History of Santa Cruz, California

A Brief History of Santa Cruz

For centuries, Santa Cruz industry has been as diverse as it has been innovative. Santa Cruz County is not only a tourist destination, but also a place of new inventions and ideas which have been preserved through numerous natural disasters and changing economic times.

One of the earliest known "industries" in Santa Cruz was the exporting of abalone shells by the Ohlone Indians. The mother-of-pearl shell was used for a variety of objects, including fish hooks, jewelry and strings of indian currency, and was so plentiful in the coastal waters that the Ohlones named their main village Autinta, "Place of Red Abalone."

But the native Ohlones were eventually Christianized by Spanish missionaries, who established Mission Santa Cruz in 1791. The Indians provided the labor needed to run the mission, cultivating the crops of beans, wheat, barley, corn, and peas, and tending the cattle. Not only did the cattle supply meat for the people living at the mission, but also tallow for candle and soap making, and hides for leather products.

After Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, the missions were secularized, and the pueblo of Branciforte, founded approximately one mile east of the mission, became the heart of what is now known as the city of Santa Cruz. The Mexican government also handed out many land grants, and more than a dozen ranchos were established, drawing settlers from the east.

 

Pacific Avenue changed a great deal between the 1890s and the 1940s, as these two photgraphs reveal.

One of these settlers, Paul Sweet, built the area's first tannery in 1843. This laid the foundation for the tanning industry in Santa Cruz, and by 1870 there were nine operating tanneries, chief of which was Kron Tannery, which more recently known as Salz Leathers, Inc until they closed in 2001.

Shortly after California became part of the United States in 1848, hundreds of people traveled west in search of gold. But some men found they could make more money splitting lumber than panning for gold, and the timer business quickly boomed; from 1884 to 1892, Valencia Mill produced anywhere between 30,000 and 70,000 board feet per day.

One man who did take advantage of the gold rush was Elihu Anthony. He built the area's first foundry in 1848, casting picks for gold and iron plows for farmers. But he is better known for instigating the move of the commercial center of Santa Cruz to its current location downtown, as well as building the first wharf in Santa Cruz.

Another influential settler, Frederick A. Hihn, opened a mercantile store in Santa Cruz in 1851. After accumulating a fortune, he founded Capitola and built its wharf. He was also instrumental in the construction of a rail line between Santa Cruz and Watsonville, expanding the production of the local mills which he owned.

The agricultural industry took root toward the end of the 1800s as strawberries, artichokes, brussels sprouts and flowers quickly became common crops of the area. Pajaro Valley's apples were gaining popularity, which prompted the founding of cider producers S. Martinelli & Company in 1868, a company which is still famous for its sparking cider to this day. At the turn of the century, Pajaro Valley's orchards handled thirty-four percent of California's total apple yield, also creating the subsequent production of vinegar and dried fruit.

Many of the early industries in Santa Cruz were based on natural resources, but by the end of the nineteenth century those resources began to dwindle, particularly redwood trees. Journalist Josephine Clifford McCrackin and photographer Andrew Hill fought to halt the devastation of the forests, and in 1902 succeeded in establishing Big Basin as California's first state park.

This, coupled with the newly constructed railroad, began to draw tourists away from costly Monterey up to more affordable resorts in Santa cruz County. No one prompted Santa Cruz as a prime tourist spot more than Fred Swanton, who traveled all over California to attract visitors to the area. It was he who, in 1907, built the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, complete with casino, indoor swimming pool and extended boardwalk. Around this time, beachgoers would have also watched Hawaiian surfer Duke Kahanamoku catch waves off the Santa Cruz coast as he traveled the world in order to introduce the sport of surfing.

With redwood forests and sparkling coastline within such proximity of each other, Santa Cruz became the location to shoot films from about 1911 to 1930. A movie studio was even built at DeLaveaga Park in 1916 in response to the surge in filmamking, and Hollywood celebrities soon called Santa Cruz home. This included actress ZaSu Pitts, a Santa Cruz High graduate, who appeared in more than 500 films in her career.

 

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