Santa Cruz County History Wiki - User contributions [en]

History Pages: 6 - The Sailors

2026-11-01T16:42:41Z

Carey:

'''For a table of contents, see''' [[History pages]].

[[File:Vue du port hanarourou by Louis Choris.jpg|thumb|600px|"Vue du port hanarourou" [Honolulu] by Louis Choris]]
One of the fun things about studying pre-statehood California history is that, because there were so few people living here at that time, connections between individuals always pop up. Finding those connections is, for me, an antidote to the “feel like a number” aspects of modern like in America.

Updating an old post about one of the “frontiersmen”, [[Majors, Joseph L.|Joseph Majors]], led me to read about Jedediah Smith, first of the American frontiersmen to reach California. Smith’s daily journal of his expedition introduced me to another early American-born Californian – [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_John_Chapman Joseph Chapman]. Chapman was already well-settled in the little pueblo of Los Angeles when Smith arrived early in 1827. Chapman was one of “the sailors”, which provides a handy lead-in to this update.

Chapman’s story contains an especially unusual element: he first came to California as a pirate (or, more delicately - a privateer). Some specific details are unclear, but it seems beyond dispute that Joseph Chapman was a crew-member serving under the French-Argentinian privateer Hippolyte Bouchard. Argentina had just successfully broken away from the Spanish empire, and was still in a state of war. Bouchard’s little fleet (two ships) came from Hawaii to the California coast in 1818, aiming to cause harm to Spanish interests there. The provincial capital, Monterey, became the first target. A raiding party landed and sacked the Presidio – burning buildings and destroying the fort’s artillery.

After leaving Monterey, Bouchard sailed south and mounted attacks on Santa Barbara and San Juan Capistrano before leaving California waters forever. Somehow left behind (or perhaps deserting) was Joseph Chapman. By making himself useful at the missions, he escaped the gallows and stayed on to become a valued member of Spanish-Mexican California.

[[File:Fulling mill at Mission Santa Ines, CA.jpg|thumb|left|Fulling mill at Mission Santa Ines, built by Joseph Chapman]]
How does this all relate to Santa Cruz? Neither Bouchard nor Chapman ever came here but, because there had been prior warning of the impending attack, the two coastal missions had time to move their people and valuables to inland locations. Governor Sola ordered the Mission Santa Cruz folk to retreat to Santa Clara, placing defense of the Mission in the hands of the invalidos (retired soldiers) led by Branciforte [[Spanish-era government|''comisionado'']] (military liaison) [[Buelna, Joaquin|Joaquin Buelna]]). Upon the padres’ return, the Branciforteans were accused by the padres of theft of mission valuables, including two casks of aguardiente (a brandy distilled at the missions). Relations between the pueblo and the Mission, which had never been good, declined even further after this incident.

According to historian [[History of California, Bancroft|H. H. Bancroft]], Joseph Chapman was one of the first documented English-speaking permanent residents in California. The name of the very first will be familiar to locals as the namesake of a nearby town. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilroy,_California John Gilroy] was a Scot who, like Chapman, was a sailor who (probably) jumped ship in Monterey, married a Californio girl of the Ortega family, and settled down. Through his wife, Gilroy obtained a land grant in the area where the city named after him is today. Gilroy and Chapman also became distant cousins by marriage and, although there’s no record that they ever met, might have shared a glass of aguardiente and some words of English at one of the many Ortega family weddings.

====From Bancroft, History of California: 1801-1824, p 444-5====
“Of the foreign residents, John Gilroy was married about easter [1821] to Maria Clara de la Asuncion Ortega, and went with Captain Arguello on a trip to the far north in the autumn. John Rose was zealously perfecting his religious education at Purisima and San Buenaventura, while Jose Chapman, at work on a mill near Santa Ines, received from the governor in December a document certifying that he was included in the king's amnesty to all Anglo-American prisoners. John Michael Johnson, a Scotchman, was baptized at San Buenaventura on May 26th, but nothing more is known of him. According to statements in later lists and petitions there were at least three additions in 1821 to the foreign colony, Jeremiah Jones, a Protestant calker of Surrey, England, John Bones, an Irish carpenter twenty-three years of age, and Phillip Pellom, or Felon, a Danish hatter of twenty years.* These were probably deserters from different vessels, about the date of whose arrival there may be an error of a year or two, but who lived long in the country.

Late in the summer rumors were current that a party of English or Americans had established themselves somewhere within forty or fifty leagues of San Francisco, and Sola determined to send out an exploring expedition to ascertain the truth, and if necessary drive out the intruders. Thirty-five soldados de Cuera and twenty infantes, part of the force coming up from Monterey, were assembled at San Francisco. Horses and much of the supplies were sent from Santa Clara and San Jose up to the strait of the Carquines. The officers selected were Captain Luis Arguello, Alferez Francisco de Haro, Alferez Jose Antonio Sanchez, and Cadet Joaquin Estudillo, with Padre Bias Ordaz as chaplain and chronicler, and John Gilroy, called the ‘English interpreter Juan Antonio.’

There are several others who are said to have come in 1821, but are at the same time accredited to vessels known to have arrived in 1822; and still others, as Buckle and Mcintosh, whose arrival is referred in different documents to 1821, 1822, and 1823 respectively, and whom I have included in 1823.”

====From Bancroft: History of California: 1825-1840, p 757====
“Gilroy (John), 1814, Scotch sailor, and the 1st foreigner to settle permanently in Cal., being left sick at Mont, by the Isaac Todd. ii. 204, 248, 272, 382, 393. His real name was John Cameron, but having run away from home as a minor, he changed it to avoid being arrested and sent back. His parents moved to England when John was very young; and indeed, he often claimed to be a native of Sunderland, Engl. In Sept. '14 he was baptized at S. Carlos by P. Sarria as Juan Antonio Maria Gilroy. In '18 Capt. Guerra, at Sta. B., sent to the viceroy his petition as an 'Amer. cooper ' for permission to remain and marry in Cal., which was granted in '19; and in '21 he was married at S. Juan B. to Maria Clara de la Asuncion, daughter of Ignacio Ortega. The same year he accompanied Capt. Arguello in his famous expedition ' to the Columbia ' as guide, or rather, interpreter, for Amer. intruders were to be met and talked to. ii. 444-5. The next we hear of him was in '33, when he obtained naturalization, producing certificates that he was a soap-maker and millwright of good character, with wife and 4 children, having also some live stock on the S. Isidro rancho. This rancho was granted the same year to the Ortegas; G. owned a league of it, on which he built an adobe house and spent the rest of his life. His name appears on Larkin's books from '34, when his age was given as 45. In '35 he was aux. alcalde at ' Los Ortegas.' iii. 674; by the padron of '36, age 40, wife age 28, child. Nicodemus b. "26, Miguel '28. iv. 117; age 46 in '40; not arrested in the Graham affair; often named in records of most years; said to have been sent to Fremont's Gavilan camp in '46. v. 18. In '51 for the 1st time Gilroy wrote to his family in England, and I have the original reply — presented by Valentin Alviso — of his brother Alex. Cameron, tanner, at Newton Heath, near Manchester, dated June 29, '52. Alex is glad to learn that he has a brother living, for father, mother, and the other brothers are all dead.

John Gilroy was an honest, good-natured old sailor-ranchero, well liked by everybody, much too fond of his grog and cards, careless and improvident, and as powerless in the hands of land-lawyers as were the natives themselves. He lost all his lands and cattle, but he lived to see his old rancho the site of a flourishing town, which bears his adopted name, Gilroy; and he died, as poor as when he landed in Cal. more than half a century before, in '69, at the age of about '75. I have no definite record of his sons since '48. 'Juanita' (McPherson) has given many items on G.'s early life, obtained from himself, in the Sta Clara Argus and other papers. Gilt (Henry), 1840, at Brancif.; prob. 'Hill.' ”

The following article was originally published on Santa Cruz Patch as...

==Names on the Signs: The Sailors==

The period from 1821 to 1846 was a turbulent time in California, but our northern end of Vizcaíno’s bay avoided most of the commotion. The big events usually happened in Monterey, then their effects gradually diffused north. Geographical features of the land (mountains) and sea (lack of a natural harbor) dictated that most early arrivals here would come by way of Monterey, following the trail blazed by the lost Spaniard, Portolà. Ships put in at Monterey’s harbor; merchants arranged their trading business at the customs house; soldiers came and went from the Presidio; ranchers brought their hides and tallow from north and south along El Camino Real to Monterey's wharves; diplomats presented their credentials at the capital of Spanish and Mexican California. The main king’s road didn’t pass through Santa Cruz, and neither did very many travelers. Those who did were mostly, like the boll weevil in the old song, ‘just lookin’ for a home’.

A few adventurous non-Spanish Europeans did find their way north from Monterey, especially to Branciforte. The pueblo’s special civic status and independence from the mission made it a good place to make a fresh start. Thanks to the work of local historical researchers, we know something about a few of those adventurers (see ‘Further reading’ below). This group had several characteristics in common. They were:
#sailors who came to California by sea,
#ambitious and industrious,
#resident in the Branciforte area prior to 1830,
#married into the [[Castro family]],
#later Rancho grantees (through their wives).

[[File:BolcoffAdobe.png|thumb|The Bolcoff adobe at Wilder Ranch S.P.]]
One of the first arrivals came across the Pacific from Russia. [[Bolcoff, Josef|Josef Bolcoff’s]] early history is sketchy, but best guesses are that he came to California as a sailor on a Russian trading ship between 1810 and 1820. He arrived in Branciforte around 1822 and became a Mexican citizen. Known locally simply as ''El Ruso'' (the Russian), Bolcoff married [[Castro family|Candida Castro]] late the same year, at Mission Santa Cruz, and the couple were granted Rancho San Agustin (Scotts Valley) in 1833. Despite an earlier (1824) arrest for smuggling, Bolcoff was appointed [[Spanish-era government|''alcalde'']] of Branciforte in 1834 and later served as ''[[mayor domo]]'' (administrator) of Mission Santa Cruz. In 1839, the family moved to the Rancho Refugio (granted jointly to Candida and two of her sisters). A portion of the adobe casa they built survives at Wilder Ranch State Park. A small beach cove in the park was once known as Russian Landing, and the Water Street grade from Ocean Street up to Branciforte Avenue was once called Bolcoff Hill. None of those names survive on today’s signs.

Another member of this group was an Irishman named [[Lodge, Michael|Michael Lodge]], most likely a sailor on an American merchantman that stopped to trade in Monterey. Lodge stayed behind when the ship set sail for the long and hazardous return voyage around Cape Horn. He came to sleepy Branciforte around 1827 and became a carpenter and ranchero. Lodge became a Mexican citizen and married Martina Castro, probably in 1831. In 1833, Martina petitioned for and was granted the Rancho Soquel, which extended from Soquel Creek to Borregas Creek (now the eastern boundary of Cabrillo College). According to Clark, Capitola Beach (or maybe New Brighton Beach?) was once known as ‘Lodges Beach’. Today, however, the name Lodge cannot be found on a sign anywhere.

A third former sailor was an Englishman named [[Buckle, William|William Buckle]]. William and his brother Samuel settled at Branciforte in 1823. William married another Castro, Maria Antonia Castro y Montero [Note: Rowland gives her name only as Antonia Montero - relation to other Castros unknown]. Like Bolcoff and Lodge before him, Buckle was co-grantee of a rancho, Rancho Carbonera (1838). Carbonera was one of the later and smaller ranchos, and included today’s Pasatiempo and Carbonera Estates neighborhoods.

Another English ex-sailor who arrived in the 1820s was [[Trevethan, William|William Trevethan]]. Today's Trevethan Avenue on the Eastside of Santa Cruz shows where his farm once was.

A word is in order here about women’s property rights laws in Mexican California (carried forward from Spanish law). When women like the Castro sisters married, they retained the right to own property separately. That was not the case at the time in the United States, where the husband held all the property rights of a married couple (as in British law of that era). Thus, a married woman like Martina Castro Lodge could still petition for and receive a land grant under her maiden name.

Beginning in the late 1820s, a different group of adventurers began to arrive in California. They were American fur trappers, hunters and mountain men who blazed trails across the wide prairies, forbidding mountains and scorching deserts separating California from the western edges of the United States. By the early 1830s, a few of them began to arrive in the Santa Cruz area. We’ll talk about them next time.

Further Reading
* Pokriots, Marion D. "Don Jose Antonio Bolcoff: Branciforte’s Russian Alcalde", in [[Santa Cruz County History Journal Number 3]]. (1997).
* Reynolds, Willa Dean. "Michael Lodge: The Overlooked Pioneer", in [[Santa Cruz County History Journal Number 6]], (2009). [Also see the article on [[Trevethan, William|William Trevethan]], another English sailor who settled early in Santa Cruz County, in the same journal issue]

Next: [[History Pages: 7 - The Frontiersmen]]

[[Category:History pages]]

History Pages: 53 - Santa Cruz electric system timeline

2026-09-10T18:38:14Z

Carey:

'''For a table of contents, see '''[[History pages]].

[[File:Venetian-Water-Carnival.jpg|right|600px]]

As this chronological study of Santa Cruz County history moves into the 1890s, changing technology becomes more and more a part of the story. The “Industrial Revolution” took a while to reach our part of California, but the pace of change in all things electrical accelerated during the last quarter of the 19th century.

Santa Cruz got its first electrical telegraph system in the early 1860s, but its low-power, battery-based technology was too feeble for much else. The generation and use of industrial-scale electricity allowed electric lighting to replace expensive and dangerous gas lights, and allowed electric motors to replace horses in new streetcar systems.

*'''1861''': Electrical telegraph line reaches Watsonville. The following year, it was extended from Watsonville to Santa Cruz.

*'''1884''': In October, the Santa Cruz city council enacted a tax to create a $5,000 fund for a municipal electric street lighting system, but it's not clear whether any of the tax money was ever used for the stated purpose.

[[File:Swanton-Tel-No-1.jpg|left|300px]]
In December, an electric lighting system was demonstrated at the Fair Pavilion on Bridge Street (see note 1). The demonstration was of an arc-light system invented and developed by the Charles F. Brush Co. The electric resistance "incandescent" lighting invented by Thomas A. Edison eventually won out, except for high-intensity applications like searchlights.

Entrepreneur extraordinaire Fred Swanton was much involved in early electrical projects. Fred's father, A. P. Swanton, was an early livery stable owner and hotelier (see note 2). He was one of the first local promoters of the telephone, and then of electric power. Santa Cruz residents had become impatient with the cost and unreliability of gas lighting, and were ready to try the new technology. The Sentinel ad at left shows that A. P. Swanton's Bonner Stables received "Telephone No. 1." - an early adopter indeed.

*'''1889''': Fred Swanton and others formed a company to build an electrical power plant in Santa Cruz.

*'''1890''': The ''Sentinel'' reported on October 4 (5:1) that, the day before, a small hydro-electric power plant had begun operation at the [[California Powder Works]]. Apparently used only for lighting, the reported capacity was 150 bulbs.

*'''1891''': The first electric trolleys, powered by a Thomson-Houston dynamo, began to replace the horse-drawn streetcars that had operated since the mid-1870s.

Also in 1891, the expansive new Golden Gate Villa on Beach Hill (see note 3) included electric lighting in its list of modern amenities, setting a new local standard for residential luxury.

At this period, there was intense competition between Edison's direct current generation/transmission (dynamo) and the Westinghouse alternating-current system. No information found yet on whether early Santa Cruz systems were A/C or D/C, and - if D/C - when the switch to today's A/C happened.

*'''1895''': By mid-decade, enough power was available for Swanton to provide strings of electric lights at the Venetian Water Carnival, which became an annual event on the lower San Lorenzo River (partially dammed for the occasion). The photo at top right looks across the river toward Beach Hill On the river (SCPL historical gallery photo 0154).

*'''1896''': Fred Swanton's hydroelectric plant on Big Creek sent its first electricity 17 miles to Santa Cruz. The plant continued to operate until 1948, when it was finally abandoned after a forest fire destroyed its flume.

==Notes==
#Thanks to [https://www.facebook.com/groups/106305939499605/ Researchers Anonymous Facebook page] contributor Mike Dalbey for posting information on the first documented demonstration of electric lighting in Santa Cruz.
#See [[History Pages: 48 - The Rise and Fall of Swanton House: 1883-87]]
#For more on Golden Gate Villa, see [[History Pages: 50 - Beach Hill: 1870-99]]

Next: [[History Pages: 54 - Timeline of Santa Cruz City, County government]]

[[Category:History pages]]

Chace, John D.

2026-09-07T15:14:36Z

Carey:

[[File:Thanksgiving Ball.png|right]]

'''John Day (J. D.) Chace''' ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/162833890/john-day-chace 1829-1890]) was a native of New York. According to Elliott, he came to Santa Cruz around 1865. In 1866 he was co-proprietor of the Washington Market (primarily selling meat) on Pacific Avenue, as seen in the''Sentinel'' ad at right. The market was acquired in 1862 by [[Rountree, Almus L.|A. L. Rountree]], and ads listing Chase as a partner appeared in 1866. By 1878, ads listed Chace as sole proprietor.

Also in 1866, Chace was listed as one of the "Managers" for a Thanksgiving Ball at the new Pacific Ocean House hotel, along with many other downtown notables. Daughter Jennie Gertrude has a separate bio in Harrison.

Chace served four one-year terms as mayor of Santa Cruz, from 1880 to 1884.
* [https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/items/show/134103#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0 "Santa Cruz Common Councils and Mayors, 1876-1906"], SCPL Local History Articles online.

The [[Names on the Map (2020 book)|1889 Hatch Map]] showed him as owner of a sizable parcel just outside (west of) the Santa Cruz "corporation line", formerly part of the [[Moore, Eli|Eli Moore]] ranch. Son John R. Chace became an investor in streetcar lines (''see'' [[Surf, Sand & Streetcars]]). Daughter Minnie married Frederick Otto Hihn, a son of [[Hihn, Frederick A.|F. A. Hihn]].
* John L. Chase, ''[[The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023)]]'', Chapter Three, entry (41), page 74.

John D. and his son John R. were members of the Soc. of Pioneers, and he has bios in Elliott, Harrison, and Martin.
*[[History of Santa Cruz, California (Martin, 1911)]], p.333
* [[Gibson, Ross Eric|Ross Gibson]] profiled Chace in a 2026 ''Sentinel'' column: https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2026/09/06/chaces-life-of-labor-ross-eric-gibson-local-history/

[[File:1866 Rountree & Chace ad.png|left]]
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Blackburn, William

2026-09-05T17:20:53Z

Carey:

'''William Blackburn''' ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/73844883/william-blackburn 1814-1867)] came overland with three brothers to the Santa Cruz area from Missouri in 1845 or '46, becoming one of the most prominent Santa Cruz residents of that era. After volunteering in 1846 for service in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Battalion California Battalion], Blackburn was appointed (by the US military governor) ''alcalde'' of Branciforte/Santa Cruz in 1847. After the new state and county were established in 1850, Blackburn was the first elected county judge (previous judges served on the temporary "Court of Sessions", from April to September, 1850).
* [[History Pages: 8 - Bear Flag Revolt]]
* [https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/items/show/134109#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0 The Alcaldes of Branciforte-Santa Cruz (1802-1850)], by Stanley D. Stevens
* John L. Chase, ''[[The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023)]]'', Chapter Two, item (9), page 42-43.
*[[Santa Cruz County, Calif. Illustrations, with Historical Sketch (1879 book)]] has a drawing of the Blackburn place, on page f4 (in the 1997 edition), and a biography on page 13.
* The beginning of [[West Cliff Drive]] climbs a hill that used to be known as Blackburn Terrace. [[Santa Cruz County Place Names (2008 book)|Clark]] says that the name was given to the hill by William. The hill was part of the Blackburn lands and was later occupied by the "Concha del Mar" estate. The [[West Cliff Drive bridge]] connects the hill to the continuation of West Cliff Drive, crossing above the [[Rail trail]] and what was originally the outlet of [[Neary Lagoon]].

William's wife Harriet Mead Blackburn [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/73844882/harriet-blackburn (1831-1920)], who he met in Santa Cruz, was seventeen years younger and outlived him by 53 years. After his death, she became a major Santa Cruz land owner/developer. She is one of the few women to have her own biography in Harrison, other than [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Daughters_of_the_Golden_West N.D.G.W.] members. Harriet's sister Almira married [[Kittredge, Francis M.|F. M. Kittredge]].

William's youngest brother [[Blackburn, Jacob|Jacob]] also stayed in this county. Two other brothers, Daniel and James, had local involvement in the earlier 1850s: Daniel ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/93801499/daniel-drew-blackburn 1816-1901]) operated the Blackburn Gulch sawmill for a time, and James ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26506178/james-hanson-blackburn 1820-1888]) ran a store in Watsonville. The two were among the [https://www.pasorobleshistorymuseum.org/paso-robles-history founders of the town of Paso Robles in 1857]. Two Blackburn sisters married and remained in the gold fields area of the Sierra Nevada foothills. The Blackburns' mother Margaret ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39426377/margaret-blackburn_bell 1781-1857]) came to Santa Cruz in 1852.

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[[Category:Downtown Santa Cruz]]
[[Category:County officers 1850-1891]]
[[Category:Evergreen Cemetery]]

Watsonville Road

2026-09-05T16:51:34Z

Carey: Created page with "'''Watsonville Road''' is an obsolete name for the road that followed the route from Watsonville to Santa Cruz laid out by the 1769 expedition led by Portolá, the first Europeans to see what is now Santa Cruz County. Its western terminus was originally a ford on the San Lorenzo River. Continuing to the east, parts of the old road are roughly followed by today's Soquel Avenue, Soquel Drive, and Freedom Boulevard. Categor..."

'''Watsonville Road''' is an obsolete name for the road that followed the route from [[Watsonville]] to [[Santa Cruz]] laid out by the 1769 expedition led by [[Portolá, Gaspar de|Portolá]], the first Europeans to see what is now Santa Cruz County. Its western terminus was originally a ford on the [[San Lorenzo River]]. Continuing to the east, parts of the old road are roughly followed by today's [[Soquel Avenue]], [[Soquel Drive]], and [[Freedom Boulevard]].

[[Category:Roads]]

Soquel Avenue

2026-09-05T16:45:06Z

Carey:

'''Soquel Avenue''' is part of the old [[Watsonville Road]], based on the route laid out by the 1769 expedition led by [[Portolá, Gaspar de|Portolá]], the first Europeans to see what is now Santa Cruz County. From its western terminus at Pacific Avenue, Soquel Avenue crosses the [[San Lorenzo River]] and continues to the east. Where it crosses [[Highway 1]], it is renamed [[Soquel Drive]]. Soquel Drive dead ends past [[Freedom Boulevard]].

[[Category:Roads]]
[[Category:Places in Sidewalk Companion]]

Soquel Drive

2026-09-05T16:44:23Z

Carey:

#redirect [[Soquel Avenue]]

[[Category:Roads]]

Aptos

2026-09-05T16:43:21Z

Carey:

[[File:Bayview-Hotel-Aptos.png|thumb|A recent view of the Bayview Hotel]]
'''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptos,_California Aptos]''' is a variously-defined unincorporated mid-county community. [[Aptos Creek]] flows through it. [[Cabrillo College]] is at the western edge. The eastern edge of Aptos is informally defined by [[Freedom Boulevard]], which connects with Aptos village via [[Soquel Drive]]. The name "Aptos" carried over from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rancho_Aptos ''Rancho Aptos''], an 1833 Spain/Mexico era land grant to [[Castro family|Rafael Castro]]. "Aptos" is a Spanish transliteration of a native word that probably denoted a village in the area.

To promote transportation and shipping in the area, Castro had a wharf built at the mouth of [[Aptos Creek]]. Remains of the old wharf pilings can still sometimes be seen at [[Seacliff State Beach|Rio Del Mar beach]]. The road built to connect village to wharf survives today as Aptos Wharf Road.

Others who shaped the early development of Aptos include [[Arano, Joseph|Joseph Arano]], [[Spreckels, Claus|Claus Spreckels]], and [[Hihn, Frederick A.|F. A. Hihn]]. Spreckels and Hihn routed their Santa Cruz Railroad through Aptos in 1875, adjacent to and parallelling the Santa Cruz-Watsonville road, so serve their tourism and timber interests, respectively. Arano's 1878 Bayview Hotel was built near the railroad passenger depot. Today's Aptos village grew up surrounding the depot and hotel. The Bayview is the oldest and most prominent surviving historical structure.

About halfway between the village and the wharf, Spreckels built an expansive resort around his Aptos Hotel, all gone now but remembered by surviving names such as "Deer Park" and [[Polo Grounds County Park|"Polo Grounds"]] (now a county park).
*[[History Pages: 29 - How the trains came to Santa Cruz (part 2)]]
* [https://aptoshistory.org/?p=90 Aptos history timeline]

[[Category:Unincorporated communities]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]

Freedom Boulevard

2026-09-05T16:37:35Z

Carey: Created page with "'''Freedom Boulevard''' is part of the old Watsonville Road, based on the route laid out by the 1769 expedition led by Portolá, the first Europeans to see what is now Santa Cruz County. Its western terminus is at Highway 1, where it picks up the Portolá route from Soquel Drive. Freedom Blvd. is the main through road of the Freedom community, before dead-ending into Main Street in Watsonville. Category:Roads Category:Pl..."

'''Freedom Boulevard''' is part of the old [[Watsonville Road]], based on the route laid out by the 1769 expedition led by [[Portolá, Gaspar de|Portolá]], the first Europeans to see what is now Santa Cruz County. Its western terminus is at [[Highway 1]], where it picks up the Portolá route from [[Soquel Drive]]. Freedom Blvd. is the main through road of the [[Freedom]] community, before dead-ending into Main Street in [[Watsonville]].

[[Category:Roads]]
[[Category:Places in Sidewalk Companion]]

Soquel Avenue

2026-09-05T16:30:26Z

Carey: Created page with "'''Soquel Avenue''' is the old Watsonville Road, based on the route laid out by the 1769 expedition led by Portolá, the first Europeans to see what is now Santa Cruz County. From its western terminus at Pacific Avenue, Soquel Avenue crosses the San Lorenzo River and continues to the east. Where it crosses Highway 1, it is renamed Soquel Drive. Soquel Drive dead ends past Freedom Boulevard. Category:Roads Category:Places in..."

'''Soquel Avenue''' is the old Watsonville Road, based on the route laid out by the 1769 expedition led by [[Portolá, Gaspar de|Portolá]], the first Europeans to see what is now Santa Cruz County. From its western terminus at Pacific Avenue, Soquel Avenue crosses the [[San Lorenzo River]] and continues to the east. Where it crosses [[Highway 1]], it is renamed [[Soquel Drive]]. Soquel Drive dead ends past [[Freedom Boulevard]].

[[Category:Roads]]
[[Category:Places in Sidewalk Companion]]

Soquel Drive

2026-09-05T16:29:41Z

Carey: Redirected page to Soquel Avenue

#redirect [[Soquel Avenue]]

[[Category:Roads]]
[[Category:Places in Sidewalk Companion]]

River Street

2026-09-05T16:17:22Z

Carey: Created page with "'''River Street''' is the main (and only) through street in the Harvey West neighborhood of northern Santa Cruz. As the name implies, River Street runs next to the San Lorenzo River. Beginning at Soquel Avenue, the section from there to Highway 1 lies behind the levees built after the 1955 San Lorenzo River flood. River Street becomes Highway 9 from where the state highway begins at Hwy. 1. Category:Roads Category:Places in Sidewalk Compani..."

'''River Street''' is the main (and only) through street in the [[Harvey West neighborhood]] of northern Santa Cruz. As the name implies, River Street runs next to the [[San Lorenzo River]]. Beginning at [[Soquel Avenue]], the section from there to [[Highway 1]] lies behind the levees built after the [[1955 San Lorenzo River flood]]. River Street becomes [[Highway 9]] from where the state highway begins at Hwy. 1.

[[Category:Roads]]
[[Category:Places in Sidewalk Companion]]

Pacific Avenue

2026-09-05T16:08:30Z

Carey: Created page with "'''Pacific Avenue''' is the main commercial street in downtown Santa Cruz. Originally the eastern boundary of the mission agricultural area and part of the road from the mission complex to the cargo-landing area at the main beach, and later known as Willow Street, Pacific Avenue became the official name on the 1866 Santa Cruz map. The street runs from Water Street to the beachfront at the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf entrance. North Pacific Avenue runs from Wat..."

'''Pacific Avenue''' is the main commercial street in downtown Santa Cruz. Originally the eastern boundary of the mission agricultural area and part of the road from the mission complex to the cargo-landing area at the main beach, and later known as Willow Street, Pacific Avenue became the official name on the [[1866 Santa Cruz map]]. The street runs from [[Water Street]] to the beachfront at the [[Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf]] entrance. North Pacific Avenue runs from Water Street to [[River Street]].

[[Category:Roads]]
[[Category:Places in Sidewalk Companion]]

West Cliff Drive

2026-09-05T15:58:46Z

Carey: Created page with "'''West Cliff Drive''' is the most popular tourist drive in Santa Cruz County. It winds along the ocean bluffs from Pacific Avenue to Natural Bridges State Beach. Category:Roads Category:Places in Sidewalk Companion"

'''West Cliff Drive''' is the most popular tourist drive in Santa Cruz County. It winds along the ocean bluffs from [[Pacific Avenue]] to [[Natural Bridges State Beach]].

[[Category:Roads]]
[[Category:Places in Sidewalk Companion]]

Bennett, Eben

2026-08-15T17:06:44Z

Carey:

[[File:1868-Eben-Bennett-ad-for-road-workers.png|right]]
'''Eben Bennett''' ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/73844861/eben-bennett 1823-1879]) was a New Yorker who came to Santa Cruz County in 1866, becoming a road-builder and lime-manufacturer. He and brother Stanley built part of what is now Highway 9 between Felton and Rincon (north of Santa Cruz), which operated until 1872 as a toll road. At that point, under the terms of the county construction contract, it became a public road when its construction cost was paid back to Bennett. The "Toll House" still stands next to the road, just south of Felton. Adjacent to the Toll House is the beginning of "Old Big Trees Road", which was originally created to provide public access to [[Welch Big Trees Grove|Big Trees]]. [[San Lorenzo River|Bennett Creek]], which flows into the San Lorenzo at Felton, was named for him.
* [[History Pages: 19 - Return of the Limeburners]]
* [[History Pages: 50 - Beach Hill: 1870-99]]
*''Riptide'' CE41
*[[Lime Kiln Legacies (2007 book)]]

In 1870, Bennett built a house on Beach Hill. After his 1879 death, his widow built (1884) a smaller house around the corner, facing Main Street. A ''Sentinel'' item noted that the new house was being painted (1884-04-26, 3:1).
* John L. Chase, ''[[The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023)]]'', Chapter One, item (22), page 15

Note: Clark, in the "Toll House" entry in [[Santa Cruz County Place Names (2008 book)|''Santa Cruz County Place Names'']], states that the toll road began operation in 1860, and that the Toll House was built in 1867, but gives no sources for those dates. Perhaps the newspaper ad copied above related to improvement work on a toll road that was already in operation?

[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Persons in Sidewalk Companion]]
[[Category:Persons in Rowland]]
[[Category:Persons in Riptide]]
[[Category:Persons in Lime Kiln Legacies]]
[[Category: 1860-1869 arrivals]]
[[Category:Beach Hill neighborhood]]
[[Category:Evergreen Cemetery]]

Blackburn, William

2026-08-08T18:35:18Z

Carey:

'''William Blackburn''' ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/73844883/william-blackburn 1814-1867)] came overland with three brothers to the Santa Cruz area from Missouri in 1845 or '46, becoming one of the most prominent Santa Cruz residents of that era. After volunteering in 1846 for service in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Battalion California Battalion], Blackburn was appointed (by the US military governor) ''alcalde'' of Branciforte/Santa Cruz in 1847. After the new state and county were established in 1850, Blackburn was the first elected county judge (previous judges served on the temporary "Court of Sessions", from April to September, 1850).
* [[History Pages: 8 - Bear Flag Revolt]]
* [https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/items/show/134109#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0 The Alcaldes of Branciforte-Santa Cruz (1802-1850)], by Stanley D. Stevens
* John L. Chase, ''[[The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023)]]'', Chapter Two, item (9), page 42-43.
*[[Santa Cruz County, Calif. Illustrations, with Historical Sketch (1879 book)]] has a drawing of the Blackburn place, on page f4 (in the 1997 edition), and a biography on page 13.

William's wife Harriet Mead Blackburn [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/73844882/harriet-blackburn (1831-1920)], who he met in Santa Cruz, was seventeen years younger and outlived him by 53 years. After his death, she became a major Santa Cruz land owner/developer. She is one of the few women to have her own biography in Harrison, other than [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Daughters_of_the_Golden_West N.D.G.W.] members. Harriet's sister Almira married [[Kittredge, Francis M.|F. M. Kittredge]].

William's youngest brother [[Blackburn, Jacob|Jacob]] also stayed in this county. Two other brothers, Daniel and James, had local involvement in the earlier 1850s: Daniel ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/93801499/daniel-drew-blackburn 1816-1901]) operated the Blackburn Gulch sawmill for a time, and James ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26506178/james-hanson-blackburn 1820-1888]) ran a store in Watsonville. The two were among the [https://www.pasorobleshistorymuseum.org/paso-robles-history founders of the town of Paso Robles in 1857]. Two Blackburn sisters married and remained in the gold fields area of the Sierra Nevada foothills. The Blackburns' mother Margaret ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39426377/margaret-blackburn_bell 1781-1857]) came to Santa Cruz in 1852.

[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:1840-1849 arrivals]]
[[Category:Group-Mexican War veterans]]
[[Category:Government officials 1846-1850]]
[[Category:1866 town property owners]]
[[Category:Persons in Elliott]]
[[Category:Persons in Harrison]]
[[Category:1889 Hatch map]]
[[Category:Persons in Guinn]]
[[Category:Persons with 3 historical-source biographies]]
[[Category:Persons in Rowland]]
[[Category:Persons in Riptide]]
[[Category:Persons in Sidewalk Companion]]
[[Category:Downtown Santa Cruz]]
[[Category:County officers 1850-1891]]
[[Category:Evergreen Cemetery]]

Blackburn, William

2026-08-08T18:33:21Z

Carey:

'''William Blackburn''' ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/73844883/william-blackburn 1814-1867)] came overland with three brothers to the Santa Cruz area from Missouri in 1845 or '46, becoming one of the most prominent Santa Cruz residents of that era. After volunteering in 1846 for service in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Battalion California Battalion], Blackburn was appointed (by the US military governor) ''alcalde'' of Branciforte/Santa Cruz in 1847. After the new state and county were established in 1850, Blackburn was the first elected county judge (previous judges served on the temporary "Court of Sessions", from April to September, 1850).
* [[History Pages: 8 - Bear Flag Revolt]]
* [https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/items/show/134109#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0 The Alcaldes of Branciforte-Santa Cruz (1802-1850)], by Stanley D. Stevens
* John L. Chase, ''[[The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023)]]'', Chapter Two, item (9), page 42-43.
*[[Santa Cruz County, Calif. Illustrations, with Historical Sketch (1879 book)]] has a drawing of the Blackburn place, on page f4 (in the 1997 edition), and a biography on page 13.

William's wife Harriet Mead Blackburn [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/73844882/harriet-blackburn (1831-1920)], who he met in Santa Cruz, was seventeen years younger and outlived him by 53 years. After his death, she became a major Santa Cruz land owner/developer. She is one of the few women to have her own biography in Harrison, other than N.D.G.W. members. Harriet's sister Almira married [[Kittredge, Francis M.|F. M. Kittredge]].

William's youngest brother [[Blackburn, Jacob|Jacob]] also stayed in this county. Two other brothers, Daniel and James, had local involvement in the earlier 1850s: Daniel ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/93801499/daniel-drew-blackburn 1816-1901]) operated the Blackburn Gulch sawmill for a time, and James ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26506178/james-hanson-blackburn 1820-1888]) ran a store in Watsonville. The two were among the [https://www.pasorobleshistorymuseum.org/paso-robles-history founders of the town of Paso Robles in 1857]. Two Blackburn sisters married and remained in the gold fields area of the Sierra Nevada foothills. The Blackburns' mother Margaret ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39426377/margaret-blackburn_bell 1781-1857]) came to Santa Cruz in 1852.

[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:1840-1849 arrivals]]
[[Category:Group-Mexican War veterans]]
[[Category:Government officials 1846-1850]]
[[Category:1866 town property owners]]
[[Category:Persons in Elliott]]
[[Category:Persons in Harrison]]
[[Category:1889 Hatch map]]
[[Category:Persons in Guinn]]
[[Category:Persons with 3 historical-source biographies]]
[[Category:Persons in Rowland]]
[[Category:Persons in Riptide]]
[[Category:Persons in Sidewalk Companion]]
[[Category:Downtown Santa Cruz]]
[[Category:County officers 1850-1891]]
[[Category:Evergreen Cemetery]]

Bagnall, John D.

2026-08-04T17:17:11Z

Carey:

'''John Douglas Bagnall''' ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/117954467/john-douglas-bagnall 1824-1907]) was a carpenter and millwright who came to California in 1849. Chase says that he built a building on Mission Street in Santa Cruz in the 1850s. Bagnall partnered with [[Bennett, James F. J.|J. F. Bennett]] to operate the Majors grist mill in the late 1860s. He later moved to a farm outside Watsonville, where he died. A number of his descendants are also buried in Watsonville's Pioneer Cemetery.
* ''[[The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023)]]'', Chapter Four, entry (11), page 86

[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Persons in Sidewalk Companion]]
[[Category:Persons in Society of Pioneers]]
[[Category:Persons in Elliott]]
[[Category:1889 Hatch map]]
[[Category:Persons with 2 historical-source biographies]]
[[Category:1866 town property owners]]
[[Category:1850-1859 arrivals]]
[[Category:Group-Architecture/Engineering/Construction]]
[[Category:Watsonville Pioneer Cemetery]]
[[Category:Persons in Watsonville]]

Bennett, James F. J.

2026-08-04T17:14:23Z

Carey:

'''James FitzJames Bennett''' ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24685479/james-fitzjames-bennett 1819-1891]), born in New York, came to California in 1849, and to Santa Cruz County by the early 1850s. A miller by trade, Bennett owned and operated (with partner [[Bagnall, John D.|J. D. Bagnall]]) the [[Majors, Joseph L.|Majors]] grist mill in the late 1860s. Beginning in the 1850s, according to Rowland (who has his middle name as "Fitz John"), he was an investor in the Soquel-to-Summit road project (today's [[Old San Jose Road]]), and builder of a hotel in [[Soquel]]. He was elected county clerk/recorder/school superintendent in 1859.

Wife [[Imus-Rice family|Jane (Rice)]] and daughter Dollie were honorary Soc. of Pioneers members.

[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Persons in Society of Pioneers]]
[[Category:Persons in Rowland]]
[[Category:Persons in Riptide]]
[[Category:1850-1859_arrivals]]
[[Category:County officers 1850-1891]]
[[Category:Santa Cruz Memorial]]

Old San Jose Road

2026-08-04T17:13:56Z

Carey: Created page with "'''Old San Jose Road''' began in the 1850s as a privately-financed "turnpike" following Soquel Creek from Soquel village up to the summit. A similar effort built a road from the Los Gatos side. The completed road was usable by stagecoaches, shortening the trip from Santa Cruz to San Jose. Rowland (p.73-74) notes names of the road's promoters and investors. Category:Roads"

'''Old San Jose Road''' began in the 1850s as a privately-financed "turnpike" following [[Soquel Creek]] from Soquel village up to the summit. A similar effort built a road from the Los Gatos side. The completed road was usable by stagecoaches, shortening the trip from Santa Cruz to San Jose. Rowland (p.73-74) notes names of the road's promoters and investors.

[[Category:Roads]]

Bennett, James F. J.

2026-08-04T16:56:25Z

Carey:

'''James FitzJames Bennett''' ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24685479/james-fitzjames-bennett 1819-1891]), born in New York, came to California in 1849, and to Santa Cruz County by the early 1850s. A miller by trade, Bennett owned and operated (with partner [[Bagnall, John D.|J. D. Bagnall]]) the [[Majors, Joseph L.|Majors]] grist mill in the late 1860s. Beginning in the 1850s, according to Rowland (who has his middle name as "Fitz John"), he was an investor in the [[Soquel-to-Summit road]] project, and builder of a hotel in [[Soquel]]. He was elected county clerk/recorder/school superintendent in 1859.

Wife [[Imus-Rice family|Jane (Rice)]] and daughter Dollie were honorary Soc. of Pioneers members.

[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Persons in Society of Pioneers]]
[[Category:Persons in Rowland]]
[[Category:Persons in Riptide]]
[[Category:1850-1859_arrivals]]
[[Category:County officers 1850-1891]]
[[Category:Santa Cruz Memorial]]

Category:Lawrence and Houseworth

2026-08-02T15:48:45Z

Carey:

'''Lawrence and Houseworth''' were a pair of San Francisco photographers who documented northern California (and into western Nevada) as it was in the years after 1859. They came to Santa Cruz County at least once, in 1866, and the photographs from that visit are among our most important historical images from the years 1866-1870. Edna Kimbro wrote that the Mission Santa Cruz photos were taken in 1866, in [https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/items/show/134486#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0 "Construction Chronology..."] (assuming L and H only came here once). The [https://www.californiapioneers.org/lh/browse.php?page=2&category=all Society of California Pioneers maintains an "online photographic database" of 1,495 images], including 15 images of the Santa Cruz area, numbered:
*SCP_0031 [[:File:Santa-Cruz-tannery-L-and-H.jpg|Santa Cruz Tannery]] (Boston-Jones)
*32 Mission Plaza (wide view)
*33 pan right from #34, includes Thompson house, Sisters school, Alzina house, Leslie store(?), Pacific Ocean House (beyond), 1st Mission Hill School, Methodist church
*34 Mission plaza, includes rectory(?), adobe chapel, 1858 church, zanja crossing plaza, Fallon bldg, Rodriguez adobe, Sisters convent (old juzgado), Wm. Thompson house, Sisters school, Alzina house
*35 [[:File:1857 Holy-Cross-and-adobe SCP 0035.jpg|1857 Holy Cross and adobe]], repaired adobe chapel w wood front, zanja in foreground
*36 [[:File:SCP 0036 lower plaza.jpg|Lower plaza]]
*37 [[:File:SCP 0037 Pac-Ocean-Hse.jpg|Pacific Ocean House]]
*38 Davis & Cowell wharf, from west cliff
*39 Same view, but closer, tram going down wharf (no horses)
*40 Looking west along cliffs from same spot
*41 toward Santa Cruz from river mouth (footbridge?): Methodist church in middle, Mission Hill school, Sisters school, convent, Holy Cross far right
*42 pan right from #41
*43 San Lorenzo Paper Mill (now in Paradise Park)
*44 "View on the San Lorenzo", no structures
*45 [[:File:Lime-works-SCP0045.jpg|Davis & Cowell Lime Company works]]

See:
*[[History Pages: 13 - The County]]
*[[History Pages: 15 - Uptown and Downtown]]
*[https://www.loc.gov/collections/lawrence-and-houseworth/about-this-collection/ Lawrence and Houseworth Collection, Library of Congress]
*[https://www.californiapioneers.org/collections/photo/lh/ 1,495 Lawrence and Houseworth images, Society of California Pioneers]
* downloads on this computer
[[File:L&H-downloads.jpg|left]]

[[Category:Images]]

File:L&H-downloads.jpg

2026-08-02T15:45:08Z

Carey:

Category:Lawrence and Houseworth

2026-08-01T18:26:43Z

Carey:

'''Lawrence and Houseworth''' were a pair of San Francisco photographers who documented northern California (and into western Nevada) as it was in the years after 1859. They came to Santa Cruz County at least once, in 1866, and the photographs from that visit are among our most important historical images from the years 1866-1870. Edna Kimbro wrote that the Mission Santa Cruz photos were taken in 1866, in [https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/items/show/134486#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0 "Construction Chronology..."] (assuming L and H only came here once). The [https://www.californiapioneers.org/lh/browse.php?page=2&category=all Society of California Pioneers maintains an "online photographic database" of 1,495 images] (lower-res versions downloadable), including 15 images of the Santa Cruz area, numbered:
*31 [[:File:Santa-Cruz-tannery-L-and-H.jpg|Santa Cruz Tannery]] (Boston-Jones)
*32 Mission Plaza (wide view)
*33 pan right from #34, includes Thompson house, Sisters school, Alzina house, Leslie store(?), Pacific Ocean House (beyond), 1st Mission Hill School, Methodist church
*34 Mission plaza, includes rectory(?), adobe chapel, 1858 church, zanja crossing plaza, Fallon bldg, Rodriguez adobe, Sisters convent (old juzgado), Wm. Thompson house, Sisters school, Alzina house
*35 [[:File:1857 Holy-Cross-and-adobe SCP 0035.jpg|1857 Holy Cross and adobe]], repaired adobe chapel w wood front, zanja in foreground
*36 [[:File:SCP 0036 lower plaza.jpg|Lower plaza]]
*37 [[:File:SCP 0037 Pac-Ocean-Hse.jpg|Pacific Ocean House]]
*38 Davis & Cowell wharf, from west cliff
*39 Same view, but closer, tram going down wharf (no horses)
*40 Looking west along cliffs from same spot
*41 toward Santa Cruz from river mouth (footbridge?): Methodist church in middle, Mission Hill school, Sisters school, convent, Holy Cross far right
*42 pan right from #41
*43 San Lorenzo Paper Mill (now in Paradise Park)
*44 "View on the San Lorenzo", no structures
*45 [[:File:Lime-works-SCP0045.jpg|Davis & Cowell Lime Company works]]

The Library of Congress has many other L&H images not included in the SCP gallery, mostly from inland areas, in an [https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?sp=1&co=lawhou&st=grid Online Catalog].

See:
*[[History Pages: 13 - The County]]
*[[History Pages: 15 - Uptown and Downtown]]
*[https://www.loc.gov/collections/lawrence-and-houseworth/about-this-collection/ Lawrence and Houseworth Collection, Library of Congress]
*[https://www.californiapioneers.org/collections/photo/lh/ 1,495 Lawrence and Houseworth images, Society of California Pioneers]

[[Category:Images]]

History Pages: 12 - Mills and Tanneries

2026-08-01T18:25:57Z

Carey:

'''For a table of contents, see''' [[History pages]].

[[File:Santa-Cruz-tannery-L-and-H.jpg|right|600px]]
During the 1850s, Santa Cruz began to lose its sleepy old-California look and acquire more of the characteristics of an American town. Although Santa Cruz was not incorporated as a town until 1866, Santa Cruz County came into being right after statehood in 1850 (remember that it was at first named Branciforte County). During the few boom years of the Gold Rush, roughly-constructed buildings sprang up all over today’s downtown area. Several businesses related to metal and woodworking opened on Elihu Anthony’s riverside lots, which fronted on the Main Street he laid out. The lower town’s first hotels and stables (the parking garages of their day) were nearby. Better-constructed residences also began to appear. William Blackburn’s house, built in about 1854, is one of the oldest surviving wood-frame structures in town.

Up the hill in today’s near [[Westside neighborhood]], early industrial operations took advantage of the year-round running water in creeks fed by the ''Tres Ojos de Agua'' (literally "three eyes of water"). These springs had previously been tapped to provide water for Mission Santa Cruz and its operations. The padres built an in-ground stone-lined aqueduct (called a ''zanja'') from the springs across the terrace to the Mission premises. A service path next to the aqueduct became today’s High Street. A branch from the zanja fed the mission tannery. Nothing remains today of that original water system, but you can see the remains of a similar (but more elaborate) system at Mission Santa Barbara. The new businesses, including two (or maybe three) grist mills and a new tannery, were built along the waterways themselves instead of using water from the aqueduct. The photograph at right was taken in ~1866, looking toward Monterey Bay from above the dirt track that is the predecessor of today's High Street. The buildings in the foreground below are the Kirby-Boston-Jones tannery.

''Tres Ojos de Agua'' (Three Eyes of Water) was one of the last and smallest Mexican land grants in California. Oddly, the grant only included one of today's three springs: [[Westlake]] is just outside the western boundary, and the "upper" spring is just outside the northern boundary, with its creek flowing through the rancho. The grantee was [[Dodero, Nicolas|Nicolas Dodero]], an Italian-born sailor who left his ship in Yerba Buena (San Francisco) and moved “over the hill” from San Jose sometime after the 1844 grant. Dodero built a grist mill, along with its enabling dams and channels, about 150 yds downstream from the spring. It’s hard to find Dodero’s name on any signs today. A dead-end, unpaved Westside alley is named Dodero Street (the name is stamped in one corner curb but there’s no street sign). One of the small Tres Ojos creeks is named Dodero Creek, but only on the City’s Creek Management maps [thanks to [[Silvers, Dean|Dean Silvers]], whose research on the ''Tres Ojos'' helped to answer questions about the Dodero mill].

[[File:Majors_mill.jpg|thumb|left]]Former frontiersman Joseph Majors (see earlier post) came down from Rancho San Agustin to build a new grist mill (or take over Dodero's mill) on upper Santa Cruz (now Laurel, once Majors) Creek, near today’s Laurel/Escalona junction. On the bluff above the mill, Majors later built his Santa Cruz home. Today’s Majors Street runs along one side of [[Westlake]], which was created by damming one of the Tres Ojos springs, and is the source of Laurel Creek. In the 1900 photo at left, the mill has lost its waterwheel and is near collapse.

The spring-fed creeks have mostly been channelized and/or undergrounded these days, but you can see a semi-“wild” bit of Laurel Creek from the deck off the business now occupying the former Emily’s Bakery at the northeast corner of Mission and Laurel streets, or at the Babbling Brook Inn on Laurel Street. In the Babbling Brook garden is a replica wooden waterwheel similar to some that may have been used in the area. The original Mission Santa Cruz grist mill was also on this creek, probably near the Babbling Brook. It would have used a waterwheel mounted horizontally under the mill, with its axle coming up vertically through the floor to spin the grinding wheels, as at the Mission Santa Inez mill built by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_John_Chapman Joseph Chapman].

[[File:R.C._Kirby.png|thumb|left]]

A third early Westside entrepreneur was [[Kirby, Richard C.|Richard C. Kirby]], an Englishman who built his first tannery up in “Squabble Hollow”, whose later residents apparently found inner peace and renamed the area Happy Valley. In 1854, he moved his operation to the former location of the old Mission tannery, near the eastern end of today’s Escalona Drive. The site was supplied with water by a flume coming down the hill from the nearby aqueduct. Today’s Kirby Street is in the general area and the house he built in the 1850s (later moved from Mission Street) still stands on nearby Jordan Street.

These days, Kirby’s name is less-well-known than that of his wife. The former [[Georgiana Bruce Kirby|Georgiana Bruce]] married Kirby in 1852 and went on to become, along with her friend Eliza Farnham, a leading local social reformer. The Georgiana Bruce Kirby Preparatory School was named in her honor (now shortened to The Kirby School).

Kirby sold his interest in the Escalona tannery to partners [[Boston, Joseph|Joseph Boston]] and [[Jones, Edmund|Edmund Jones]] in 1863, and built the new Laurel St tannery pictured in W. W. Elliott's [[Santa Cruz County, Calif. Illustrations, with Historical Sketch (1879 book)|''1879 Santa Cruz County, Calif. Illustrations'']]. Kirby himself got a nice full-page portrait (as seen at left) and flattering bio in the book (presumably because he was a generous subscriber).

Kirby’s Westside operation opened just two years before another tannery in town. The Grove Tannery, operated by William Warren and James Duncan, opened in 1856. The winter flood of 1861-62 mostly destroyed the tannery structures, but subsequent owners Fisher & Matthews (per Harrison) acquired the property, and (apparently) revived the tannery until [[Kron, Jacob|Jacob Kron]] bought them out in 1866. The tannery eventually became [[Salz Leather]], which survived until 2001. Several of the old tannery buildings have been restored and incorporated into the [[Tannery Arts Center]].

Other tanneries operated around the county. In what is now Scotts Valley, [[Sweet, Paul|Paul Sweet]] worked in the 1840s at a tannery on the ''rancho'' granted to [[Majors, Joseph L.|Joseph Majors]]. Near the line dividing Soquel from Aptos, three brothers of the [[Porter family]] established a tannery on the creek now called [[Porter Gulch]] in the 1850s. In Soquel, [[Rabel, Francis|Francis Rabel]] bought an established tannery in 1866, from owners [[Briody, Edward|Edward Briody]] and [[Hale, Titus|Titus Hale]], after owning a similar business in Sacramento.

==See also==
* [https://www.santacruzmah.org/ohj "The Bostons: A Pioneer Family of Santa Cruz"], by Dana Bagshaw, in the MAH [[Online History Journal]].

Next: [[History Pages: 13 - Pioneer German-Speakers of Santa Cruz County]]

[[Category:History pages]]

History Pages: 12 - Mills and Tanneries

2026-08-01T18:18:40Z

Carey:

'''For a table of contents, see''' [[History pages]].

[[File:Santa-Cruz-tannery-L-and-H.jpg|right|600px]]
During the 1850s, Santa Cruz began to lose its sleepy old-California look and acquire more of the characteristics of an American town. Although Santa Cruz was not incorporated as a town until 1866, Santa Cruz County came into being right after statehood in 1850 (remember that it was at first named Branciforte County). During the few boom years of the Gold Rush, roughly-constructed buildings sprang up all over today’s downtown area. Several businesses related to metal and woodworking opened on Elihu Anthony’s riverside lots, which fronted on the Main Street he laid out. The lower town’s first hotels and stables (the parking garages of their day) were nearby. Better-constructed residences also began to appear. William Blackburn’s house, built in about 1854, is one of the oldest surviving wood-frame structures in town.

Up the hill in today’s near [[Westside neighborhood]], early industrial operations took advantage of the year-round running water in creeks fed by the ''Tres Ojos de Agua'' (literally "three eyes of water"). These springs had previously been tapped to provide water for Mission Santa Cruz and its operations. The padres built an in-ground stone-lined aqueduct (called a ''zanja'') from the springs across the terrace to the Mission premises. A service path next to the aqueduct became today’s High Street. A branch from the zanja fed the mission tannery. Nothing remains today of that original water system, but you can see the remains of a similar (but more elaborate) system at Mission Santa Barbara. The new businesses, including two (or maybe three) grist mills and a new tannery, were built along the waterways themselves instead of using water from the aqueduct. The photograph at right was taken in ~1866, looking toward Monterey Bay from above the dirt track that is the predecessor of today's High Street. The buildings in the foreground below are the Kirby-Boston-Jones tannery.

''Tres Ojos de Agua'' (Three Eyes of Water) was one of the last and smallest Mexican land grants in California. Oddly, the grant only included one of today's three springs: [[Westlake]] is just outside the western boundary, and the "upper" spring is just outside the northern boundary, with its creek flowing through the rancho. The grantee was [[Dodero, Nicolas|Nicolas Dodero]], an Italian-born sailor who left his ship in Yerba Buena (San Francisco) and moved “over the hill” from San Jose sometime after the 1844 grant. Dodero built a grist mill, along with its enabling dams and channels, about 150 yds downstream from the spring. It’s hard to find Dodero’s name on any signs today. A dead-end, unpaved Westside alley is named Dodero Street (the name is stamped in one corner curb but there’s no street sign). One of the small Tres Ojos creeks is named Dodero Creek, but only on the City’s Creek Management maps [thanks to [[Silvers, Dean|Dean Silvers]], whose research on the ''Tres Ojos'' helped to answer questions about the Dodero mill].

[[File:Majors_mill.jpg|thumb|left]]Former frontiersman Joseph Majors (see earlier post) came down from Rancho San Agustin to build a new grist mill (or take over Dodero's mill) on upper Santa Cruz (now Laurel, once Majors) Creek, near today’s Laurel/Escalona junction. On the bluff above the mill, Majors later built his Santa Cruz home. Today’s Majors Street runs along one side of [[Westlake]], which was created by damming one of the Tres Ojos springs, and is the source of Laurel Creek. In the 1900 photo at left, the mill has lost its waterwheel and is near collapse.

The spring-fed creeks have mostly been channelized and/or undergrounded these days, but you can see a semi-“wild” bit of Laurel Creek from the deck off the business now occupying the former Emily’s Bakery at the northeast corner of Mission and Laurel streets, or at the Babbling Brook Inn on Laurel Street. In the Babbling Brook garden is a replica wooden waterwheel similar to some that may have been used in the area. The original Mission Santa Cruz grist mill was also on this creek, probably near the Babbling Brook. It would have used a waterwheel mounted horizontally under the mill, with its axle coming up vertically through the floor to spin the grinding wheels, as at the Mission Santa Inez mill built by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_John_Chapman Joseph Chapman].

[[File:R.C._Kirby.png|thumb|left]]

A third early Westside entrepreneur was [[Kirby, Richard C.|Richard C. Kirby]], an Englishman who built his first tannery up in “Squabble Hollow”, whose later residents apparently found inner peace and renamed the area Happy Valley. In 1854, he moved his operation to the former location of the old Mission tannery, near the eastern end of today’s Escalona Drive. The site was supplied with water by a flume coming down the hill from the nearby aqueduct. Today’s Kirby Street is in the general area and the house he built in the 1850s (later moved from Mission Street) still stands on nearby Jordan Street.

These days, Kirby’s name is less-well-known than that of his wife. The former [[Georgiana Bruce Kirby|Georgiana Bruce]] married Kirby in 1852 and went on to become, along with her friend Eliza Farnham, a leading local social reformer. The Georgiana Bruce Kirby Preparatory School was named in her honor (now shortened to The Kirby School).

Kirby sold his interest in the Escalona tannery to partners [[Boston, Joseph|Joseph Boston]] and [[Jones, Edmund|Edmund Jones]] in 1863, and built the new Laurel St tannery pictured in W. W. Elliott's [[Santa Cruz County, Calif. Illustrations, with Historical Sketch (1879 book)|''1879 Santa Cruz County, Calif. Illustrations'']]. Kirby himself got a nice full-page portrait (as seen at left) and flattering bio in the book (presumably because he was a generous subscriber).

Kirby’s Westside operation opened just two years before another tannery in town. The Grove Tannery, operated by William Warren and James Duncan, opened in 1856. The winter flood of 1861-62 mostly destroyed the tannery structures, but subsequent owners Fisher & Matthews (per Harrison) acquired the property, and (apparently) revived the tannery until [[Kron, Jacob|Jacob Kron]] bought them out in 1866. The tannery eventually became [[Salz Leather]], which survived until 2001. Several of the old tannery buildings have been restored and incorporated into the [[Tannery Arts Center]].

Other tanneries operated in Soquel and Aptos. In Soquel, [[Rabel, Francis|Francis Rabel]] bought an established tannery in 1866, from owners [[Briody, Edward|Edward Briody]] and [[Hale, Titus|Titus Hale]], after owning a similar business in Sacramento. Near the line dividing Soquel from Aptos, three brothers of the [[Porter family]] established a tannery on the creek now called [[Porter Gulch]].

==See also==
* [https://www.santacruzmah.org/ohj "The Bostons: A Pioneer Family of Santa Cruz"], by Dana Bagshaw, in the MAH [[Online History Journal]].

Next: [[History Pages: 13 - Pioneer German-Speakers of Santa Cruz County]]

[[Category:History pages]]

Category:Lawrence and Houseworth

2026-08-01T17:34:26Z

Carey:

'''Lawrence and Houseworth''' were a pair of San Francisco photographers who documented northern California (and into western Nevada) as it was in the years after 1859. They came to Santa Cruz County at least once, in 1866, and the photographs from that visit are among our most important historical images from the years 1866-1870. Edna Kimbro wrote that the Mission Santa Cruz photos were taken in 1866, in [https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/items/show/134486#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0 "Construction Chronology..."] (assuming L and H only came here once). The [https://www.californiapioneers.org/lh/browse.php?page=2&category=all Society of California Pioneers maintains an "online photographic database" of 1,495 images] (lower-res versions downloadable), including 15 images of the Santa Cruz area, numbered:
*31 [[:File:Santa-Cruz-tannery-L-and-H.jpg|Santa Cruz Tannery]] (Boston-Jones)
*32 Mission Plaza (wide view)
*33 pan right from #34, includes Thompson house, Sisters school, Alzina house, Leslie store(?), Pacific Ocean House (beyond), 1st Mission Hill School, Methodist church
*34 Mission plaza, includes rectory(?), adobe chapel, 1858 church, zanja crossing plaza, Fallon bldg, Rodriguez adobe, Sisters convent (old juzgado), Wm. Thompson house, Sisters school, Alzina house
*35 [[:File:1857 Holy-Cross-and-adobe SCP 0035.jpg|1857 Holy Cross and adobe]], repaired adobe chapel w wood front, zanja in foreground
*36 [[:File:SCP 0036 lower plaza.jpg|Lower plaza]]
*37 [[:File:SCP 0037 Pac-Ocean-Hse.jpg|Pacific Ocean House]]
*38 Davis & Cowell wharf, from west cliff
*39 Same view, but closer, tram going down wharf (no horses)
*40 Looking west along cliffs from same spot
*41 toward Santa Cruz from river mouth (footbridge?): Methodist church in middle, Mission Hill school, Sisters school, convent, Holy Cross far right
*42 pan right from #41
*43 San Lorenzo Paper Mill (now in Paradise Park)
*44 "View on the San Lorenzo", no structures
*45 [[:File:Lime-works-SCP0045.jpg|Davis & Cowell Lime Company works]]

The Library of Congress has many other L&H images not included in the SCP gallery, mostly from inland areas, in an [https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?sp=1&co=lawhou&st=grid Online Catalog]. Images of Santa Cruz include:
*''View toward Santa Cruz over Boston-Jones tannery, from above High Street''.

See:
*[[History Pages: 13 - The County]]
*[[History Pages: 15 - Uptown and Downtown]]
*[https://www.loc.gov/collections/lawrence-and-houseworth/about-this-collection/ Lawrence and Houseworth Collection, Library of Congress]
*[https://www.californiapioneers.org/collections/photo/lh/ 1,495 Lawrence and Houseworth images, Society of California Pioneers]

[[Category:Images]]

Category:Persons in Rowland

2026-07-26T01:04:19Z

Carey: /* Annals of Santa Cruz [93-217] */

Persons included in the General Index of [[Santa Cruz: The Early Years (1980)]]. ''See also'' [[Rowland immigrant list to 1846]].

Those not yet having a page are listed here by Rowland article title and page number (listing only those articles containing local names and/or others who had significant local impacts):

==Old Santa Cruz Mission [1-26]==
* Azebez, Pablo (1791 Mission Santa Cruz soldado & godfather); Balthazar (native chief); Bernal, Joaquin (1st month Mission godfather); Estrada, Maximo (1791 Mission SC ''serviente''); Fernandez, Manuel (1795 2nd Mission SC priest); Flores, Jose Isidro (1797 Mission SC escolta); Higardero, Jose (1817 mission escolta); Espi, Luz (1796 Mission SC priest); Espinosa, Felipe (1839 soldado); Linares, Ramon (1791 Mission Santa Cruz godfather); Lopez, Baldomero (1791 1st Mission SC priest); McNamee, Hugh (1889 Holy Cross priest); Vejar, Pablo (1800 mission escolta; wife Josefina Miramonte);

==Villa de Branciforte [25-56]==
* Acedo, Jose (1st Branciforte group); Arceo family (1st Branciforte group); Aguila, Jose (1798 Villa invalido); Barbosa, Jose (1st Branciforte group); Bernal, Apolonario (Branciforte invalido); Bravo, Marcelino (Branciforte invalido); Briones family (Branciforte); Cimintel, Cristobal (1805 Branciforte regidor); Cordero, Fermin (in 1st Branciforte group); Cota family (Californio); Garcia, Luz (Branciforte invalido c.1800; daughter Luz was 1st wife of Michael Lodge); Hernandez, Felipe (1798 Branciforte settler, 1803 poblador, 1805 alcalde); Hernandez, Luisa (wife of Jose Acedo); Higuera, Salvador (Branciforte invalido); Leon, Victoria de (wife in 1st Branciforte group); [[Robles family|Robles, Jose Antonio and wife Gertrudis]] Merlopes (1st Branciforte group); Moraga, Gabriel (army corporal, appointed 1st Villa administrator);

==The Story of Old Soquel [57-92]==
* Bates, Joel (Bates Creek lumberman); Bayley, Benjamin F. (Soquel school, Civil War); Kirby, Gershal H. (early Soquel lumberman); Arano family (1850 JP, 1871 Anchor hotel in Aptos); Depeaux, Louis (3rd husband of Martina Castro); Burrell, Lyman and Lucy (Soquel logger, Summit area); Cahoon, Benjamin (1860s arrival, logger); Caldwell, Leander G. (Soquel farmer, 2nd county sheriff); Canares, Peter (early Soquel hotelier); Henderson, Mrs. Katherine (heir to F.A. Hihn Capitola interests); Lawson, Yates C. (Soquel clerk); McCall, Hugh P. (timber cutter); Miller, John (1856 J of P);

==Martina Castro's grant [63-65]==
* Amaya, Casimero (1864 Soquel Augmentacion division recipient); Farley, Benjamin (1864 Soquel Augmentacion division recipient); Fourcade, Jean (1842 arrival, 1850 Martina Castro land recipient); Hester, Craven (1864 Soquel Augmentation division recipient); Hinkley, R. G. (1864 Soquel Augmentation division recipient); Macondray, Frederick (1864 Soquel Augmentacion division recipient);

===Ned Porter's Store [71-73]===
* Angell, Horatio & Fenner (1887 Soquel merchants); Auerbach, H. (1870s Soquel merchant); Cummings family (1850s Santa Cruz, Soquel); Lawson, Yates C. (1880 Cummings clerk in Soquel); Darling, A. (1880s Soquel shoemaker); Dunning, James (1880s Soquel blacksmith); Eldridge, George W. (1862 Soquel wheelwright); Ewing, Samuel B. (1880s Soquel merchant); Feeley, Mrs. Phoebe (1868 Soquel Cong. Church member); Ford, George (Soquel blacksmith c.1900); Getschmann, Alex (1868 Soquel hotelier); Hall, Henry (1880s Soquel merchant); Mrs. Rachel Hall (wife of [[Hall, Samuel A.]], and a 1868 Soquel Cong. Church founding member); Lynam, John (Soquel shoemaker); Mann, Tom W. & Elizabeth (Soquel hoteliers); Mills, Charles (1880s butcher);

===The Sugar Mill [California Beet Sugar Company, 1873 Soquel, 77-78]===
* Flint, "Major"[?] (Sugar mill financier); Harboard, Adolphe (Sugar mill foreman, German immigrant); Kleinan, E. (Sugar mill worker, German immigrant); Maasberg, Christian (Sugar mill worker, German immigrant); Obermuller, Fred (Sugar mill worker, German immigrant); Otto, Andreas (Sugar mill worker, German immigrant); Tanke, John (Sugar mill foreman, German immigrant); Weferling, W. (Sugar mill worker, German immigrant);

===Soquel's Church [Congregational, 81-83, includes a list of pastors]===
* Tenney, W. A. (1st pastor); Parrish, Narcissa (founding member, wife of [[Parrish, Joshua]]); Feeley, Mrs. Phoebe (founding member); Burrell, Mrs. Lucy M. (founding member); Nobel, Mrs. (founding member, wife of [[Noble, Augustus]]); Hall, Mrs. Rachel (founding member, wife of [[Hall, Samuel A.]] - builder); McKay, Mrs. Jane (founding member); Mattison, Mrs. John (founding member, wife of [[Mattison, John S.]]);

===Voters of 1868 [Soquel precinct - not indexed unless mentioned elsewhere, 84-91]===
*
==Annals of Santa Cruz [93-217]==
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Vancouver Vancouver, George] (Mission grist mill); Appleby, R. H. (buyer of High St Wagner property); Arias, Francisco ([[1877 Water Street bridge hanging]]); Becker, Francis M. (Betsy Jane locomotive designer); Bell, Leo C. (Unique theater stock company); Bixby, Nelson (High St house); Blaisdell, Henry (early Mason, later 1st Nevada governor); Booker, Thomas (Bear Flag revolt messenger); Chamalis, Jose ([[1877 Water Street bridge hanging]]); Christy, Bob (1882 variety show); Conran, John (1877 Walnut Ave housebuilder); Cox, E. J. (horse car co.); Dickey, William (1846 California Battalion); Doyle, John (1860s [[Rodeo Gulch]]); Isaac (1876 SC merchant); Frick, George (1852 sold Mission Street lot to R. C. Kirby); Galway, James (1847 Stevenson regiment arrival; short-lived 1868 newspaper); Gordon, James (1846 "sheriff"); Gragg, George (partner of [[Lynch, Sedgwick J.|Lynch]]); Handley, James (1882 variety show); Hernandez, Mariano (1851 lynching); Hillman, Samuel (1860s sold property to London Nelson); Hinds, David (1870 SC merchant); Hoeger, Frederick (1841 Majors mill syndicate); Kellogg, Edmund (1st County Surveyor); Kittleman, Thomas (1st Santa Cruz road supervisor); Knowles, Robert (1869 Church Street home); Lampee, Robert (1857 Holy Cross church painter); Lee, Joseph (painter of ship ''Santa Cruz''); Leonard, A.T. (Dr. - Villa Fontenay); Logan, Lorenzo (1848 "sheriff"); Lucas, Jonathan (English immigrant before 1840); McCabe, R.S. (contractor on 1894 courthouse); McCusker, Daniel (2nd husband of [[Bennett, Catherine|Catherine Bennett Graham]]); McLean, John (MD and 1850 state senate candidate); Merrill, Jock (Opera House bartender); [[Meserve, Alvin R.]] (merchant, 1864 Cooper St. ford footbridge fundraiser); Miles, Benjamin H. (1855 state assembly member);

===[Mexican era]===
* Antomont, Frederico (posted bond for Nicolas Robles after 1834 arrest); Escamilla, Blas (1846 Rancho San Vicente grantee); Galindo, Dolores (married Rodriguez son c.1820); Emis, Juan (1846 alcalde election candidate); Linares, Victor (1839 soldado in Branciforte arrest);

===[Mariners (may not have been local residents)]===
* Brennan, James (early ship builder); Hannah, Levi (1865 sea captain); Bogart, J. C. (Gussie Telfair steamer captain); Fake, George O. (1865 sea captain); Farley, Dan (1869 sea captain); Hobron, William M. C. (1865 sea captain);

===[Santa Cruz hotels]===
* Douglas, A. H. ([[Douglas House]]); Hedgepeth, A. N. and unnamed brother (1884 Eastern House hotel); Leonard, J. J. C. (1901 buyer of Sea Beach Hotel);

===[Santa Cruz schools]===
Adams, Clara (1857 Santa Cruz teacher); Doxie, Nellie (1867 Bay View School teacher); Dryden, D. A. (early Santa Cruz minister and teacher); Ercanbreck, C. K. (1860s Santa Cruz teacher); Loveland, H. S. (Santa Cruz teacher before 1868);

===[Santa Cruz Churches]===
*Bartlett, W. C. (Congregational minister); Chittenden, O. (1858 Baptist minister); Cool, Peter Y. (1862 Methodist minister); Davis, R. N. (1884 Unitarian minister); Ford, G. W. (1879 Baptist minister, Mrs. Ford founded Santa Cruz Seminary); Gamble, Mrs. John L. (1897 buyer of Santa Cruz Seminary from Mrs. Ford); Green, John D. (SC Methodist founding group; Green Street); McCreary, E.D. (1890 Methodist minister); Ames, Charles (1868 Unitarian minister); Merriam, T.M. (1886 Baptist minister);

===[Civil War]]===
* Bent, Charles O. (dairyman, Civil War volunteer); Broughton, W. W. (printer and Civil War volunteer); Calderwood, Ambrose (county sheriff, Civil War volunteer); Farrand, W. D. (Civil War secessionist); Fuller, Marcellus P. (Eagle restaurant; Butler Guards (Civil War) captain; Giles, George W. (Civil War "Company K" volunteer); Glover, Asa (Civil War "Company K" volunteer); Hawes, Alfred H. (Civil War cavalry lt.); Hite, William (Civil War "Company K" volunteer); Howard, Frank (Civil War "Company K" volunteer); Fiester, Felix (blacksmith, Civil War volunteer); Hite, William (Civil War "Company K" volunteer); Hoff, George T. (Civil War Butler Guards lieutenant; Holt, George (1st SC Civil War volunteer, painter, IOOF cemetery); Howard, Frank (Civil War "Company K" volunteer); Love, Jerome (Civil War "Company K" volunteer);

===[Newspapers]===
* Ashley, Delos (not local, 1855 ''Monterey Sentinel''); Beane, Charles (Santa Cruz Journal, 1868); Coffin, Henry (1870 founder of the ''Local Item''); Conway, E.F. (1882 newspaper editor); Devlin, E. J. (1907 ''Evening News'' founder); Hyde, Jeremiah (seller of ''Sentinel'' half interest to [[McPherson, Duncan]]); Inskeep, George (1856 owner of 1st ''Pacific Sentinel'' home building); Liston, John F. (1863 ''Sentinel'' printer); Majors, Green (Courier);

===[Baseball]===
* Arellanez, Frank (1890s baseballer); Chase, Hal (pro baseballer), and father J. E.; Deveraux, Bill (1890s baseballer); Harry Hooper (Capitola pro baseballer); Hunolt, John (1880s SC baseballer);

===Felton Was laid Out By Edward Stanley [169-171]===
* Cramer, Thomas (Felton hotel); Drew, Wallace (1883 Felton livery stable); Kent, D.L. (1884 Felton incorporation trustee); Ley, George (Felton treasurer, 1884); McKoy, Hubbard W. (Felton businessman after 1875); McLaughlin, Charles (see [[Graham, Isaac]]); Merrill, J.M. (1880 Felton businesses);

===Boulder Creek [174-180]===
* Alcorn, Branciford (1865 Boulder Creek); Alcorn, John H. (Boulder Creek, son of Branciford); Anthony, A. M. (1902 Boulder Creek 1st town clerk); Aram, J. H. (one of 1st 1905 B. Creek HS trustees); Bracket, Daniel (Boulder Creek teacher, 1879); Cottrell, Charles T. (Boulder Creek store); Day, William & George (1868 Boulder Creek arrivals); Dennison, George (1883 Boulder Creek Hotel); Dickerson, J. W. (1st Boulder Creek HS principal, 1906); Dool, Mrs. Emma (1900 B. Creek Rebekah lodge); Dool, W. H. (1902 B. Creek village 1st trustees); Ellsworth, John W. (1867 B. Creek sawmill); Farnsworth, J. W. (1877 B. Creek stage driver); Forsyth, W. T. (1891 B. Creek school principal); Fuller, J. H. (one of 1st 1905 B. Creek HS trustees); Harman, Dan (1880s B Creek stage); Hartman, Isiah (1900 B Creek JofP); Hendon, Asbury P. (1874 B.Creek Methodist minister); Hubbs, Samuel (one of 1st 1905 B. Creek HS trustees); McAbee brothers (B.C. livery stable); McDonald, W.R. (1891 B.C. school trustee); McKay, Angus (B.C. blacksmith); Maddock, James M. (last Boulder Creek town clerk); Middleton, Henry L. (1882 lumberman);

===[other San Lorenzo Valley]===
* Askins, J. O. (1885 SLV Methodist minister); Bell, Thomas (Pacific Mills/Ben Lomond, logging); Berry, Tilford George (1860s settler, Berry Creek); Bloom, I. T. (Brookdale lumberman); Brimblecom, Samuel (retired mariner in Lorenzo); Campbell, Duncan (Lorenzo stage operator); Crediford family (1867 Lorenzo); Dobbs, John (1865 arrival, Bear Creek; Fowler, Chester (1887 1st Ben L. postmaster); Gibbs, George (1865 B. Creek area settler); Greenleaf, William C. (1865 B. Creek area settler); Harmon, Austin & Oscar (1865 Bear Creek settlers); Hicks, A.C. & N.B. (early Pacific Mills settlers); Iler, Ben & Richard (1865 Bear Creek settlers); Lawrence, James (1866 Bear Creek settler); Marshall, J. D. (1852 Marshall Creek settler, Ben Lomond - married Graham daughter from 1st marriage); Michner, David B. (1879 Lorenzo teacher);

===[Pajaro Valley]===
* Atkinson, Fred (1913 Register-Pajaronian); Carr, Jesse D. (1st PV apples); Dean, Portius Festus (1870 Watsonville county supervisor); Eagar, Thomas (1900 Corralitos miller); Goodall & Nelson (1867 Pajaro Landing): Hoy, Jones (1853 Corralitos farmer, miller); Knowles, Mr/Mrs A.P. (1872 1st Corralitos school teachers);

==Los Fundadores [if not listed elsewhere]==
* Alviso family (Los Fundadores); Amador family (Los Fundadores); Pinto family (Los Fundadores - [[Pinto Lake]] in Watsonville)

[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Sources]]

Meserve, Alvin R.

2026-07-26T01:04:01Z

Carey:

[[File:Meserve-and-Jordan-store-ad.jpg|right]]
'''Alvin Rand Meserve''' ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/36715302/alvin-r-meserve 1833-1912]), born in Maine, came to Santa Cruz in the 1850s. By 1864, he and a partner named Jordan had opened a general store. In 1870 he was elected to be one of the 3 town trustees, and in 1872 he became county treasurer after [[Blakely, Samuel W.|Samuel W. Blakely]] resigned. The family later moved to Long Beach, CA.

According to Rowland (p.191), Meserve led a subscription campaign in 1864 to build a footbridge at the Cooper Street Ford.

[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Persons in Rowland]]
[[Category:Government officials 1870-79]]

Meserve, Alvin R.

2026-07-26T00:32:37Z

Carey:

[[File:Meserve-and-Jordan-store-ad.jpg|right]]
'''Alvin Rand Meserve''' ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/36715302/alvin-r-meserve 1833-1912]), born in Maine, came to Santa Cruz in the 1850s. By 1864, he and a partner named Jordan had opened a general store. In 1870 he was elected to be one of the 3 town trustees, and in 1872 he became county treasurer after [[Blakely, Samuel W.|Samuel W. Blakely]] resigned. The family later moved to Long Beach, CA.

[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Government officials 1870-79]]

Meserve, Alvin R.

2026-07-26T00:31:28Z

Carey: Created page with "right '''Alvin Rand Meserve''' ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/36715302/alvin-r-meserve 1833-1912]), born in Maine, came to Santa Cruz in the 1850s. By 1864, he and a partner named Jordan had opened a general store. In 1870 he was elected to be one of the 3 town trustees, and in 1872 he became county treasurer after Samuel W. Blakely resigned. The family later moved to Long Beach, CA. Category:Pers..."

[[File:Meserve-and-Jordan-store-ad.jpg|right]]
'''Alvin Rand Meserve''' ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/36715302/alvin-r-meserve 1833-1912]), born in Maine, came to Santa Cruz in the 1850s. By 1864, he and a partner named Jordan had opened a general store. In 1870 he was elected to be one of the 3 town trustees, and in 1872 he became county treasurer after [[Blakeley, Samuel W.|Samuel W. Blakely]] resigned. The family later moved to Long Beach, CA.

[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Government officials 1870-79]]

Blakely, Samuel W.

2026-07-26T00:24:22Z

Carey:

'''Samuel W. Blakely''' established a druggist business on Pacific Avenue, with partner {McDermott, William P.|William P, McDermott]], in the 1860s. In 1870, he was elected county treasurer and, in 1872, was accused of embezzlement after reporting himself bound and gagged during a robbery at the treasurer's office. Two trials failed to reach a verdict, and he was freed. After the first indictment, Blakely resigned the office and was replaced by his immediate predecessor, [[Meserve, Alvin R.|A. R. Meserve]].

In a subsequent civil suit, the county attempted to force reimbursement of the missing funds by Blakely's bondsmen. No report on the conclusion to that trial has been found. In 1878, the ''Sentinel'' reported that Blakely had been appointed postmaster of a small town in Arizona.

In 1879, [[Otto, George|George Otto]] was accused of the same crime while serving as county treasurer. A Sentinel article title "Another One" referred back to Blakely.

[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Persons accused of crimes]]
[[Category:Government officials 1870-79]]

File:Meserve-and-Jordan-store-ad.jpg

2026-07-26T00:10:05Z

Carey:

Category:Persons accused of crimes

2026-07-25T19:12:53Z

Carey: Created page with "Category:Persons"

[[Category:Persons]]

Otto, George

2026-07-25T19:12:15Z

Carey:

'''George Frederick Otto''' ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/200802176/george-frerderick-otto 1826-1899]) was a German immigrant who came to Santa Cruz in 1851, becoming a downtown merchant. He served as County Treasurer, and was the father of eight children, including George Jr. and journalist/historian [[Otto, Ernest|Ernest Otto]]. While serving as Treasurer, he was convicted of embezzlement in 1880 and sentenced to five years in San Quentin prison, but was paroled after two years. Upon release, he returned to Santa Cruz but not to public life.

While George was in prison, his wife Sophia ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/200802344/sophia_mae_otto 1834-1924]) (nee Trust), born in Baltimore of German-immigrant parents), was forced to sell the family home on Church Street. The family was later able to buy another house, on Water Street just east of the bridge.

Otto was the second Santa Cruz County Treasurer to be accused of embezzlement. [[Blakely, Samuel W.|Samuel W. Blakely]], elected in 1870, was indicted and tried twice, but two juries failed to agree on a verdict.

*[https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCWS18660623.1.2&srpos=1&e=-------en--20-SCWS-1--txt-txIN-%22Map+of+the+Town%22-------1 "The Official Survey of Santa Cruz"], ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'', June 23, 1866, 2:4.
*[[The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023)|''The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture'']], 4th edition (2023), chapter 3, item (4), page 58.
*[[History Pages: 12 - Pioneer German-Speakers of Santa Cruz County]]
* Ross Gibson, "Local History" column - "Keeping up with Mr. Santa Cruz", ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'', Dec. 8, 2024, A2.

[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:1850-1859_arrivals]]
[[Category:County officers 1850-1891]]
[[Category:Persons accused of crimes]]
[[Category:Group-Germans]]
[[Category:1866 town property owners]]
[[Category:Persons in Sidewalk Companion]]
[[Category:Santa Cruz Memorial]]

Blakely, Samuel W.

2026-07-25T19:11:39Z

Carey: Created page with "'''Samuel W. Blakely''' established a druggist business on Pacific Avenue, with partner {McDermott, William P.|William P, McDermott]], in the 1860s. In 1870, he was elected county treasurer and, in 1872, was accused of embezzlement after reporting himself bound and gagged during a robbery at the treasurer's office. Two trials failed to reach a verdict, and he was freed. In a subsequent civil suit, the county attempted to force reimbursement of the missing funds by Blakel..."

'''Samuel W. Blakely''' established a druggist business on Pacific Avenue, with partner {McDermott, William P.|William P, McDermott]], in the 1860s. In 1870, he was elected county treasurer and, in 1872, was accused of embezzlement after reporting himself bound and gagged during a robbery at the treasurer's office. Two trials failed to reach a verdict, and he was freed. In a subsequent civil suit, the county attempted to force reimbursement of the missing funds by Blakely's bondsmen. No report on the conclusion to that trial has been found. In 1878, the ''Sentinel'' reported that Blakely had been appointed postmaster of a small town in Arizona.

In 1879, [[Otto, George|George Otto]] was accused of the same crime while serving as county treasurer. A Sentinel article title "Another One" referred back to Blakely.

[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Persons accused of crimes]]

Category:Persons in Francis

2026-07-21T19:07:36Z

Carey:

[[Santa Cruz County (1896 book)|'''Santa Cruz County: A faithful reproduction in print and photography of its climate, capabilities and beauties . . .''']], by [[Francis, Phil|Phil Francis]].
Other authors include:

* p.14. [[Lay, A. G.|A. G. Lay]], County Supervisor
* p.14. [[Enright, Joseph D.|Joseph D. Enright]], County Supervisor
* p.14. [[Rambo, Samuel H.| S. H. Rambo]], County Supervisor
* p.44. [[Howard, Lillian A.| Lillian A. Howard]] wrote the section "The Wild-flowers of the Hills and Dales of Santa Cruz County"
* p.49. [[Coope, John F.|J. F. Coope]], Ben Lomond Wine Company

[[Category:Persons]]

Category:Persons in Francis

2026-07-21T19:04:36Z

Carey:

[[Santa Cruz County (1896 book)|'''Santa Cruz County: A faithful reproduction in print and photography of its climate, capabilities and beauties . . .''']], by [[Francis, Phil|Phil Francis]].

* [[Lay, A. G.|A. G. Lay]] p.14 County Supervisor
* [[Enright, Joseph D.|Joseph D. Enright]] p.14 County Supervisor
* [[Rambo, Samuel H.| S. H. Rambo]] p.14 County Supervisor
* [[Howard, Lillian A.| Lillian A. Howard]] wrote the section "The Wild-flowers of the Hills and Dales of Santa Cruz County" p.44
* [[Coope, John F.|J. F. Coope]], Ben Lomond Wine Company, p.49

[[Category:Persons]]

History pages

2026-07-21T18:54:18Z

Carey: /* Other pages, articles */

A more-or-less chronological series of articles.

==History Pages==
#[[History Pages: 1 - The Ohlone]]. The early human inhabitants of our area.
#[[History Pages: 2 - The Explorers]]. From Cabrillo (1542) to Portola (1769).
#[[History Pages: 3 - The Missionaries]]. Mission Santa Cruz was founded in 1791.
#[[History Pages: 4 - Branciforte]]. A civilian pueblo was established in 1797.
#[[History Pages: 5 - The Ranchos]]. Former Mission lands became large land grants (1821-1846).
#[[History Pages: 6 - The Sailors]]. Bolcoff, Lodge, Buckle, and others
#[[History Pages: 7 - The Frontiersmen]]. Majors, Dye, Graham, and others
#[[History Pages: 8 - The Wagon Trains]].
#[[History Pages: 9 - Bear Flag Revolt]]. Fremont, Blackburn, Sweet
#[[History Pages: 10 - The Territory]]. Stevenson, Daubenbiss, Hames, Bennett, Anthony
#[[History Pages: 11 - The Gold Rush]]. Cathcart, Farnham
#[[History Pages: 12 - Westside Mills and Tanneries]]. Dodero, Kirby, Boston
#[[History Pages: 13 - Pioneer German-Speakers of Santa Cruz County]]. Hihn and 18 others
#[[History Pages: 14 - The County]]. Moore, Meder
#[[History Pages: 15 - Around the New County]]. Scott, Waddell, Porter, Coast Survey map
#[[History Pages: 16 - Uptown and Downtown]]. Fallon, Thompson, Cooper
#[[History Pages: 17 - Lime and Wine]]. Davis & Jordan, Burns
#[[History Pages: 18 - Antebellum]]. McPherson
#[[History Pages: 19 - Civil War]]. Anthony, Brown, Rodriguez, Powder Works, Pope House
#[[History Pages: 20 - Return of the Limeburners]]. Bennett, Bull, Adams, Cowell
#[[History Pages: 21 - The River]]. London Nelson
#[[History Pages: 22 - The Town]].
#[[History Pages: 23 - The Institutions]].
#[[History Pages: 24 - The Map and the Trees]]. 1866
#[[History Pages: 25 - Names Became Towns]]. Felton, Capitola, Davenport
#[[History Pages: 26 - The Farmers]]. Wilder, Baldwin, Meder, Jarvis, Trevethan, Corcoran
#[[History Pages: 27 - The Quiet Years]]. Sylvar, Alzina, Rountree.
#[[History Pages: 28 - How the trains came to Santa Cruz (part 1)]]. From Felton
#[[History Pages: 29 - How the trains came to Santa Cruz (part 2)]]. From Pajaro and through Mission Hill
#[[History Pages: 30 - How the trains came to Santa Cruz (part 3)]]. Streetcars
#[[History Pages: 31 – How the Town Became a City]]. 1876
#[[History Pages: 32 – Paris on the San Lorenzo: Second Empire style]]. 1870s
#[[History Pages: 33 - Santa Cruz Once Had a Chinatown]]
#[[History Pages: 34 - When Santa Cruz Had Four Wharves]]. Gharky, Lynch, Hecox
#[[History Pages: 35 - The first book on Santa Cruz history, from 1879]]. Illustrations!
#[[History Pages: 36 - Gentrification: Downtown Santa Cruz in the 1870s]]. Hihn subdivides north of Lincoln.
#[[History Pages: 37 - Bridges to Somewhere: Eastside Santa Cruz in the 1870s]]. Barson, Wilson.
#[[History Pages: 38 - How the Trains Came to Santa Cruz – Part 4]]. Fair.
#[[History Pages: 39 - End of the Line: Last Stagecoach to Santa Cruz]]. McKiernan, Parkhurst, Colegrove
#[[History Pages: 40 - What's in a Name? – Adventures in Spelling]] Gharky, Meder
#[[History Pages: 41 - Approaching the Gilded Age: Santa Cruz Enters the 1880s]]
#[[History Pages: 42 - Southern Pacific took over Santa Cruz County railroads in the 1880s]]
#[[History Pages: 43 - Go, Team, Go: The First Team Sport in Santa Cruz, ca. 1880]]
#[[History Pages: 44 - Petroleum in Santa Cruz, Then and Now]]
#[[History Pages: 45 - Remembering (some of) the Presidents]]
#[[History Pages: 46 - The Italians]]
#[[History Pages: 47 - Santa Cruz gets an Octagon: downtown in the early 1880s]]
#[[History Pages: 48 - Santa Cruz in 1882: Water Street Gets a New Bridge]]
#[[History Pages: 49 - The Rise and Fall of Swanton House: 1884-87]]
#[[History Pages: 50 - Downtown expanded south in the 1880s]]
#[[History Pages: 51 - Beach Hill: 1870-99]]
#[[History Pages: 52 - Santa Cruz water system timeline]]
#[[History Pages: 53 - Santa Cruz electric system timeline]]
#[[History Pages: 54 - Timeline of Santa Cruz City, County government]]
#[[History Pages: 55 - The Big Fire of 1894]] - Pacific, Front, Cooper
#[[History Pages: 56 - The Big Rebuild of 1894]]
#[[History Pages: 57 - Union Depot]], 1893
#[[History Pages: 58 - The 1890s Santa Cruz beachfront]]
#[[History Pages: 59 - 1895 Venetian Water Carnival]]
#[[History Pages: -- - 1880s-90s subdivisions filled in the Westside]]. Rountree, Gharky, Dingee, Boston
#[[History Pages: -- - presidential visits, Harrison 1891, Roosevelt 1903]]
#[[History Pages: -- - 1905 Santa Cruz annexation]]
#[[History Pages: -- - Ocean Shore RR challenged Southern Pacific, 1905-1921]]

==Panoramic views==
*[[Panoramic views of Santa Cruz, 1870-1907]]
*[[Panorama 1: Bird’s Eye View of Santa Cruz, 1870]]
*[[Panorama 2: Trousset oil painting, 1876]]
*[[Panorama 3: Bird's Eye View of Santa Cruz, 1877]]
*[[Panorama 4: Steinegger Bird's Eye View of Santa Cruz, 1888-89]]
*[[Panorama 5: Heath oil painting, 1893]]
*[[Panorama 6: Swanton Bird's Eye View of Santa Cruz, ~1907]]
*Panorama 7: [[1906 Lawrence aerial photo]]: first aerial panoramic photograph

==Other pages, articles==
*[[Spanish-era government]]
*[[Spanish in Santa Cruz County place names]]
*[[Down By the Riverside]], subtitled "How Santa Cruz Lost and Refound Its Connection to the San Lorenzo River" (published in [[Santa Cruz County History Journal Number 9]]).
*[[Sidewalks of Washington Street]]
*[[Social organizations before 1900]]
*[[Sidewalk Companion 4th ed. walking tour]]
*[https://d2kr105htw9szj.cloudfront.net/uploads/The-Kerr-House.pdf?mtime=20210429181708&focal=none The History of the William Kerr House]
*[https://d2kr105htw9szj.cloudfront.net/uploads/Pacific-Cooper-Front_8-5-24-final-draft.pdf Pacific-Cooper-Front: How the Heart of Downtown Santa Cruz Has Evolved]
*[https://d2kr105htw9szj.cloudfront.net/uploads/The-Shape-of-Santa-Cruz-to-1845_draft9.pdf The Shape of Santa Cruz: Historical Roots of the City's Evolution, From its Beginnings to 1845]
*[https://d2kr105htw9szj.cloudfront.net/uploads/The-Shape-of-Santa-Cruz-part-2_final.pdf The Shape of Santa Cruz: The Evolution Continues, from 1846 to 1866]

Rowland immigrant list to 1846

2026-07-15T14:13:14Z

Carey:

[[Santa Cruz: The Early Years (1980 book)]] contains a list of early immigrants to the Santa Cruz area, with no further information on most of them. The names were presumably filtered from Bancroft's California list, but that's not stated in the Rowland writing. The list is on page 55, and again on page 110.

*'''1840''' (and before): Atchison, William (1824 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cochrane,_10th_Earl_of_Dundonald Cochrane] ship-jumper); [[Bee, Henry J.]] (1840 arrested "foreigner"); Cooper, Charles Henry (1840 arrested "foreigner"); Foster, Joseph R.; Frazier, George; [[Sweet, Paul]]; Wilson, Alvin; Hill, Henry (1838 arrival, trapper); King, Robert (1834 arrival, 1st county constable); Kinlock, George (pre-1840 arrival, carpenter);
*'''1841''': Belden, Josiah (did not stay); Brander, Thomas; Bowen, George; Garner, William; [[Weeks, James William (Diego Guillermo)]]; White, William; Buzzell, Willard & Francis;
*'''1842''': Bowen, Thomas; Collins, Peter; Dickey, William (1846 California Battalion); [[Castro family|Fourcade, Jean Richard]]; [[Kennedy, Thomas|Kennedy, James]]; Lewis, Thomas; Stevens, Isaac; Turnbull, Thomas; Warren, William; Wiggins, William
*'''1843''': Barton, William; Cole, Thomas; [[Daubenbiss, John]]; [[Hames, John]]; Heath, Charles; Dawson, Birnie; McVicker, Henry; [[Williams brothers|4 Williams brothers]]
*'''1844''': [[Bennett, Vardamon|4 Bennett brothers]]; Labish, Carl; [[Richard, Pierre]]; [[Roussillon, Charles]]
*'''1845''': Adrian, Alexander; [[Blackburn, William]]; Carmichael, Lawrence; Dabadie, Jean (French shipbuilder); [[Fallon, Thomas]]; France, William (1845 ''padron''); Frey, Joseph; [[Hardy, William H.]]; Hitchcock, Isaac; LaPierre, Louis; McDougall, George; Louis; Mohlier, Jean Baptiste; Omnes-Gui, Julian; Patterson, Mrs. Elizabeth; Poile, Francois; [[Sainsevain, Pierre|Vignes, Pierre]]; [[Shadden, Thomas J.]]; Williams, George N.; Hitchcock, Isaac (1845 arrival);
*'''1846''': [[Burton, John A.]]; Speale, Henry;

[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Persons in Rowland]]

Weeks, James William (Diego Guillermo)

2026-07-15T14:11:59Z

Carey: Created page with "'''James William (Diego Guillermo) Weeks''' ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/250927083/james-william-weeks 1812-1881]) in listed in Rowland as an 1841 arrival in Santa Cruz County, but no other info has been found about his activities here. Weeks became prominent in San Jose, where he served as alcalde. Category:Persons Category:Persons in Rowland"

'''James William (Diego Guillermo) Weeks''' ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/250927083/james-william-weeks 1812-1881]) in listed in Rowland as an 1841 arrival in Santa Cruz County, but no other info has been found about his activities here. Weeks became prominent in San Jose, where he served as alcalde.

[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Persons in Rowland]]

Bee, Henry J.

2026-07-15T14:09:09Z

Carey:

'''Henry Jubilee Bee''' ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/216092125/henry-jubilee-bee 1808-1898])was, according to his Find-a-Grave page, a native of England who jumped ship in Monterey in 1830. He came to Branciforte briefly before joining [[Graham, Isaac|Isaac Graham's ''rifleros'']] (probably at Zayante) in 1836 to aid the Alvarado coup in Monterey. In 1840, Bee was one of the Americans arrested by Alvarado and sent to Mexico for trial. He returned in 1841 to Branciforte, moving to San Jose sometime before 1846. Associates there included [[Weeks, James W.|James W. Weeks]].

[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Persons in Rowland]]

Bee, Henry J.

2026-07-15T14:05:17Z

Carey:

'''Henry Jubilee Bee''' ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/216092125/henry-jubilee-bee 1808-1898])was, according to his Find-a-Grave page, a native of England who jumped ship in Monterey in 1830. He came to Branciforte briefly before joining [[Graham, Isaac|Isaac Graham's ''rifleros'']] in 1836 to aid the Alvarado coup in Monterey. In 1840, Bee was one of the Americans arrested by Alvarado and sent to Mexico for trial. He returned in 1841 to Branciforte, moving to San Jose sometime before 1846. Associates there included [[Weeks, James W.|James W. Weeks]].

[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Persons in Rowland]]

Bee, Henry J.

2026-07-15T14:03:59Z

Carey: Created page with "Henry Jubilee Bee ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/216092125/henry-jubilee-bee 1808-1898])was, according to his Find-a-Grave page, a native of England who jumped ship in Monterey in 1830. He came to Branciforte briefly before joining Isaac Graham's ''rifleros'' in 1836 to aid the Alvarado coup in Monterey. In 1840, Bee was one of the Americans arrested by Alvarado and sent to Mexico for trial. He returned in 1841 to Branciforte, moving to San Jose..."

Henry Jubilee Bee ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/216092125/henry-jubilee-bee 1808-1898])was, according to his Find-a-Grave page, a native of England who jumped ship in Monterey in 1830. He came to Branciforte briefly before joining [[Graham, Isaac|Isaac Graham's ''rifleros'']] in 1836 to aid the Alvarado coup in Monterey. In 1840, Bee was one of the Americans arrested by Alvarado and sent to Mexico for trial. He returned in 1841 to Branciforte, moving to San Jose sometime before 1846. Associates there included [[Weeks, James W.|James W. Weeks]].

[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Persons in Rowland]]

Rowland immigrant list to 1846

2026-07-14T14:13:41Z

Carey:

[[Santa Cruz: The Early Years (1980 book)]] contains a list of early immigrants to the Santa Cruz area, with no further information on most of them. The names were presumably filtered from Bancroft's California list, but that's not stated in the Rowland writing. The list is on page 55, and again on page 110.

*'''1840''' (and before): Atchison, William (1824 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cochrane,_10th_Earl_of_Dundonald Cochrane] ship-jumper); Bee, Henry J.; Cooper, Charles Henry (1840 arrested "foreigner"); Foster, Joseph R.; Frazier, George; [[Sweet, Paul]]; Wilson, Alvin; Hill, Henry (1838 arrival, trapper); King, Robert (1834 arrival, 1st county constable); Kinlock, George (pre-1840 arrival, carpenter);
*'''1841''': Belden, Josiah (did not stay); Brander, Thomas; Bowen, George; Garner, William; Weeks, James William (Diego Guillermo); White, William; Buzzell, Willard & Francis;
*'''1842''': Bowen, Thomas; Collins, Peter; Dickey, William (1846 California Battalion); [[Castro family|Fourcade, Jean Richard]]; [[Kennedy, Thomas|Kennedy, James]]; Lewis, Thomas; Stevens, Isaac; Turnbull, Thomas; Warren, William; Wiggins, William
*'''1843''': Barton, William; Cole, Thomas; [[Daubenbiss, John]]; [[Hames, John]]; Heath, Charles; Dawson, Birnie; McVicker, Henry; [[Williams brothers|4 Williams brothers]]
*'''1844''': [[Bennett, Vardamon|4 Bennett brothers]]; Labish, Carl; [[Richard, Pierre]]; [[Roussillon, Charles]]
*'''1845''': Adrian, Alexander; [[Blackburn, William]]; Carmichael, Lawrence; Dabadie, Jean (French shipbuilder); [[Fallon, Thomas]]; France, William (1845 ''padron''); Frey, Joseph; [[Hardy, William H.]]; Hitchcock, Isaac; LaPierre, Louis; McDougall, George; Louis; Mohlier, Jean Baptiste; Omnes-Gui, Julian; Patterson, Mrs. Elizabeth; Poile, Francois; [[Sainsevain, Pierre|Vignes, Pierre]]; [[Shadden, Thomas J.]]; Williams, George N.; Hitchcock, Isaac (1845 arrival);
*'''1846''': [[Burton, John A.]]; Speale, Henry;

[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Persons in Rowland]]

Billing, Frederick W.

2026-07-01T19:45:12Z

Carey:

'''Frederick W. Billing''' (1835-1914, Palo Alto), a native of Germany, was a businessman and talented amateur landscape painter who moved west from New York for his health. After serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, he made a fortune in mining-related ventures in Utah before coming to California with his wife Wilhelmina in about 1885, establishing a winery in San Mateo County near today’s Woodside.

Billing's daughter Bertha ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/283298510/bertha-coope 1860-1965 Palo Alto]) married Englishman [[Coope, John F.|John F. Coope]], and the newly-weds moved to Ben Lomond (today's Bonny Doon) in ~1880, where Coope and his father-in-law established the Ben Lomond Wine Company. In 1899, Billing acquired the [[Kerr, William|William Kerr]] ranch (today's [[Pasatiempo]]) and moved there. In the same year, the Ben Lomond Wine Company bought the [[Santa Cruz Mountain Wine Company]], with its Santa Cruz winery. Unfortunately, Coope died suddenly in 1902, and the winery business seems to have declined from that point.
* Rowland states, on page 195 of his 1947 "Annals of Santa Cruz" (one section of the Rowland writings collected in 1980 as [[Santa Cruz: The Early Years (1980 book)|''Santa Cruz: The Early Years'']]), that Billing built his Pasatiempo house, but it was built by Kerr before Billing acquired the property. Rowland also asserted that the house burned down, but does not give a date. It was still standing in 1937, but its fate after that has not been verified (''see'' "The History of the William Kerr House").

Billing's business partner John Q. Packard also moved to the area, building a house just across the San Jose road (now [[Highway 17]]) from the Kerr house. Billing, Packard, and Coope were all members of the committee established in 1900 to launch efforts to create what is now [[Big Basin Redwoods State Park]].
* [https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/items/show/133052 Frederick William Billing], by Mackenzie Gordon (grandson), SCPL online Local History Articles
* [https://kavanaughgallery.com/artists/manufacturers/frederick-william-f-w-billing.html#:~:text=Frederick%20William%20%22F.W.%22%20Billing%201835,Carmiencke%20with%20whom%20he%20studied. Artist Details-Frederick W. Billing] Kavanaugh Art Gallery
* Traci Bliss, [[Big Basin Redwood Forest (2021 book)|"Big Basin Redwood Forest" (2021 book)]].
* [[Late Harvest (1983 book)]], chapter 1 "The Origins of the Santa Cruz Wine Industry".
* [[Harvesting Our Heritage (2017 book)]], pages 22-23.
* John L. Chase, ''[[The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023)]]'', page 188.
* Carey Casey, "[https://www.santacruzmah.org/blog/the-kerr-house The History of the William Kerr House]", MAH Online History Journal

[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Persons in Rowland]]
[[Category:Artists]]
[[Category:Viniculture]]
[[Category:Non-local burial]]

Billing, Frederick W.

2026-07-01T19:43:22Z

Carey:

'''Frederick W. Billing''' (1835-1914, Palo Alto), a native of Germany, was a businessman and talented amateur landscape painter who moved west from New York for his health. After serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, he made a fortune in mining-related ventures in Utah before coming to California with his wife Wilhelmina in about 1885, establishing a winery in San Mateo County near today’s Woodside.

Billing's daughter Bertha ([https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/283298510/bertha-coope 1860-1965 Palo Alto]) married Englishman John F. Coope, and the newly-weds moved to Ben Lomond (today's Bonny Doon) in ~1880, where Coope and his father-in-law established the Ben Lomond Wine Company. In 1899, Billing acquired the [[Kerr, William|William Kerr]] ranch (today's [[Pasatiempo]]) and moved there. In the same year, the Ben Lomond Wine Company bought the [[Santa Cruz Mountain Wine Company]], with its Santa Cruz winery. Unfortunately, Coope died suddenly in 1902, and the winery business seems to have declined from that point.
* Rowland states, on page 195 of his 1947 "Annals of Santa Cruz" (one section of the Rowland writings collected in 1980 as [[Santa Cruz: The Early Years (1980 book)|''Santa Cruz: The Early Years'']]), that Billing built his Pasatiempo house, but it was built by Kerr before Billing acquired the property. Rowland also asserted that the house burned down, but does not give a date. It was still standing in 1937, but its fate after that has not been verified (''see'' "The History of the William Kerr House").

Billing's business partner John Q. Packard also moved to the area, building a house just across the San Jose road (now [[Highway 17]]) from the Kerr house. Billing, Packard, and Coope were all members of the committee established in 1900 to launch efforts to create what is now [[Big Basin Redwoods State Park]].
* [https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/items/show/133052 Frederick William Billing], by Mackenzie Gordon (grandson), SCPL online Local History Articles
* [https://kavanaughgallery.com/artists/manufacturers/frederick-william-f-w-billing.html#:~:text=Frederick%20William%20%22F.W.%22%20Billing%201835,Carmiencke%20with%20whom%20he%20studied. Artist Details-Frederick W. Billing] Kavanaugh Art Gallery
* Traci Bliss, [[Big Basin Redwood Forest (2021 book)|"Big Basin Redwood Forest" (2021 book)]].
* [[Late Harvest (1983 book)]], chapter 1 "The Origins of the Santa Cruz Wine Industry".
* [[Harvesting Our Heritage (2017 book)]], pages 22-23.
* John L. Chase, ''[[The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023)]]'', page 188.
* Carey Casey, "[https://www.santacruzmah.org/blog/the-kerr-house The History of the William Kerr House]", MAH Online History Journal

[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Persons in Rowland]]
[[Category:Artists]]
[[Category:Viniculture]]
[[Category:Non-local burial]]

Category:Lawrence and Houseworth

2026-06-26T18:50:30Z

Carey:

'''Lawrence and Houseworth''' were a pair of San Francisco photographers who documented northern California (and into western Nevada) as it was in the years after 1859. They came to Santa Cruz County at least once, in 1866, and the photographs from that visit are among our most important historical images from the years 1866-1870. Edna Kimbro wrote that the Mission Santa Cruz photos were taken in 1866, in [https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/items/show/134486#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0 "Construction Chronology..."] (assuming L and H only came here once). The [https://www.californiapioneers.org/lh/browse.php?page=2&category=all Society of California Pioneers maintains an "online photographic database" of 1,495 images] (lower-res versions downloadable), including 15 images of the Santa Cruz area, numbered:
*31 [[:File:Santa-Cruz-tannery-L-and-H.jpg|Santa Cruz Tannery]] (Boston-Jones)
*32 Mission Plaza (wide view)
*33 pan right from #34, includes Thompson house, Sisters school, Alzina house, Leslie store(?), Pacific Ocean House (beyond), 1st Mission Hill School, Methodist church
*34 Mission plaza, includes rectory(?), adobe chapel, 1858 church, zanja crossing plaza, Fallon bldg, Rodriguez adobe, Sisters convent (old juzgado), Wm. Thompson house, Sisters school, Alzina house
*35 [[:File:1857 Holy-Cross-and-adobe SCP 0035.jpg|1857 Holy Cross and adobe]], repaired adobe chapel w wood front, zanja in foreground
*36 [[:File:SCP 0036 lower plaza.jpg|Lower plaza]]
*37 [[:File:SCP 0037 Pac-Ocean-Hse.jpg|Pacific Ocean House]]
*38 Davis & Cowell wharf, from west cliff
*39 Same view, but closer, tram going down wharf (no horses)
*40 Looking west along cliffs from same spot
*41 toward Santa Cruz from river mouth (footbridge?): Methodist church in middle, Mission Hill school, Sisters school, convent, Holy Cross far right
*42 pan right from #41
*43 San Lorenzo Paper Mill (now in Paradise Park)
*44 "View on the San Lorenzo", no structures
*45 [[:File:Lime-works-SCP0045.jpg|Davis & Cowell Lime Company works]]

See:
*[[History Pages: 13 - The County]]
*[[History Pages: 15 - Uptown and Downtown]]
*[https://www.loc.gov/collections/lawrence-and-houseworth/about-this-collection/ Lawrence and Houseworth Collection, Library of Congress]
*[https://www.californiapioneers.org/collections/photo/lh/ 1,495 Lawrence and Houseworth images, Society of California Pioneers]

[[Category:Images]]

File:Lime-works-SCP0045.jpg

2026-06-26T18:49:18Z

Carey:

File:Santa-Cruz-tannery-L-and-H.jpg

2026-06-26T18:42:22Z

Carey: