Whidden, Robert K.

Robert K. [Kirk] Whidden (1827-1889), born in Nova Scotia (Canada), was a downtown Santa Cruz developer in the 1870s. The 1877 structure that survives today as Santa Cruz Hotel was a Whidden project. Two Whidden commercial buildings stood On Pacific Avenue; 1515 (at the corner of Pacific and Locust Street), and 15-17-19 (adjacent to the north). Both of those have been replaced.

• John L. Chase, The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023), three entries: Chapter Three, item (7), page 58; Chapter Five, items (9) and (10), page 136-37.