 and 1945, the Boardwalk staged Water Carnivals in the Plunge, the heated saltwater natatorium built-in 1907. Pictured in this 1941 photo are young Fred Quadros, Jr. and Shirley Wightman, an “aquabrat” and “aquabelle” (as carnival kids were affectionately known) who thrilled audiences with their aerial feats of derring-do.

    SC Boardwalk black and white image of miss california contest, large crowd on beach

    The Miss California contest was held at the Boardwalk every year between 1924 and 1966. In this 1951 photo, the contestants are seated on the dais waiting their turns to answer the judges’ questions. The contest eventually moved to downtown Santa Cruz until protesters shut it down in 1985. Today it’s held in Fresno.

    SC Boardwalk black and white image of fun house entrance, clown with mouth open

    The Palace of Fun, with its goofy mirrors, giant slide, rotating barrel, and hijinks galore, opened in 1925, but it wasn’t until the 1940s that the famous clown mouth entrance to the Fun House appeared. Inside the funny man’s grinning gullet, on the ticket booth, is a sign informing patrons of a strict rule: no wet bathing suits allowed inside.

    SC Boardwalk black and white image of rotating barrel attraction, man and woman

    In this 1958 publicity shoot for Southern Pacific, models navigate the rotating barrel of the Fun House as a crowd looks on.

    SC Boardwalk black and white image of cave train ride, two cave people have dinner

    This handsome couple enjoyed dinner, drinks, and the jazzy strains of “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen” from 1962 until 1998 as part of the campy Cave Train to the Lost World. While goofy dinosaurs hatched and menaced riders on the train, their fellow cavepeople cheated at cards, tried to open boxes of dynamite, and otherwise created mayhem to the delight of Boardwalk visitors during those happy decades.

    SC Boardwalk black and white image of wild mouse ride, man & child on the ride

    In 1958 the Boardwalk opened the Wild Mouse, a small but mighty German-made roller coaster with a reputation that dwarfed its cute little two-passenger cars. With unbanked 90-degree turns, quick drops, and rapid-fire zig-zags, the Wild Mouse was untamed indeed. In 1975 it was removed to make way for the Logger’s Revenge, the classic log flume ride.

    SC Boardwalk black and white image of Marini Candy store front, three men

    In 1980, Marini’s had already been on the job making and selling saltwater taffy at the Boardwalk for 65 years. In this photo, Joe Jr., Joe Sr., and Joel Marini show off their sweet inventory.

    The Boardwalk is still making history. Find out what’s new and start planning your next visit on our Boardwalk page. As the Boardwalk’s old slogan promises, it’s “never a dull moment!”

    Traci Hukill

    November 2, 2021
    Attractions, Family Fun, Heritage Tourism, Things to Do
  • The London Nelson Story

    Mission Street circa 1880 shot roughly from the area where London Nelson had lived and farmed two decades earlier, looking up toward Mission Hill. The handsome white building in the upper left is the Mission School, built in part with proceeds from the rental of Nelson’s property. Photo courtesy of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History.

    How a man born into slavery became one of Santa Cruz’s most famous philanthropists

    It’s a quirk of Santa Cruz history that one of the town’s best-known benefactors was misidentified for decades on the signage of the community center and plaza that bear his name. Less well known is the story of how London Nelson, born into slavery in North Carolina in 1800, came to be a free man living in Santa Cruz who bequeathed all his worldly possessions to the town school district upon his death.

    Details of London Nelson’s life are scant, and not a photograph or likeness remains. But a portrait emerges from historical accounts of a smart and resourceful man who was trusted and liked by adults and children alike, and who quickly joined in community and commercial life in his adopted town, going door-to-door selling produce grown on a plot by the river near what is now Downtown Santa Cruz.

    TRAVELS WITH LONDON

    London reportedly came to California in the Gold Rush year of 1850 with slaveholder Matthew Nelson and another enslaved man, a 26-year-old blacksmith named Marlborough. (Many of the enslaved Nelsons were named for European cities: Paris, Cambridge, Marlborough, etc.) The Nelson party worked a gold claim on the American River over the winter of 1850-51.

    For London and Marlborough, the stakes could not have been higher: the chance to buy their freedom. Apparently, the trio struck gold, because a freed Marlborough accompanied Matthew back East a couple of years later, and London, now in his early fifties, began his life as a freed man in California by investing in cobblers’ tools and traveling around the new state repairing boots and shoes.

    It’s impossible to say why London chose to settle down in Santa Cruz when he visited in 1856. He became one of two Black residents, according to one account, so it wasn’t a vibrant Black community that drew him. One factor may have been that Santa Cruz was a tolerant place by the standards of the time. The local Methodist Church, which was home to a group of Abolitionists, played an important role in the town’s civic life by doubling as a school during the week. Perhaps London took stock of this situation and decided the town was a good bet.

    COMMUNITY LIFE

    In any event, London settled in town, leased a cabin and a 6-acre plot of land near the river where he grew onions, potatoes, and watermelons, and sold his produce from a borrowed wagon pulled by a borrowed horse.

    He also joined the Methodist Church, so he was likely aware when, in 1857, the rapidly growing church located a site for a two-room schoolhouse just up the hill from his own leased land. Kids on their way to the new Mission Hill School would cross the river near London’s place. They got to know “Old Man Nelson,” and he got to know them. In 1858 the school closed due to debt, and though it reopened the next year, the closure and its effect on the kids must have made an impression on London. Over the next couple of years, London continued to work even as his health declined. One day in April of 1860, the kids he had befriended ran to tell the town doctor that London had fallen severely ill. As he lay on his deathbed a few weeks later, he left his estate — $372 including the 6 acres, which he had purchased earlier that spring — to the school district. His was one of the first graves at Evergreen Cemetery.

    SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

    So how did this remarkable man wind up misnamed in the historical record? The answer is surprisingly mundane.

    Handwriting in the 19th century was florid and fancy, with flourishes galore. And people then, as now, sometimes made mistakes, had poor eyesight, or were sloppy. After London’s death, his name began showing up in the record as “Louden” Nelson. Or “Lindon” Nelson. Or London “Neilson.” Or, strangest of all, “Shannon” Nelson. By 1890, when students at Mission Hill School — by then a four-story Italianate building, thanks in part to district income from London’s property — decided to replace the weathered wooden headstone with a lovely new marble one, the reference they looked to spell the name “Louden Nelson.” The mistake was literally etched in stone. It was then repeated many times, including in 1979, when a new community center was named for him.

    The name “London” hung around, though, like a rumor, spurring speculation and research that showed that his name had, in fact, been “London.” In the summer of 2020, in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, Brittnii Potter of Santa Cruz spearheaded a movement to correct the record and have London’s name spelled correctly on the buildings and plaques that bear his name. In June 2021 the Santa Cruz City Council voted unanimously to rename them “London Nelson,” at last correcting a wrong that had stood for far too long.

    Thanks to local historians Geoffrey Dunn and Ross Gibson for their well-researched articles on this topic, and to Santa Cruz Patch for its reporting.

    Find more Santa Cruz local history about local landmarks and communities past here.

    Traci Hukill

    August 24, 2021
    Heritage Tourism
  • The Last Chinatown in Santa Cruz

    One of the prettiest ways to get from downtown Santa Cruz to sprawling, redwood-shaded San Lorenzo Park is to take the short stroll across the San Lorenzo River via the Chinatown Bridge. This scenic pedestrian walkway offers a great view of waterfowl and other bird life in the willows and reeds of the riverbanks, but it offers something else, too – a window into an intriguing chapter of Santa Cruz history. Like the eye-catching sculpted Dragon Archway that welcomes pedestrians to the bridge, this chapter is colorful, a little enigmatic, and steeped in the culture of the Chinese immigrants who helped shape the Golden State into what it is today.

    Stand with the Dragon Archway at your back looking toward downtown Santa Cruz, and you’ll see a peaceful office complex with a pebbled walkway meandering through. This is the site of Santa Cruz’s last Chinatown. Now imagine that the levees behind you don’t exist, and in their place are river shallows blurring into a sloping floodplain. Closest to the water you see garden plots and wooden shacks on stilts; farther up the lane, on higher ground, ramshackle wooden houses line the road in sharp contrast to the grander buildings of the downtown business district looming beyond.

    This is Birkenseer’s Chinatown, named after the landlord who rented to Chinese residents and merchants after an 1894 fire drove them from their settlement a few hundred yards north. In his excellent research on this topic, local historian Geoffrey Dunn explains that there had been other Chinatowns in Santa Cruz starting in 1859, their mostly male residents having emigrated from China in the Gold Rush. As recently as 1890 the county had claimed a population of 785 Chinese living in small settlements from Davenport to Watsonville, fishing, growing produce, working on railroads, operating laundries, selling Chinese herbs and goods, and working as cooks and servants.

    As anti-Chinese sentiment swept across California in the late 1800s, Chinese communities were forced into an increasingly tenuous existence at the margins of the legal economy. After the 1906 earthquake, many of the Chinese residents of Santa Cruz returned to San Francisco and the relative security and prosperity of the established Chinatown there, leaving the small but colorful Birkenseer’s Chinatown behind. During the 1920s and 30s, the gambling halls, bordellos and opium dens of Santa Cruz’s Chinatown drew thrill-seekers and partiers from around the region, and though families and legitimate businesses thrived there, it was known primarily in the public imagination as a red-light district.

    In time the population of Birkenseer’s Chinatown dwindled as people moved away and older bachelors passed on. Chinese men in California had always vastly outnumbered Chinese women, and that was especially true in Santa Cruz County, which held the dubious distinction of having the most unbalanced ratio of Chinese men to women in the state; it was challenging for the population to sustain itself.

    George Ow and his uncle, Ah Fook, taken by George Lee and is featured on the cover of his book, Chinatown Dream

    By 1955, just four households remained in Santa Cruz’s Chinatown. On the night of Dec. 22, 1955, after weeks of heavy rain across the entire state, the San Lorenzo River overflowed its banks and inundated downtown in a historic breach known as the Christmas Flood of 1955. Dunn describes the destruction as related to him by Santa Cruz businessman George Ow, who grew up in Chinatown. As redwood trees, cars and parts of houses swept past on the wild muddied river, Chinatown and its history were carried away too, chunk by chunk.

    Four years later the Army Corps of Engineers embarked on a huge flood control project in Santa Cruz, and the city redeveloped the site where the old Chinatown once stood, forever burying it from view. The Dragon Archway, with its brilliantly hued tile mosaic water dragon and its graceful arch festooned with lanterns and poetry, stands as a reminder that beneath the surface of our modern cityscape lie layers and layers of stories and cultures ready to be rediscovered.

    George Ow remembers his family history, part of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History’s exhibit Guided by Ghosts.

    Read about the Chinese Gate in Evergreen Cemetery and a forested hiking trail that follows a narrow-gauge railbed laid by Chinese laborers.

    Traci Hukill

    January 30, 2021
    Heritage Tourism
  • Big Basin on the Mend

    Resilience of Big Basin Redwoods State Park:  Even 2020 can’t defeat a forest that has survived ice ages, wildfires and logging sprees

    People the world over are looking to 2021 to be a year of healing — from division, disease and, here in California, a devastating wildfire season. Nowhere is that truer than in Santa Cruz County, where five blazes ignited by a dry lightning storm on the morning of August 16 tore through the mountains, destroying nearly 1,500 structures and burning more than 86,000 acres. Nearly all 18,000 acres of the beloved Big Basin Redwood State Park were scorched in what came to be known as the CZU August Lightning Complex Fire, including the park’s precious 4,400 acres of old-growth redwoods and the park’s headquarters built in 1936, which burned to ash along with almost all the other buildings on day two of the fire.

    Upon news that the park had burned, social media lit up with messages of sorrow and remembrance from redwood lovers across the country. Big Basin, people were saying, was gone forever. A terrible loss had occurred, and we would have to learn to live without the beauty of California’s first state park.

    But the eulogies for Big Basin’s redwoods were premature. Two months later — the very next breath, in Mother Nature years — tiny green sprouts had burst into sight throughout the forest. Along the redwoods’ huge blackened trunks and exposed roots, tender shoots started coming up, no bigger than moss at first but destined, some of them, to become enormous branches or maybe even big trees themselves someday, should the parent tree not survive. (Scientists have predicted that 10% of the old growth trees in the park will perish as a result of damages sustained from the fire, leaving 90 percent to carry on, battle-scarred but alive.)

    Anyone who has wandered through a redwood forest knows what a fairy ring looks like:  a circle of redwoods growing around the ghost of a massive mother redwood that fell long ago, whether from age or fire or the saw. These younger trees come into being through “basal sprouting,” the term for when shoots come up from a tree’s root system, typically as a result of stress. Basal sprouting is common among broadleaf trees but exceedingly rare among conifers, and it’s one of the secrets to redwood forest survival. Redwood sprouts can grow up to 7 feet in a single year in a sprint toward the sunlight, rapidly rebuilding the forest after loss. What’s growing right now in Big Basin, through the process of basal sprouting, are the fairy rings of the future.

    Joanne Kerbavaz, senior environmental scientist with California State Parks, notes that the sad fate of the park’s historic buildings stands in sharp contrast to the resilience of the natural resources. Many of the park’s iconic named trees, including the “Father” and “Mother of the Forest,” have survived even though nearby infrastructure went up in flames. “Redwoods are incredibly resistant to fire and resilient to the effects of fire, and we’re seeing that play out in Big Basin,” she says. “I can’t help but focus on a hopeful outcome with the forest system.”

    Built for Survival

    First appearing in the fossil record across the Northern Hemisphere during the Jurassic Period (180-135 million years ago), redwoods began retreating from their vast ancient territory as the planet grew cooler and drier. Since the last ice age, their home has been a 450-mile strip of coastal Northern California and Southern Oregon that provides the moist, temperate climate they need to survive.

    The indigenous people of California knew the redwood forests well. They used fire to shape the landscape, burning parts of redwood forests to encourage the growth of tanoak, which had the best acorns, and creating meadows to attract deer and certain plants. Between planned fires and lightning strikes, scientists estimate that some 4 million acres burned each year in California before Europeans arrived.

    Redwoods had distinct advantages when it came to surviving these frequent fires: high water content, bark that can grow more than 12 inches thick, and tannin rather than flammable resin or pitch in their wood. Mature redwoods also have such high canopies that the crown seldom burns. These are the reasons most of the old-growth redwoods we see bear burn scars from fires nobody remembers: the fires scarred, but did not kill, the trees.

    The European settlement of California brought logging to the ancient redwoods’ 2-million-acre domain. In the Santa Cruz Mountains, logging began in earnest in 1840 with the first mechanized sawmill and ramped up in 1880 with the steam donkey. By the turn of the century, 96% of the old-growth trees had been logged, with only oddly formed or inaccessible trees remaining, for the most part.

    In May 1900, a party of civic-minded writers, scientists and citizens from San Jose and the Peninsula, concerned about rampant logging in the mountains, took a trip to see a grove of old-growth redwoods. Camped near Sempervirens Falls, they named themselves the Sempervirens Club and passed a hat to jump-start the purchase of the grove for protection. With help from the presidents of Stanford University and then-Santa Clara College, as well as the editor of the San Jose Mercury News, the Sempervirens Club persuaded the California legislature in 1901 to purchase 3,800 acres for the creation of the California Redwood Park, the state’s first. It was, of course, later to become Big Basin Redwoods State Park.

    Recovery and Reopening

    In the nearly 120 years since coming under the protection of the California state park system, the redwood forest of Big Basin has made a remarkable recovery from the assault by loggers. Many first-time visitors probably don’t even realize that they are looking at relatively young second-growth trees. Beloved trails like the Redwood Loop, the Sequoia Trail and the Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail lead past impressive redwoods and Douglas firs to beautiful forested vistas bearing no resemblance to the barren hillsides, slash, and drag marks left in the wake of uncontrolled logging.

    Big Basin won’t be open to visitors for another year. Kerbavaz explains that there are just too many boardwalks, steps, handrails, culverts and bridges to be built before visitors can safely enter the park, and “hazard” trees must be felled so they don’t topple in high winds and wreak more havoc. Additionally, the natural resources need time to recover.

    As a scientist, Kerbavaz is looking forward to seeing if more redwood seedlings than usual appear this spring, drinking in sunlight usually blocked by thick understory. She’s also eager to see what happens with knobcone pine trees, whose cones require temperatures of over 350 degrees open. “We expect to see a flush of new seedlings from those trees,” she says. Other than that, she notes, it’s hard to predict what the forest will look like in 5, 10, or 20 years.

    “One thing we know is a high proportion of redwoods survive fires. One study showed that 95% of them survive,” she says. “They’re just going to look different for a while.”

    Kerbavaz points out that in 1904, shortly after the state park designation, Big Basin suffered a fire that “devastated” the landscape, according to horrified witnesses. Today few people are even aware of that fire’s existence.

    “We don’t have the data to look back on a regional scale and say, ‘Was there a fire like [the CZU fire] in the past?’ But I know with trees that stand for 2,000 years, they’ve seen a lot.”

    Read more about the resilience of the Big Basin Redwoods State Park forest in Redwood Love.

    Traci Hukill

    January 5, 2021
    Heritage Tourism, Hiking, Parks
  • Work It: Rhiannon Sims, California State Parks Interpreter

    As a California State Parks Interpreter, a redwood forest serves as Rhiannon Sims’ office.  She manages interpretive projects, such as special event planning and wayside panel design, and media outreach for state parks in Santa Cruz County.  Rhiannon brings the unique and extraordinary nature of local state parks and cultural history to visitors and locals by combining the best of traditional interpretative techniques with the latest innovative technology.  There’s “downtime” too, like when she facilitates campfire programs under an old-growth redwood forest canopy – complete with s’mores!

    We checked in with Rhiannon to find out more about her love of the outdoors.

    Where did your interest in state parks begin?
    I’ve always loved spending time outdoors and visiting historical sites. As a new transplant to Los Angeles in 2007, I signed up for volunteer training at Topanga State Park (I was interested in learning about the local plants and wildlife) but was encouraged to apply for a seasonal job at the end of the training.

    What does a state park interpreter do?
    A State Park Interpreter helps park visitors experience, understand, and appreciate our state parks more fully.

    Describe your “typical” day as a state park interpreter.
    It really depends on the season! In the summer, I get to lead guided hikes and host campfire programs where I talk about the nature and history of the park. During the rest of the year, I help administrate different interpretive programs, like Kids2Parks, a park access equity program for local Title I schools. I’m also currently involved in the renovation of the Big Basin Nature Museum, helping to design new exhibits. Interpreters do a little bit of a lot of things, and that’s the way I like it!

    What do you hope a visitor’s experience at one of our state parks is like?
    I hope they are inspired and refreshed by their visit and come away with a greater knowledge of why these natural and cultural sites have been preserved.

    What was one of the more original questions about our state parks you’ve heard?
    At Big Basin Redwoods State Park, someone once asked me if there have been any Bigfoot sightings.

    Can you tell us about your uniform?
    Well, there is a dress uniform and a field uniform that California State Park Interpreters wear.  We wear many of the same uniform items as rangers, which are law enforcement officers, so I have what I need to do my job with me at all times.  I never have a problem deciding what to wear for work this way!

    What is so unique about our local state parks?
    Santa Cruz’s local state parks are a diverse and amazing collection of California’s history and natural landscapes! We have the oldest State Park (Big Basin Redwoods) and also one of the newest: Castro Adobe State Historic Park. We draw visitors from across the globe and long-time locals because our state parks have something for everyone to enjoy.

    When not working, how do you like to spend your time in Santa Cruz County?
    Hiking in my local state park, of course. I also love to do dinner and a movie on Pacific Avenue or visit our local museums.

    What is one thing not a lot of people know about you?
    I’m learning to paint with watercolor.

    If you didn’t work for California State Parks, what other career path do you see yourself on?
    It’s hard to see myself anywhere else, but I’ve always thought I’d enjoy being a librarian or working in graphic design.

    Special to Visit Santa Cruz

    February 29, 2020
    Heritage Tourism, Hiking, Meet a Local, Parks
  • Santa Cruz County: Hawaii’s Mainland Inspiration

    The link between Santa Cruz and Hawaii extends beyond their share of sunny beaches and laid-back vibes. In 1885, three, vacationing Hawaiian princes dazzled Santa Cruz locals by riding waves on makeshift boards they had made from redwood planks. It marked the introduction of surfing to the mainland U.S., and sparked a nationwide craze that began here in Santa Cruz. Today, the region brims with other Hawaiian imports such as poke bowls and Kona coffee that will transport you to the islands. From ono grinds to ukulele melodies, here’s where to find aloha in Santa Cruz County.

    Santa Cruz Surfing Museum

    Go back to where it all began at the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum which showcases Santa Cruz surfing from the day the three Hawaiian princes took to their redwood boards. Housed in an iconic, memorial lighthouse overlooking famed surf break Steamer Lane, the cozy museum is crammed with fun surfing memorabilia including vintage wooden surfboards. Outfront, look for a brick memorial that commemorates the genesis of mainland surfing—a gift from the descendants of Prince Kawananakoa—and the link between Santa Cruz and Hawaii.

    Hula’s Island Grill

    With vintage surf decor, glowing puffer fish lamps, and a velvet painting of Elvis, this kitschy-cool restaurant is a fun, retro tribute to the 50th state. The lengthy menu features a crowd-pleasing mix of Hawaiian-inspired dishes such as crispy shrimp rolls, mango BBQ ribs, and fresh fish in a variety of preparations. Against a backdrop of exotic tiki mugs and a TV screening surf flicks, a lively bar shakes up classic tropical drinks including Mai Tais, Zombies, and Blue Hawaiians. Don’t miss the daily happy hour—4-6 p.m., and all night on Tuesday—when pupus and cocktails are $6!

    Pono Hawaiian Grill

    One step into this colorful, downtown Santa Cruz eatery, and you’re transported to a beachside eatery in Waikiki. The airy dining room captures all the elements of your favorite, casual Hawaiian joint—island decor, relaxed vibes, and tables topped with bottles of shoyu and sriracha—but the real aloha comes from the kitchen. Homesick Hawaiians will find comfort in classic dishes such as musubi, pork lau lau, ahi poke, and teri chicken. Plus, it wouldn’t be a proper plate lunch without your choice of Hawaiian Sun drink. For something more potent, the Reef Bar is stocked with rum, and as well as Hawaiian and local brews. Grab a Mai Tai, and head to the sunny patio with outdoor seating set amidst the leafy palm trees, 

    High Tide Poke Shop

    Build your dream poke bowl at this downtown Santa Cruz stop which shares a storefront with HōM Korean Kitchen. The customizable menu offers your choice of base, protein, and sauces to suit your cravings, whether you’re feeling Ahi tuna with spicy mayo or miso crab over noodles. Plus, a seemingly endless list of toppings such as avocado, edamame, and mango adds to your vibrant creation. Enjoy it on the patio overlooking the bustling scene on Pacific Avenue.

    MJA Vineyards

    Before he began making wine, Marin John Artukovich was a coffee farmer on the Big Island, and his love of the islands is readily apparent at his Westside tasting room. Displayed alongside MJA’s cabernet sauvignons, bags of Artukovich’s 100% Kona coffee tempt visitors with their rich aroma. You’ll also find bags of other island goodies such as chocolate-covered macadamia nuts and espresso beans, the latter of which is paired with cabs during tastings. Swing by Tuesdays, Friday, or Saturday, and you can pair other wines such as the Wipeout sauv blanc with savory dishes from a rotating line-up of chefs and food trucks.

    Ukuleles at Harbor Beach

    The Santa Cruz Harbor offers visitors many attractions, but perhaps the most surprising is regular concerts from hundreds of crooning ukulele players. For the past 17 years, the Santa Cruz Ukulele Club has assembled enthusiasts of the mini, four-string Hawaiian guitar with regular gatherings around town. The most popular is likely the Saturday morning gathering at Harbor Beach, behind The Crow’s Nest from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Stop by and enjoy the aloha shirt-wearing orchestra of strumming players who belt out familiar songs such as California Dreaming and Margaritaville. On the second Wednesday of every month, Pono Hawaiian Grill also hosts a Ukulele Party with various artists lending a sweet soundtrack to the dining room.

    Aloha Outrigger Races + Polynesian Festival

    Each August, the City of Santa Cruz celebrates its Hawaiian ties with a Polynesian Festival held on the Municipal Wharf with plenty of Polynesian music, dancing, and shave ice to fuel a luau. The signature event is an outrigger race, and the public is encouraged to participate. Novices take note: the local Pu Pu O’Hawaii Outrigger Canoe Club will provide your group with the two key team members, the stroker and steerer. Don your best aloha wear, and you can take home the Outrigger Aloha Spirit Award!

    Garrick Ramirez

    February 7, 2020
    Arts + Culture, Food & Drink, Heritage Tourism, Things to Do, Vacation Ideas
  • 15 Things to Do in Watsonville

    15 Things to Do in Watsonville

    Watsonville provides stunning views of the Monterey Bay, a rich history of California agriculture and so much more. Below, we’ve narrowed down a list of 15 to lend a weekend-friendly taste of the many activities and sights offered within the dynamic, historic town.

    1. Fruit Juices at Martinelli’s Company Store

    Martinelli’s, the Watsonville company that made that cute apple-shaped container of juice a childhood staple, celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2018. Pop into their modern company store where you can find a wide assortment of sparkling and still juices and ciders.

    2. Munch a Chili-topped Taylor Dog

    The old-fashioned, red-and-white Taylor Bros. stand has been dishing up their famed chili dogs since 1954. At under $2 a piece, you can grab a few and enjoy in the town’s park plaza across the street.

    3. Camp Out in a Shiny New Airstream

    In addition to tent sites and camping cabins, KOA Santa Cruz features a fleet of shiny Airstream trailers for retro, family-friendly fun that’s walking distance from Manresa State Beach.

    4. Stroll the Sand Dunes of Sunset State Beach

    A remote, wide sandy shore backed by towering sand dunes makes Sunset State Beach one most scenic—and least crowded—beaches in Santa Cruz County. Pack the cooler and BBQ tools: Sunset features some of our favorite picnic facilities strewn along the shore.

    5. Enjoy an Apple Dumpling at Gizdich Ranch

    Like a scene from an old cartoon, aromatic wafts of homemade pie should lure you to this fun, atmospheric farm. Situated amidst apple orchards and berry fields, the Gizdich Ranch farm’s Bake Shop delights guests with plump homemade pies, fresh fruit puff pastries, and their specialty: apple dumplings.

    6. Explore Elkhorn Slough Reserve

    All visits to the wondrous Elkhorn Slough—a serene, meandering estuary teeming with birds, seals, and abalone-munching sea otters—should begin at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve Visitor Center. Through a series of hands-on exhibits, you can discover the fascinating, unseen world within the slough as well as the waterway’s vital function to the local environment. Afterward, grab your binoculars and hit the five miles of trails that branch out from the center (note: a $4.12 day-use trail fee applies to adults 16 and older—children are free). Be sure to check their website for current opening status and offerings.

    7. Pluck Organic Veggies at a Charming Farm Stand

    Live Earth Farm is a mainstay at local farmers markets, but nothing compares to visiting its bucolic farm whose charming redwood barn brims with organic fruit, vegetables, flowers, and—if you’re lucky—seasonal homemade cider. The farm also hosts seasonal U-Pick events. Check their site for hours and dates.

    8. Chow Down on Organic Farm-to-Table Grub at California Grill

    Enjoy the region’s local produce and meat at California Grill, a farmer-owned eatery and bar with friendly neighborhood vibes and dishes featuring produce straight from the owner’s organic farm. Be sure to check their Facebook page for current opening status and offerings.

    9. Search for Ghosts at Tuttle Mansion

    At this magnificent 1899 mansion at 723 East Lake Avenue, ghost hunters claim to have spotted apparitions of the Tuttle family, including patriarch Morris Tuttle gazing out the front window over his former apple orchards. Even if a spirit doesn’t take your breath away, the architecture of this ornate home certainly will.

    10. Shop at the Annieglass Factory

    The Annieglass factory is one of the most unique places to visit in Santa Cruz County. In Watsonville since 1983, the production studio produces over 200 pieces a day for distribution throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia to the finest stores, resorts, chefs and websites. The largest selection of Annieglass is featured in their Watsonville retail store along with local artisans, jewelry, and home furnishings. Check their website for current offerings and openings.

    11. Sip Your Way Through the Corralitos Wine Trail

    Tucked amidst the rolling hills of Corralitos, scenic spots such as Alfaro Family Vineyards & Winery, Storrs Winery & Vineyards, and Nicholson Vineyards offer visitors a chance to sample local wines—and natural splendor—amidst the vineyards.

    12. Drive a Tractor at the Agricultural History Project

    Like the Smithsonian of Watsonville, this indoor/outdoor museum at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds is repository for region’s rich agricultural heritage. On the second Saturday of each month, it welcomes families with hands-on exhibits including a tractor simulator, train caboose, and a chance to get behind the wheel of a functioning John Deere. Please check website for current offerings as events may have changed.

    13. Visit the Historic Castro Adobe

    Fans of the California missions won’t want to miss this historical gem hidden in the quiet, pastoral Larkin Valley. Built in 1850 as the festive home of Juan Jose Castro, the adobe structure—one of only four in Santa Cruz—and its peaceful gardens are being renovated by Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks. They welcome the public once a month to tour the property, witness the renovation, and observe the home’s notable features including a smoke-tinged Mexican cocina and historic graffiti that goes back generations. Please check their website for events and current open status.

    14. Dig into Local History at Pajaro Valley Historical Association

    Watsonville is home to stunning Victorian era homes, but few as striking as the tree-shaded Bockius-Orr Home which houses the Pajaro Valley Historical Association. The 1870 Italianate Victorian home and estate are home to a wondrous collection of historical artifacts including one of the largest collection of antique clothing in the region.

    15. Seek Out Vibrant Apple Crate Murals

    The colorful labels that once graced Watsonville’s ubiquitous wooden apple crates have been transformed into large scale murals dotted throughout Watsonville’s historic downtown core. Grab a map—and an apple—and enjoy an art and history-filled walking tour.

    Garrick Ramirez

    January 23, 2020
    Heritage Tourism, Things to Do, Vacation Ideas
  • The Historic Adobes of Santa Cruz County

    The Historic Adobes of Santa Cruz County

    Relics of the Spanish and Mexican eras, the county’s oldest buildings have fascinating stories to tell.

    Driving through busy modern-day Santa Cruz County, it’s hard to imagine a time when the rolling hills ran down to the sea uninterrupted by houses, bridges, roads and office buildings. But of course that’s what the first Spanish settlers found when they marched up from Monterey to establish a mission in 1791. To build the Misión de la Exaltacion de la Santa Cruz, they used the materials at hand—timber, felled at great effort and expense, and dirt, plentiful and free.

    Given the two choices, it’s easy to see how adobe, a mixture of earth and water bound by straw or manure, became the predominant building material not just in Santa Cruz but throughout Alta California, as Spain worked to establish a foothold here. Santa Cruz County is home to four historic adobes from the Spanish and Mexican periods (1769-1850). Their stories track California’s own complex history of settlement by waves of soldiers, priests, and finally civilians, all with their own versions of the California dream.

    Postcard modeled after an 1853 painting of Mission Santa Cruz by Frenchman Leon Trousset.  The long, low building at left resembles the style of the Mission Adobe, one of Santa Cruz County’s last remaining historic adobes.

    The Mission Adobe at Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park

    The first European settlement in the area was the Santa Cruz Mission, built on the hill overlooking present-day downtown Santa Cruz. Established in 1791 by Spanish priests, it was the 12th of 21 missions meant to form the foundation of a Spanish-style society in California. The Ohlone-speaking indigenous people who lived at and near the mission labored in the fields and orchards, milled flour, and worked crafts and trades such as weaving, spinning, blacksmithing, and leather tanning. 

    The Mission Adobe (also called the Neary-Rodriguez Adobe) as it was in 1954, when still occupied by residents and the Adobe Antiques shop. Photo by Van Court Warren, courtesy of the California State Library Historic Collection.

    Today Mission Hill is the home of California’s only surviving example of mission housing for indigenous people. A kind of early apartment house, the Mission Adobe is a long, low-slung structure one room wide and seven rooms long (the original building had 17 rooms), with walls two feet thick in the classic adobe style. Built between 1822 and 1824, its construction mirrored that of a dormitory that stood across the creek (where School Street now runs). These dwellings housed indigenous artisans and craftspeople and their families.

    The Mission Adobe housed indigenous families during the Mission Era. It’s now a California state park. Traci Hukill photo.

    Now the centerpiece of Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park, the Mission Adobe contains a wealth of information about Ohlone lifeways, as well as the history of the adobe as it passed from generation to generation, miraculously surviving earthquakes and real estate booms. It’s all that remains of the mission complex that once sprawled across this bluff overlooking Monterey Bay. Fun fact: The avocado tree that stands in the courtyard is thought to be the second oldest in California.

    Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park, 144 School St, Santa Cruz. (831) 425-5849. Check their website for updates.

    The privately owned Branciforte Adobe in 1975. It is one of the few historic adobes in California thought to have been continuously inhabited since construction. Photo: Edna E. Kimbro Archive, Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks.

    The Branciforte Adobe

    Not many people realize that Santa Cruz County is home to one of just three civilian settlements built by the Spanish. Unlike the missions and presidios with their religious and military functions, the pueblos were established as centrally planned farming communities with plazas and zoning—places where ordinary civilian life could eventually flourish. The first two pueblos were San Jose and Los Angeles. The third was Villa de Branciforte, established in 1797 across the San Lorenzo River from the six-year-old Mission Santa Cruz.

    The Spanish authorities had grand plans for Villa de Branciforte, but it was hard persuading residents of established towns in New Spain (i.e., Mexico) to move to the wilderness. The first eight settlers who arrived by ship in Monterey from Guadalajara in May 1797 had been accused of petty crimes back in Guadalajara. Life in Branciforte, where they’d been promised housing, livestock and a stipend of $116 a year, was their ticket out of jail.  Soon six young former soldiers joined them. One of them was Joaquin Castro, a son of a family on the first De Anza Expedition. The settlement kept growing and was eventually annexed to the city of Santa Cruz in 1905.

    The Still family, who occupied the Branciforte Adobe from 1882 to 1920, in a 1902 photograph. Photo from the Edna E. Kimbro Archive, Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks.

    We don’t know much about who built the Branciforte Adobe or when it was built, but experts in adobe construction have suggested it was erected during the Spanish period (1797-1821) and continuously inhabited ever since. Maybe its first owners were fans of horseracing who wanted to be at the center of the action; the road that is now North Branciforte Avenue doubled as a racetrack back in Villa de Branciforte’s early days. Maybe the home was the scene of lively parties; one former resident who lived there in the 1870s claimed to have heard mysterious violin music emanating from the attic.

    Today the Branciforte Adobe remains a private residence that stands at the southwest corner of North Branciforte and Goss streets in Santa Cruz, behind an adobe brick privacy wall. You can find the National Register plaque nearby on North Branciforte Avenue.

    Private residence; please do not disturb occupants. North Branciforte and Goss streets, Santa Cruz.

    The Bolcoff Adobe at Wilder Ranch State Park was built around 1840 using materials (including the roof tiles) from the Santa Cruz Mission. Photo by Traci Hukill.

    The Bolcoff Adobe

    One of the most colorful citizens of early Santa Cruz County was Jose Antonio Bolcoff, born Osip Volkov in Siberia in 1796. At the age of 19, Volkov deserted his Russian fur-trading ship when it anchored in the harbor at Monterey. In short order he had won himself a place in the town’s Spanish Californio society, working as an interpreter for the governor and taking a Spanish name. Seven years later Bolcoff married the well-connected Maria Candida Castro, the daughter of Joaquin Castro (the soldier who had settled in Villa de Branciforte), and the couple moved to Villa de Branciforte. By 1833 Bolcoff was the alcalde, or mayor, of the settlement.

    The year 1839 was a big one for the Bolcoffs. Not only was Jose Bolcoff named administrator for Mission Santa Cruz—which had undergone secularization in 1834 and was being disassembled, piece by piece—but Maria Candida and her two younger sisters were given Rancho Refugio, a 12,000-acre land grant that includes what is now Wilder Ranch State Park. Jose and Maria Candida set up housekeeping at Rancho Refugio and built a home where the present-day parking lot is found. They also built the Bolcoff Adobe, believed to have been a farm building, using some of the beams and tiles from the Mission Santa Cruz.

    By 1841, Jose Bolcoff’s name had mysteriously appeared on the Rancho Refugio grant, and the names of his wife‘s sisters had just as mysteriously disappeared. Decades later, in 1870, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the original grant had indeed been made to all three sisters and that Bolcoff had “suppressed or destroyed” the original and “fabricated” the new one.  Read more about Wilder Ranch State Park.

    Wilder Ranch State Park is located 15 minutes north of Downtown Santa Cruz on Highway 1, at 1401 Coast Road, Santa Cruz. Parking is $10.

    The Castro Adobe, thought to have been built in 1848 or 1849, is the only two-story adobe in Santa Cruz County. In 2002 it was acquired by the State of California and is now a state park. Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks photo.

    The Rancho San Andrés Castro Adobe

    Unlike most historic adobes in California, which are found in cities or towns, the Castro Adobe is in a rural area, gracefully situated on a hill overlooking the Pajaro Valley and Monterey Bay. The Adobe’s idyllic, relatively undeveloped location makes it easy for visitors to vividly imagine life there in 1849 when historians believe the two-story home was constructed by Juan Jose Castro, the son of Joaquin Castro and brother of the rightful owners of Rancho Refugio.

    Castro family legend has it that the house was built with $30,000 from the gold fields. We may never know if that’s true, but unlike the Easterners and Midwesterners who had to first get to California before setting out for Gold Country, the Californios were able to race up to the Motherlode as soon as gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill and collect the easy pickings. In any event, once built, the Castro Adobe was a center of social activity, with feasts and entertainments, including bull-and-bear fights in the yard (it was a different time) and fandangos on the second floor.

    After statehood in 1850, the Castro family was beset by lawsuits and eventually had to sell the family home. It passed through many hands, at one point being used as a barn. It was remodeled many times.

    In the 1980s an adobe historian named Edna Kimbro bought the Castro Adobe, and, although the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989 almost destroyed it — and definitely rendered it uninhabitable — she worked tirelessly to have it purchased by the State of California to be repaired and turned into a state park emblematic of the Mexican Era in California. The State completed the purchase in 2002, and the Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks spearheaded a massive rehabilitation effort that began in 2009.

    Today the Castro Adobe is the focal point of Rancho San Andres Castro Adobe State Historic Park. Fully restored and up to code, it features a wheelchair-accessible lift to the second floor, brand-new first- and second-floor verandas, extensive seismic retrofitting (which is not easy to do with historic earthen structures; the story will delight engineers types), and a functioning brasero, or traditional cooking range, that schoolchildren use for making tortillas on field trips to learn about the Californio era. Read more about the Castro Adobe.

    Rancho San Andres Castro Adobe State Historic Park is on Old Adobe Road in Larkin Valley, near Watsonville. Visit their website for updates on operating status.

    October 2020

    Traci Hukill

    January 15, 2020
    Arts + Culture, Heritage Tourism
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