Waddell, William W.

William White Waddell (1818-1875) was a Kentuckian who arrived in Santa Cruz County in 1851. In the succeeding years, Waddell built four sawmills in four different lumbering areas. The last of these was built in 1861, along with a wharf, near what is today the northern boundary of the county, on the creek that commemorates his name. At one time there was a community along the creek named Waddell, but it disappeared with the decline of the timber industry, as did so many other small timber-related settlements. Today we know Waddell Creek as a good place for wind-surfing, bird-watching and hiking.

Daughter Jeannie W. Waddell (1842-1922) married Charles B. Younger, Sr. and son John A. Waddell (1848-1931) came with the family as children. Jeannie and John inherited land from their father, and both are shown as landowners on the 1889 "Hatch map". Jeannie is buried in Santa Cruz with her husband, but John seems to have spent most of his adult life at Santa Clara Univ, and is buried in the mission cemetery.

In the 1900s, the Waddell land became Rancho del Oso of the Theodore Hoover (brother of Herbert) family. The land, which connects Big Basin to the coast via Waddell Creek, was added to Big Basin Redwoods State Park in 1977. Hulda Hoover McLean was the last family member to live there.