Fleck, John

John Fleck (1820-1891 Santa Barbara County) briefly owned the small parcel containing the Mission Santa Cruz grist mill on the Arroyo de Santissima Cruz (today's Laurel Creek). The 1866 Santa Cruz map shows the mill site parcel, labeled "J. Fleck". Rowland notes (p121) that acquired the mill and its little plot of land in 1859, only to lose it in 1866, but that same year his name appeared on the town map as owner of the parcel. Laurel Street was also created in 1866, and routing the new street through that land would seem to indicate that the creek's course had been altered and the mill had ceased operation.

• John L. Chase, The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023), Chapter Two, item (5), page 38.
• Rowland also notes that after mission secularization, the mill passed into the hands of administrator Jose Bolcoff, and that Bolcoff and Eli Moore operated it - at least for a while. Fleck acquired the property through a mechanic's lien, which means that Bolcoff/Moore were unable or unwilling to pay a debt, so the old mill was probably no longer operating. It's not known whether Fleck attempted to operate the mill.