Santa Cruz County

In its early days, Santa Cruz County contained abundant natural resources in the form of fertile agricultural lands, timberlands, mineral resources, and freshwater streams and rivers. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, these resources provided for a growing population and determined the course of development in the county. Past events and historic land use practices have had important and lasting impacts on both the landscape of and communities within Santa Cruz County.

Nineteenth Century

In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the population of Santa Cruz steadily increased due to the wealth of natural resources in the county. When it was formed in 1850, the population of Santa Cruz County was 643. A decade later, the county had a population of 4,944 (Swift 2003; Koch 1973). In 1854, gold was discovered and mined in several places in the county, although no large deposits were discovered. In 1868, oil was discovered on the Zayante Rancho and a vein of coal was discovered near Watsonville (Koch 1973). In 1868, the northern county line moved south, and the population in Santa Cruz County was 6,500, not counting Native Americans and Chinese immigrants (Koch 1973). About 30 square miles was annexed into San Mateo County because residents of the area were unable to travel to Santa Cruz during much of the year due to impassable roads.

During the early 1850s, Portuguese whalers settled throughout the Monterey Bay area. By 1855, there were seventeen whaling companies operating in Monterey Bay. Within three years, whalers had processed more than 24,000 barrels of whale oil. During that time in the United States, the entire whaling industry produced between six and ten million barrels of whale oil per year (Robbins 1992). Captain John Davenport founded Davenport as a whaling and lumber shipping settlement in the mid-1860s. Davenport's best year for whaling was 1875 – by then, the Bay had already been intensely harvested for 20 years. Pigeon Point was still a whaling station as late as 1896, but the resource was dwindling and the use of whale oil had already been replaced by the use of kerosene, diminishing demand for whale products (San Joaquin Geologic Society 2002).

By 1861, there were seven school districts in Santa Cruz County. Pupils paid tuition according to the number of days that they attended school and they typically attended school for about three months per year in the sparsely settled areas. In 1865, there were 21 schools in the County, and by 1870 the number of schools had increased to 38 (Koch 1973).

Powder and paper were important early industries for Santa Cruz County. By the late 1860s, there was a powder works and several paper mills in the county. Blasting powder was necessary both for gold miners and for railroad construction. In May 1867, the powder works company was producing 640 25-pound kegs of powder per day. Paper was in great demand to wrap and carry things like eggs, flour, and other necessities bought in quantities for single-family use. In 1866, the San Lorenzo Paper Mill produced 31,000 reams of straw paper, 6,500 reams of newsprint, and 30,000 reams of wrapping paper. In 1867 the mills in the county produced $260,000 worth of wrappings using 500 tons of rags, 300 tons of rope, 1,000 tons of straw, 450 barrels of lime, and 4,000 pounds of acids (Koch 1973).

The forests of the San Lorenzo Valley gave rise to the early timber industry in Santa Cruz County. During the 1840s, the timber industry harvested lumber worth millions of dollars from county forests. In addition to adding directly to the economy, timber harvest benefited the county by increasing the land available for agricultural development – both crops and cattle (Koch 1973). In the 1860s, Santa Cruz and San Mateo Counties supplied most of the lumber shipped to San Francisco. During this time, twenty-two lumber mills in Santa Cruz County produced 11 million board feet of lumber per year. Ten mills operated by water power and 12 by steam. Nine shingle mills produced about 12 million shingles per year during the decade (Koch 1973).

The camp of G. Davidson near the San Lorenzo River, 1884. Photo courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

During the 1860s there were seven tanneries operating in the county producing leather products such as shoe soles and horse and mule harnesses with an approximate value of $225,000 per year. By 1870, there were nine tanneries operating in the county. The most important tannery was Kron Tannery, which in 2003 was still in operation as Salz Leathers, Inc. (Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce 2003). An important factor in the establishment and success of the tanneries in the county was due to the large numbers of tan oaks (Lithocarpus densiflora) in the area. The tan oak bark contains an acid that tans, or softens, leather. The tan oak bark harvest season was May through August or September while the bark was loose. The bark was stripped off of the trees and then hauled on pack mules and loaded into wagons to be transported to the tannery.

In the 1860s, Santa Cruz County possessed prime agricultural lands due to natural geomorphic conditions, the activities of the Ohlone, and the timber harvest performed in the 1840s. Agricultural products at this time consisted primarily of beans, flax, and grains. There were 40,000 acres of rich bottomlands, 50,000 acres of other agricultural land, and 230,000 acres of mountains with redwood, oak, and pine forests (Koch 1973). The rich agricultural soil of the Watsonville area was created during geologic history as sediment originally deposited in the ocean and later exposed as land due to sea level changes (see the Geology section for more information). Much of the previously existing grassland that supported crops and cattle was produced by the natural resource management practices of the Ohlone Indians, who regularly burned scrublands to favor grasses and herbs and certain game animals (see the Native American Occupation – Ohlone section). The county also possessed 50 miles of ocean coastline. By 1878, there were several dairies that had been founded on the marine terraces (see the Geology section for more information) between the Santa Cruz City Limit and the San Mateo County line. By the end of the 1800s, the agriculture industry had become well established. Strawberries, artichokes, brussels sprouts, and flowers were the most common crops (Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce 2003).

The hills around the City of Santa Cruz, gave rise to one of the early important industries – limestone quarries. In the 1870s, Santa Cruz County became famous for is lime production. The limestone industry had expanded to include two quarries at the Henry Cowell Ranch. Several others were established – near Bonny Doon, Felton, and the City of Santa Cruz (Koch 1973). Several of the mines remain open in 2004 (see the Resource Use section for more information). Asphalt was also mined at quarries north of the City of Santa Cruz in the 1870s and 1880s. Miners obtained the material from two layers of bituminous rock – sandstone permeated with asphaltum – lying atop one another. The lower vein produced 'soft' asphalt and the upper vein produced a harder material (Lazure 1923).

The mountains and coast of Santa Cruz County became a tourist destination in the mid-nineteenth century. Secular resorts were established in the mountains in the 1850s. These resorts were first built as hotels that also served as stage stops and post offices, but they expanded as the industry grew (Payne 1978). In the late 1800s, church groups began to find a haven in Santa Cruz County. The Methodists established Pacific Grove in 1875 as a retreat and convention campground. It was the first such meeting place on the west coast and became a model for other denominations. Santa Cruz County tried to attract church groups by offering $3,000 to any group that made a deal with a local landowner (Koch 1973). Many groups liked the area because of the natural diversity – both the coast and the mountains were readily accessible. Five religious retreats, linked by a trolley line, were eventually founded on the coast. Several other religious retreats were established in the mountains (Gibson 1994b). The county was such a popular regional tourist destination that from the 1880s to the early 1900s, campers going into or over the mountains for vacation blocked the roads with back-ups as long as 75 horse-drawn vehicles (Payne 1978)! A picnic railroad line began operations in 1887 to bring day and weekend tourists into the Santa Cruz Mountains (Koch 1973; Payne 1978).

Coopers, or barrel makers, at a lime quarry on the present-day campus of the University of Santa Cruz. The barrels were constructed from redwood harvested from nearby mountains. Photo courtesy of University of California, Santa Cruz, Earth Sciences Department.

Twentieth Century

Tourism became an important industry in Santa Cruz County in the twentieth century. In 1902, Big Basin was established as the first National Park in California. Two residents who were concerned that the redwoods were disappearing – Josephine Clifford McCrackin and Andrew Hill – drove the effort to create the park. The establishment of the park to preserve the beauty of the area and the development of a rail line helped to bring tourists into the County (Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce 2003). It also spurred a burgeoning film industry. From about 1911 to 1930, Santa Cruz County became a hotspot for the film industry due to its varied and beautiful scenery (Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce 2003). In the early 1900s, moonlight dances in the redwood groves were popular with visitors to the resorts. It cost $1.50 for dinner, transportation, and dancing on a platform in the redwoods (Koch 1973).

The County was home to a growing number of automobiles, and in 1911 the State of California issued $18,000,000 in bonds to build intrastate highways between the county seats (Jones 2000). As autos became more widely used in the early twentieth century, tourism in the Santa Cruz Mountains declined. People were now able to visit further destinations like the Grand Canyon and Yosemite .

In 1914, the powder mill moved out of Santa Cruz County to Contra Costa County and Nevada. The move was partly due to technological advances. Nitroglycerin was now used to produce dynamite resulting in a decline in the production of black powder (Koch 1973).

The Unted States joined World War I in 1917. This move bolstered the economy in Santa Cruz due to increased demand for agriculture products and fish. The war, however, raised questions throughout the country about ethnicity, civil rights, and conscription. An increased sense of patriotism resulted in expectations to conform. People were pressured to show their patriotism by buying liberty bonds and volunteering for the Army. Many were reluctant to join, however, and a national draft was enacted in 1917 for all men between ages 21 and 31 (Jones 2000).

During the 1920s, Americans throughout the country turned inward, disillusioned by the war and its outcome. Increased nationalism was the norm and citizens became increasingly isolationist. Groups like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) began to show increased vigor with about 100–150 members in Santa Cruz County . The KKK opposed Catholics, Jews, African-Americans, and immigrants. In particular, racial tensions between Americans of European descent and Chinese immigrants increased during the 1920s. Immigration restrictions in place limited the number of Chinese women who could travel to the United States, and this coupled with the hostility of local citizens caused Chinese men to move to large cities or return to China. A fire in the Pajaro Valley in 1924 destroyed the China Town that had housed agricultural workers. Despite later racial tensions, the Chinese who had settled in Santa Cruz County in the late 1800s performed valuable services to the community – they began the shellfish and abalone industries and were the first to recognize that property containing many willows was sure to be productive farmland. According to one local historian, the Chinese contribution aside from physical labor was to show the Americans the possibilities of the region (Jones 2000).

Salmon caught using rods and reels in Santa Cruz in 1905. Image courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

With Prohibition in the early 1920s, smuggling became an industry along the coast. Most local citizens did not participate in Prohibition and obtained bootleg whiskey and went to speakeasies where liquor was served. The isolated beaches and remote inland locations made Santa Cruz an ideal location for evading law officers.

In the mid-20s, with wartime production over, tourism again became the county's main industry, and extensive development occurred on the coast until the late '20s. The Miss California Pageant was held in the City of Santa Cruz and increased tourism to the area. Although the pageant was controversial due to its display of scantily dressed women, it remained an annual event through 1985 except for a brief hiatus during the late '20s and early '30s.

During the late 1920s and into the '30s, development projects such as bridge, sidewalk, and road construction halted due to the effects of the Great Depression. The demand for agriculture products and fish decreased and anti-immigrant feelings were aroused and now directed against Filipino crop workers in the Pajaro Valley. Refugees from the Midwestern Dust Bowl flooded into California looking for work, competing for already scarce jobs. The result of the excess labor was decreasing wages and increasing tensions between growers and workers (Jones 2000). To address the national unemployment problem, the federal government ran the Works Progress Administration (WPA) from 1935–1943. The WPA funded local projects to provide employment and to develop infrastructure throughout the United States. In Santa Cruz County, some of the projects included the completion of the Valencia Bridge in 1935, improvements and additions to the Division of Forestry headquarters in Felton in 1938, the City of Santa Cruz Corp Yard in 1939, roads, bridges, sidewalks, paths, boardwalks throughout the county in 1941, and the construction of the Scotts Valley School building in 1941 (Koch 1973).

In 1936, a group of local teens brought surfing to Santa Cruz County when they learned how to build boards and surf from some young men visiting from Southern California (Lehman 2000). In 1938, the youths formed a formal surf club, and to this day surfing is an important part of the beach culture of Santa Cruz. The surf club was disbanded with the advent of World War II in 1943. More information about past and present surfing in Santa Cruz County is available at the Surfing Museum (City of Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation 2003).

With the entry of the United States into World War II in 1941, military presence increased throughout the county. Military bases were constructed around Monterey Bay and the Navy upgraded the Watsonville airport to use as a wartime air station. Tourist facilities were also used for military service. The use of the new installations brought people from throughout the United States to Santa Cruz County with long-lasting effects. Years later, enlisted individuals who had been introduced to the beauty and mild climate of the area during the war returned to settle and raise families.

For residents of Santa Cruz County, the war resulted in food and gas rationing, blackouts, and labor shortages. Japanese, Italian and German immigrants were discriminated against, both in the form of local restrictions and more broadly in terms of public sentiment. Japanese immigrants, whether citizens or not, were eventually rounded up and sent to internment camps in the interior (Jones 2000).

Demand for non-perishable wartime goods stimulated an increase in the food processing industry, and facilities were constructed to keep up with demand. After the war, food processing remained an important industry for the Watsonville area. Post-war, production of strawberries and other perishable goods increased; in 1949, the 235 acres of strawberries in the county yielded $823,000 (Jones 2000).

In the 1950s, home and school construction continued to grow to match the growing population. The population of the county increased 21 percent during the 1950s – from 66,534 in the early part of the decade to 84,219 in the late '50s. Although it was greatly scaled down from the 19th century, the timber industry regained importance and tourism was still an important industry (Jones 2000). Two new industries included petroleum and electronics. Oil wells were drilled in Aptos, and other wells were installed around the county, but none of them were very productive (see the Resource Use section for more information) (Koch 1973). The electronics industry, which had been growing in the Santa Clara Valley due to Cold War tensions, began to spill over into Santa Cruz County.

In 1955, a flood occurred in downtown Santa Cruz and the San Lorenzo Valley. In Santa Cruz, nearly all businesses were damaged, many extensively. Homes were swept away or severely damaged, and county roads were closed. The final cost of the flood was $7,500,000. The flood caused a renewed interest in the ongoing ten-year-old plan for a flood control project and led to the redevelopment of downtown Santa Cruz (Jones 2000).

The 1960s were politically turbulent across the nation as the youth of the day openly challenged the policies and practices of their elders. The University of California at Santa Cruz opened in 1965 and locally, students joined in at protests. The university was to be an experimental university, with more personal interaction between professors and students, and so attracted liberal professors and students. These newcomers to the county changed county politics by supporting liberal positions and using research by the University's Community Studies and Environmental Studies Departments to support their positions. Perhaps due to a combination of the flood in '55 and the challenges and excitement of the new university, Santa Cruz County was the first county in California to complete the state-mandated county general plan in the early '60s (Jones 2000).

During the 1970s, the county's population and economic base continued to increase. The electronics boom in nearby Santa Clara County now focused on high technology and the associated growth of electronics in Santa Cruz County continued (Jones 2000). In 1973, the population of Santa Cruz County was 121,700. The main industries were agriculture, electronics, metalworking, leather, industrial products, and tourism. The county's main agricultural products were apples, berries, mushrooms, and flowers (Koch 1973).

The pro-growth attitude in the County changed during the 1970s to one more concerned with quality of life and environmental stewardship. The consequences of rapid, unrestrained development were apparent in the pollution levels in Monterey Bay, the San Lorenzo River, and Carbonero and Branciforte Creeks. A growing environmental awareness that had begun throughout the nation in the 1960s led to policy development in Santa Cruz County that protected the environment. Much land was protected from development by purchase from private and public agencies, donations to State Parks, and land trust designations (Jones 2000). Additionally, in 1978, Santa Cruz county voters approved Measure J, a growth management plan that required that new growth be directed into existing urban areas and that commercially productive agricultural lands be maintained for agricultural uses (see the Resource Use section for more information) (Patton 2003).

During the 1980s, high tech firms continued to grow and prosper although several natural disasters disrupted life in the county. Extensive wildfires burned much of the Santa Cruz Mountains in 1985 and earthquakes in 1982 and 1989 caused severe damage. Much of the 1990s was spent recovering from the disasters in the '80s. Reconstruction – including the rebuilding of both Watsonville and Santa Cruz downtowns – was largely complete by 1999. Natural disturbances hit again in the 1990s with several freezes in 1990 that caused losses of $3,500,000, droughts in the early '90s, and El Nino related mudslides and floods during 1997 and 1998 (Jones 2000).

Local Histories

Certain communities within Santa Cruz County gained importance at an early stage in Santa Cruz history and remain locally important. These communities include Capitola, Davenport, Santa Cruz, Watsonville, and Zayante. Brief histories of each community are given below.

Capitola
The area that would later become Capitola was contained in the Soquel Rancho that was granted to Maria Castro. In 1851, Frederick Hihn – a German Immigrant who was very involved in developing the County's early industry – established what would later become the City of Capitola on land he'd obtained from the Castro family. The beach in Capitola became a busy point for shipping timber and agricultural goods. The first wharf was built in 1857 and a community of Italian fishermen settled in the area. By the mid-1860s, improvements to roads brought increased tourism. In 1869, Stuart Hall leased the beach from Hihn and created the first resort on the Pacific Coast. The official opening of Camp Capitola occurred on July 4, 1874 and coincided with the completion of passenger service on the Santa Cruz-Watsonville railway. Hihn built the railroad and bypassed Soquel to ensure Capitola's rapid growth (Gibson 1994a). In 1882, lots were subdivided and offered for sale in Capitola although most of the land remained in private ownership through 1927 (Swift 2003). Throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s, Capitola was a resort tourist destination. In 1894, the Hotel Capitola was one of the top seven coastal resorts in California (Gibson 1994a). Capitola incorporated as a city in January 1949 (Swift 2003).

Davenport
Davenport began as Davenport Landings, a whaling and lumber shipping settlement founded by Captain John Davenport. Its peak as a whaling center occurred in 1875, by which time the settlement contained three hotels. By the early 1890s, the shipping and fishing industries had dwindled and the population declined. During Prohibition in the 1920s, however, Davenport Landing became a good place for smuggling illegal liquor. In the early 1900s, cement production and dairy were the two main industries in Davenport. In 1906, the Davenport Landing holdings were sold to the Portland Cement Company for $400,000, and in 1907 the name was changed to Davenport (Koch 1973). The Portland Cement Company operations made use of lime quarried locally, and the community's population increased to support the new industry. In 1955, Davenport residents called a public meeting to discuss problems with the dust generated by the cement plant. The dust settled on crops, the interiors of homes, on clothing, in lawnmowers, and cars. Forty-two residents eventually filed lawsuits worth more than $1,000,000 – these were settled out of court in 1941 (Koch 1973). Today, Davenport remains an unincorporated village (allRefer.com 2000).

City of Santa Cruz
In 1849, Elihu Anthony started the first commercial enterprise in the future City of Santa Cruz, a mercantile store. He next built a foundry – the third on the Pacific Coast. The foundry produced items like plows, miner's picks, copper kettles, and cook stoves (Koch 1973). Frederick Hihn, another entrepreneur, also owned a mercantile store in the City of Santa Cruz. In 1851, Hihn founded Capitola and later built its wharf. He was instrumental in the construction of a railroad between the City of Santa Cruz and Watsonville. Hihn had a profit motive for constructing the railway – to expand the production of local mills that he owned (Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce 2003).

In 1850, the City of Santa Cruz – then known as the Mission (see History Section ) – was considered a major shipping port. Farming still occurred in the vicinity. In 1852, an increase in potato prices at the gold mines caused an increase in the population in the Pajaro Valley and around the community of Santa Cruz where potatoes were easily cultivated. During the 1850s, the large ranchos were still intact and beef hides and tallow were still important commodities. The 1850s were a period of squatters and property loss by the rancho owners (Koch 1973). In 1856, wells were no longer sufficient to provide drinking water, and so reservoirs were built and water piped to the city through hollowed-out redwood logs. Also in 1856, the first two real estate subdivisions in the future City of Santa Cruz were laid out.

In 1848, a First Methodist Church was established in the city, and many others quickly followed it. The first services for the Episcopal Church were held in 1862, and in 1864 the Episcopal Church was built. The fourth Congregational Church to be founded in California was founded in Santa Cruz in 1851 and its church was built in 1858. In 1857, the Southern Baptist Convention sent the Reverend West to Santa Cruz to found the town's first Baptist Church. In 1867, the Baptist Church was built. The First Christian Church was established in 1884 and built its Tabernacle in 1890. With so many places dedicated to Christian worship, it is not surprising that California's temperance movement started in Santa Cruz in 1848. In 1861, Temperance Hall was built. The Christian Science Church was founded in 1897 (Koch 1973).

In 1857, a second wharf was built (Koch 1973). The owners of the lime factory had purchased the first wharf – which had been a steep chute to slide potato sacks into rowboats – and modified it into a structure for tramcars. Gravity pushed the tramcars down the track and horse-power was used to pull them back up. By 1860, the community of Santa Cruz had a population of 800 and lime manufacture was beginning to become an important industry. Large-scale timber production in the region and the tannery in the City of Santa Cruz were also economically important (Koch 1973). In 1862, the community of Santa Cruz had telegraph. California Powder Works, the powder company, built a wharf in 1863. By 1868, bricks made in Santa Cruz County were produced by one of three kilns in or near the Town of Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz was incorporated as a town in 1866 and as a city in 1876 (City of Santa Cruz 2003).

During the 1850s and 1860s, most of the fishermen in the community of Santa Cruz were Chinese laborers who had formerly worked on the railroads. During the 1860s, the Portuguese began a whaling industry and in the mid-1870s, Italian fishermen settled in the area. A Spanish family had commercial fishing operations in the 1860s, but commercial operations were never very large, even when fishing was at its peak. By the 1870s, fisheries were declining (Koch 1973).

In the 1860s, beach tourism began in Santa Cruz. In 1868, John Leibrandt built a commercial bathhouse, swimming pool, and entertainment house. This enterprise was combined with another establishment in 1893 to become a bathhouse with an indoor seawater pool. A railway spur was completed in 1876 that connected Santa Cruz to Watsonville, Gilroy, and Felton to provide reliable transportation for tourists. In 1884, the first roller coaster was built at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, which was being developed by Frank Stanton to rival New York's Coney Island (Lehman 2000).

In 1886, exports from Santa Cruz included 55,000 pounds of flour and 6000 board feet of lumber and wooden items. By the late 1800s, intense logging had severely depleted timber resources. A nationwide economic depression in the 1890s contributed to the decline of the timber industry. The lime and powder production industries – both heavily dependent on timber supply to provide fuel for processing – underwent a similar decline. An early movement toward preserving the remaining big redwood trees helped to contribute to the growing tourism industry. In the 1880s, the first telephones were installed in the city and in 1889 or 1890, the City first obtained electric power (Lehman 2000; Koch 1973). According to Koch (1973), in 1889 Fred Swanton, a local entrepreneur, developed the first incandescent lighting system in the State of California for Santa Cruz and Watsonville. Power was provided by burning lumber from the nearby mountains.

Although the timber industry was decreasing because the readily obtainable timber was exhausted, there was still a steady supply of lumber. The San Vicente Lumber Mill was built in 1907 on the outskirts of the City of Santa Cruz. It was the last running lumber mill in the county and was closed in 1923. As the timber industry and the port declined in the 1890s, the importance of tourism to Santa Cruz increased. In 1894, the City of Santa Cruz received its first national recognition as a vacation getaway when it was featured in Harper's Weekly. Hotels and motels began to be constructed for long-term visitors (Lehman 2000).

By the early 1900s, the major industries in the City of Santa Cruz were logging, lime processing, agriculture, commercial fishing, and resort tourism (City of Santa Cruz 2003). Local entrepreneur Fred Swanton promoted Santa Cruz as a tourist destination with a marching band that he took throughout California (Lehman 2000). By 1912, The Santa Cruz Seaside Company had acquired the Santa Cruz Boardwalk and created several new attractions, some of which were still in operation in 2000. The entertainment industry declined during the Depression due to gasoline rations and travel restrictions. To maintain customers, the Boardwalk has had to change its focus. It has been successful both in creating programs like its summer weekend water carnivals in the 1930s and in performing major renovations in the 1950s and in 1981, and continues to be enjoyed by visitors in 2004 (Lehman 2000).

The present-day Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf was built in 1914 (Koch 1973). Also in 1914, a nursery in Live Oak was the largest grower and shipper of bulbs in the world. In the 1970s, the company was still the largest begonia bulb center, but they moved their operations to Monterey County. During the early 1900s, raising poultry became a growing industry, but by 1965 it had dwindled and residential area had increased.

In 1957, the University of California at Santa Cruz was founded and development began in 1961. The university was built partly on land donated to Santa Cruz County by Henry Cowell. The policy for university lands stated that the site would be respected and preserved as much as possible (Koch 1973). In 1973, the City of Santa Cruz had a population of 34,500 (Koch 1973).

Watsonville
What would later become Watsonville in the Pajaro Valley was contained within a land grant made to Sebastian Rodriquez in 1837. The 5,500-acre Rancho de la Bolsa de Pajaro was granted to Rodriquez with the understanding that it would be stocked with cattle. The cattle were raised more for hides and tallow – which were legal tender – than for beef. In 1852, an increase in potato prices at the gold mines caused an increase in the population in the Pajaro Valley. By 1860, the community of Watsonville had a telegraph and a population of 460. In 1879, Watsonville and the surrounding Pajaro Valley were producing commercial apples, apricots, pears, currants, blackberries, and still grain. Watsonville was incorporated as a village in 1868 and as a city in 1903 (Koch 1973).

Agricultural crops were initially barley, wheat, and potatoes during the settlement by Americans after the gold rush. The first orchards – apple, apricot, pear, peach – were planted in the mid-1850s and the first commercial orchards were in place by 1858. By 1860, about 60 acres was cultivated as apple orchards and a decade later, about 250 acres was cultivated as apple orchards. By 1887, the industry was so well established that exports of apples were being sent to Europe (Koch 1973).

By the early 1900s, there were 1,780 acres of orchards in the Pajaro Valley and they produced one third of California's total apple crop. Complimentary industries like vinegar and dried fruit production thrived. S. Martinelli and Company was established in 1868 to make cider and in 2003 the company was famous for its sparkling ciders (Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce 2003). By 1910, 14,000 acres of apple orchards were cultivated in the Pajaro Valley. Years of poor apple crops and the availability of new fruit and vegetable crops cause acreage of apple orchards to decrease through the 1900s – by 1966, there were only 7,575 acres of apple orchards remaining.

Zayante
Zayante was the county's first important economic center because it was the site of the first power sawmill. During its prosperous early days, there was also a gristmill and a liquor distillery. The area later contained a settlement of cabins through the Mount Hermon and Henry Cowell Redwood Park areas (Koch 1973).

References

allRefer.com. 2000. Davenport, California, United States [Web page] [cited January 5, 2004]. View on-line source.

City of Santa Cruz. 2003. History of Santa Cruz, About Santa Cruz [Web page] [cited December 18, 2003]. View on-line source.

City of Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation. 2003. Santa Cruz Surfing Museum [Web page] [cited January 6, 2004]. View on-line source.

Gibson, R.E. 1993. Vanished resort's glory days recalled. San Jose Mercury News, May 4, 1993. View on-line source.

Gibson, R.E. 1994a. Capitola Hotel's heyday. San Jose Mercury News, June 14, 1994. View on-line source.

Gibson, R.E. 1994b. Church groups found a haven in Santa Cruz in the 1800s. San Jose Mercury News, August 16, 1994. View on-line source.

Jones, D. 2000. Santa Cruz County: A century. Santa Cruz Sentinel Online Edition. View on-line source.

Koch, M. 1973. Santa Cruz County Parade of the Past. Santa Cruz, CA: Otter B Books.

Lazure, C.M. 1923. "Mineral Survey of Santa Cruz County Bituminous Rock." Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce. Annual Report. View on-line source.

Lehman, S. 2000. "Fully Developed Context Statement for the City of Santa Cruz: Chapter 3, Context I: Economic Development of the City of Santa Cruz 1850 - 1950 Resort and Recreation Development." City of Santa Cruz Planning and Development Department. pp. 14-19. View on-line source.

Payne, S.M. 1978. Resorts in the Summit Road Area, 1850 -1906. In A Howling Wilderness: A History of the Summit Road Area of the Santa Cruz Mountains 1850-1906. Santa Cruz, CA: Loma Prieta Publishing Co. View on-line source.

Robbins, J.S. 1992. How capitalism saved the whales. The Freeman (August 1992). View on-line source.

San Joaquin Geological Society. 2002. California Comes of Age: Kern County Oil Industry [Web page] [cited 2003]. View on-line source.

Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce. 2003. History [Web page] [cited December 18, 2003]. View on-line source.

Swift, C. 2003. About Capitola. City of Capitola [Web page] [cited January 6, 2004]. View on-line source.

General Reference

Brewster, E., and R. Grossinger. 2001. "Land Use Timeline for Crow Canyon and the San Lorenzo Creek Watershed." San Francisco Estuary Institute. 6 pp. View document (PDF).

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