Davis, Calvin W.

Calvin W. [Withington] Davis (1829-1912, no local burial found) and his brother Charles were prominent members of the Santa Cruz building designer-builder community in the 1870s and 80s. Both did a lot of work for F. A. Hihn, designing and building rail cars and facilities for the Santa Cruz Railroad (SCR), in addition to commercial and residential structures in Santa Cruz. Calvin was the builder, while Charles was the designer. The 1883-86 Mission Street home the pair designed and built for Calvin is an outstanding surviving example of the Stick-Eastlake style. In contemporary accounts, it can be hard to tell which brother did what, since both were referred to by the initials "C. W."

• The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023): Chapter Four, entry (6), page 83-84 (residence); Appendix A, page 276 (biography)
• The Birth of the California Narrow Gauge by Bruce MacGregor (for railroad-related work)