Towne, John W.

John W. Towne (1822-1901), a native of Vermont, appears in the Santa Cruz Weekly Sentinel as early as 1862.

• 1863-65: County Supervisor. Was on a subcommittee with F. A. Hihn to manage contracting for construction of the County jail in 1864.
• 1866: sold a farm "on the road between Santa Cruz and Soquel"
• 1867: bought ~9 acres on Lincoln Street (northwest corner of Rincon) from S. A. Bartlett (parcel shown on 1866 town map)
• 1868: partnered in subdividing and selling lots in the "Bay View Addition".
• 1868: was a county road commissioner
• 1879: was with brother-in-law Jack Sloan when he was killed in an attack by three men while the two were riding on the Watsonville road after dark in the Arana Gulch area.
  • "A Desperado Killed", Santa Cruz Weekly Sentinel, 15 November 1879, 2:2
• 1888: had a house built on Marine Parade, designed by Edward Van Cleek.
  • The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023), Appendix B: Van Cleek, page 287