Babbling Brook Inn

The Babbling Brook Inn is a B&B at the base of the Laurel Street hill. In the 1790s the Mission Santa Cruz grist mill was built on or near this site. The horizontally-mounted undershot water wheel, powered by the force of Laurel Creek water descending the hill, turned the grinding wheel above. The old mill wheel on the B&B grounds (shown at right on today's non-functional mounting, with Laurel Creek running below) is of the later vertical type, and probably came from an early iteration of the nearby Kirby tannery operation.

• Two mission-era mills, using both types of water wheel, have been restored at Mission Santa Inez. A website has descriptions and diagrams of both types.
• The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture, 4th edition, page 38.