Car Stops: Laveaga

When the United States annexed California in 1848, what became Santa Cruz County was a mix of Mexican land grants, Catholic mission property, and untamed wilderness. Yet the area later known as DeLaveaga Park, Laveaga Heights, or the De Laveaga Park & Golf Course was none of these things. It was a scrubby meadow on a hill between Branciforte Creek and Arana Gulch that had been mission land until it was secularized by the Mexican government in the 1830s. After this, it remained only partially developed under a succession of American landowners including George and Sarah Smith, Edmund and Harriet Dove, William and Aurilla Jameson, Robert and S. E. McIntyre, Charles and Frank George, Hannah Avery, Paul and Margaret Sweet, John and Annie Turner, John H. B. Pilkington, Alfred and Sara Lee Hinds, and Henry and Lizzie Call. Beginning on September 19, 1887, all of this began to change.

Picnickers climbing up the hill from the Union Traction Company's Pacheco Avenue stop in Laveaga Park, with car no. 17 heading back to Santa Cruz, ca 1915. [Randolph Brandt – colorized using DeOldify]

José Vincent de Laveaga is a surprisingly unknown man despite the fact that he had an entire 565-acre park named after him. He was born in Rosaria, Sinaloa, México on August 10, 1844, the son of José Vicente de Laveaga Gurruchátegui and Dolores Aguirre. When he was about 20 years old, he and his brothers travelled to Germany to study to become merchants. They returned to México around 1868 and the family then moved to San Francisco, where de Laveaga lived for the rest of his life. De Laveaga never married, was almost entirely deaf, and led a somewhat eccentric, though charitable, life until his death at the age of 50 on August 14, 1894. His land in Santa Cruz County was valued at $81,500 at the time.

José Vicente de Laveaga II, ca 1880. [E. I. de Laveaga – colorized using Deoldify]

De Laveaga likely bought property in Santa Cruz County for the same reason that most San Franciscans did: to have a nearby scenic retreat away from home and work. He may have chosen the year 1887 to begin because of a drop in property prices that year caused by a brief recession. Further recessions over the next five years undoubtedly helped him expand his holdings on the grassy hill that overlooked the Monterey Bay. At the time, there was little commercial interest in East Santa Cruz other than farming and ranching. The area was struggling to grow in population and needed something to spark it into life.

Map of J. V. de Laveaga Heights, 1888. [Santa Cruz GIS and Historic Maps]

When De Laveaga moved in, he immediately set to work carving out roads and bridle paths throughout his ever-growing property. In the first year, he planted orchards and a vineyard using both local workers and Mexican laborers. A former employee of de Laveaga's, C. D. Stocking, later said: "There was a vineyard of several acres on the south slope of LaCorona [today's Top of the World frisbee golf goal] and just east of the naval training center buildings was an orange and lemon grove of several acres. All that remains of it now is the row of cypress which was the windbreak. The eucalyptus which now have reseeded on the south side of the park and all the pine trees were planted by him or have reseeded from the originals." De Laveaga also planted olive and citrus trees, prickley pear, and various other fruit trees on the south slope of his property above modern Prospect Heights. Several of these trees still survive dotted among the eucalyptus and native bushes.

Painting of a tree in Delaveaga Park by Lorenzo Palmer Latimer, 1913. [Artnet]

The park was more than just trails and trees, though. He had a large farmhouse and stables for his horses. He planted an exotic garden filled with plants from around the world. He invited the public to his property frequently, where they could picnic, hike, and enjoy the views of the bay and city. Indeed, even though he was deaf and it was difficult for him to make friends, he loved hosting people and attempted to remember every person that he met. De Laveaga named most roads, trails, and geographic features after Spanish words, including El Pico, Castaña, Linda Vista, El Castillo, Buen Retiro, and Miramar.

View of East Side Santa Cruz from Laveaga Heights, 1910s. [Santa Cruz Sentinel – colorized using DeOldify]

When De Laveaga died in 1894, having only enjoyed his property in Santa Cruz for a few years, he made several valuable bequests to organizations throughout the state. His major intended contribution to Santa Cruz County was a 50-acre home for the deaf, blind, and disabled on Laveaga Heights, but state laws limited the amount he could donate upon dealth and the project was canned. Fortunately, the donation of the rest of the property was allowed and City and County of Santa Cruz became the beneficiary of a massive tract of partially-developed parkland on the East Side. After six years of litigation with members of the de Laveaga family, the transfer to the county was finalized in 1900, after which a joint management arrangement was made with the city.

A pergola at Laveaga Park, ca 1920. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries – colorized using DeOldify]

Almost immediately after acquiring possession of the property, the city transferred 120 acres to the United States government for use as a National Guard armory. Over the next few years, the park was developed very slowly, with neither the city nor the county certain what to do with it. Several prominent locals suggested turning it into a park akin to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. This would include hotels and restaurants, playgrounds, gardens, tennis courts, a golf course, statues and fountains, an aviary and zoo, and other related amenities. It was a bold plan but the county could not justify or finance it, even with the influx of tourists coming annually to the Santa Cruz Main Beach following the opening of the Boardwalk in 1904.

Advertisement for property in the Laveaga Park tract, 1908. [Daniel Modal]

In 1905, the City of Santa Cruz annexed the former pueblo of Branciforte—essentially the part of Santa Cruz east of the San Lorenzo River to Arana Gulch. The next year, Patrick Morrissey subdivided his land on the East Side and a large portion of it came under the control of John Martin, newly-elected president of the Union Traction Company. He hoped that the tract between the County Road (Soquel Avenue) and Laveaga Park would become prime real estate and formed the Laveaga Realty Company in December 1907 to begin selling parcels. The company named the new subdivision the Laveaga Park Tract, inextricably linking it to the adjacent city park. To get to the new properties, the company decided to extend the Union Traction streetcar network to the northeast of the city—but this task would prove more difficult than planned.

Union Traction car #30 heading into Laveaga Park, February 1913. [Santa Cruz Public Library – colorized using DeOldify]

In August 1907, the Santa Cruz Common Council approved the construction of a streetcar franchise from the Lower Plaza to Laveaga Heights via Water Street, Morrissey Avenue, and Fairmount Avenue. This project required a new dedicated bridge over the San Lorenzo River beside the Water Street bridge. Grading and bridge construction began in early October but quickly stalled due to the financial crisis that struck late that year. Ten months later, Union Traction resumed construction on the line. Because the work was slow, the company resorted to using horses to move cars between Soquel and Prospect Heights from October 1908 while construction continued on the remaining section of track into the park. With the electrification of the Laveaga Branch completed on July 2, 1910, East Santa Cruz entered a new era of growth.

Union Traction car no. 17 speeding down Morrisey Boulevard toward Laveaga Park, ca 1915. [Vernon J. Sappers – colorized using DeOldify]

Like most of the East Santa Cruz streetcar line, there was only a single track into Laveaga Park. As a result, there were actually two stops for Laveaga: one at the bottom of the hill at Martin Boulevard (today, the Morrissey-Highway 1 interchange), and one further north at the end of Pacheco Avenue. Martin Boulevard was the last passing zone before entering the park, so if a streetcar was already in the park, the car at Martin would unload there and people would walk into the park. If the line was clear, then the car could continue into the park, triggering a semaphore along the way that would signal other cars that the line was occupied.

An American bison at the Santa Cruz Municipal Zoo at Laveaga Park, 1920s. [Skip Littlefield]

With the streetcar now bringing tourists and locals into Laveaga Park, the next step was adding amenities to keep people coming. Other than de Laveaga's former gardens and trails, the park did not have many features. A pergola near the current golf clubhouse was the main destination but little else was there yet. Thus, in September 1915, a pair of elk and bison were brought in as the first animals in a bold, new Santa Cruz Municipal Zoo. Over subsequent years, many more animals were added including wildcats (bobcats or cougars), deer, foxes, racoon, a monkey, two brown bears, two grey wolves, and even a kangaroo. Most animals arrived at the zoo as adolescents and grew up in captivity. The zoo also saw its fair share of escapes, with one of the bears and both of the wolves disappearing into the wilderness to the north. Meanwhile, the kangaroo was killed by a wild cougar and the bull bison died from a fall when it was being moved out of the park in 1933.

The Santa Cruz Zoo's remaining brown bear attempting to eat the bars of its enclosure, 1920s. [Skip Littlefield]

Despite the addition of the zoo, the park did not grow substantially during the war years. An athletic field and running track were added in late 1911 but plans for a golf course were likely shelved when the Casa del Rey Golf & Country Club opened that same year. The Pasatiempo Golf Club, which opened in 1929, further delayed any plans for a golf course in Laveaga Park. Nonetheless, people did come to the park, especially in the summer. Streetcar traffic was strong with cars departing every 20 minutes from the Pacific Avenue and Water Street exchange. During the winter, only one car ran to Laveaga in a continuous 30 minute circuit.

Conductor McNamera with a girl at a stop on the Laveaga Branch, 1920s. [Nancy Lucking Sedon – colorized using DeOldify]

The end of the war prompted the growth of the Laveaga Park Tract and the surrounding neighborhoods, but the park did not change with the times and the rapid increase of automobiles on the roads led to declining use of the streetcars to the park. In March 1924, Union Traction petitioned and received approval from the State Railroad Commission to abandon the Laveaga Branch. In September, the Santa Cruz Common Council also gave its approval for abandonment. Giving up the branch to De Laveaga was not done due to low traffic along the branch, although that surely was a factor, but rather to avoid a requirement to pave all of the roads that the streetcar company used as a right-of-way. The last streetcar ran to the park on December 8, 1924 and buses began servicing the former streetcar station at Pacheco the next day.

Oil well at DeLaveaga Park, 1926. [Frances Lausen Totten Collection, Santa Cruz Public Libraries – colorized using DeOldify]

The removal of the streetcar line did little to change the park's development plan. Attempts to drill for oil in the mid-1920s turned up only water. Meanwhile, the zoo closed in 1933 due to costs and its animals were given away to locals. The thirteen acres that had once been the zoo were leased to the United States Naval Reserve for a post. The Naval reserve was abandoned in 1972 but the National Guard armory remained in use until the early 2000s. Other changes to the park included the relocation of the 1894 Branciforte Creek Covered Bridge to the park, the brief establishment of three movie sets in the 1920s and 1930s, the addition of an amphitheatre, and the brief installation of a motocross course. The lower portion of the park on either side of Pacheco Avenue was subdivided into housing with a section turned into DeLaveaga Elementary School on September 30, 1966.

Large picnic gathering at DeLaveaga Park, 1920s. [Frances Lausen Totten Collection, Santa Cruz Public Libraries – colorized using Deoldify]

By 1970, the current form of DeLaveaga Park was taking shape. In that year, the long-planned 18-hole golf course was finally opened alongside an enlarged water treatment plant, designated public parking areas, and a public shooting range. At the same time, several poorly-maintained roads and trails were abandoned or repaired. More recently, an expansive frisbee golf course and an archery range have been added. Today, there are still several walking and hiking trails throughout the park, as well a soccer and softball field, picnic areas, and other hidden treasures. While de Laveaga's vision for the property was never fully realized, it has nonetheless entertained and excited the public for well over as century.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
Approx. 36.9973N, 122.0017W

Subsequent developments at DeLaveaga Park have almost entirely replaced the layout of the original property, including its approaches and the streetcar right-of-way. The original entryway and streetcar route once continued from the turn on Prospect Heights Road where the Old Vineyard Trailhead is now located. An old stone entry plinth and an overgrown access road now mark the location.

Citations & Credits:

• Clark, Donald. Santa Cruz County Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary. Second edition. Santa Cruz, CA: Museum of Art & History, 2007.
• McCaleb, Charles. Surf, Sand & Streetcars: A Mobile History of Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz, CA: Museum of Art & History, 2005.
• Modal, Daniel. "Origins of the East Morrisey Neighborhood," History of the East Morrisey Neighborhood, 2014.
• Pumphrey, Ron. "How about a bit of history about the Delaveaga Park?" Santa Cruz Waves, 06/10/2014.
• Smith, Mildred. "DeLaveaga Park Donor Still Enigma," Santa Cruz Sentinel, 10/23/1966, p21, 22:1-5.

Streetcars: Union Traction Company

Monopolism was in the air in the early 1900s and all the hip capitalists were trying their darnedest to become the next big thing. John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company dominated the petroleum industry. E. I. du Pont de Nemours ruled over the explosives market. And E. H. Harriman had just accomplished the impossible by merging the Union Pacific Railroad with the Southern Pacific Railroad. Even the tiny county of Santa Cruz was not immune from the monopolistic fervour. Between 1881 and 1887, all of the county's railroads were consolidated into Southern Pacific, with their gauges finally unifying in 1909. But the rival streetcar systems were still a mess. Enter the Union Traction Company.

Union Traction #2 at the Santa Cruz Union Depot beside a Southern Pacific mail car, ca 1910. [University of California, Santa Cruz, Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

Incorporated September 2, 1904, Union Traction was created with the specific purpose of consolidating the two electric streetcar systems that operated in downtown Santa Cruz. The older of the two firms, the Santa Cruz Electric Railway, had been running for just over a decade and for most of that time held a monopoly on motor transportation between the Lower Plaza at the northern end of Pacific Avenue and the Santa Cruz Beach, with additional trackage to the Upper Plaza, Garfield Park, and Vue de l'Eau. The younger company was the Santa Cruz, Capitola & Watsonville Railway, founded in 1902, which intended to connect the Santa Cruz Beach to Capitola via a line that clung to the coast. This company was well-funded and well-connected, which allowed it to gain trackage rights to Pacific Avenue and the beach, presenting a direct rival to the Santa Cruz Electric. The rivalry was never going to last long.

Two Santa Cruz Electric Railway streetcars on the esplanade outside the newly-opened Neptune Casino with the Santa Cruz, Capitola and Watsonville Railway tracks at far right with a car parked beside the casino in the distance, 1904. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections — colorized using DeOldify]

Even as construction began on the new electric streetcar line to Capitola, backroom deals were being negotiated between the two companies and several related firms. Fred Swanton, who had a long-term interest in the Santa Cruz Electric but had jumped ship to the Capitola line, was investing heavily in his Neptune Casino and Tent City complex at the beach. He wanted a fluid, functional streetcar system to bring people to the beach from the Santa Cruz Union Depot and elsewhere.

An electric Monterey & Pacific Grove Railway Company car near Pacific Grove, ca 1902. [Mayo Hayes O'Donnell Library – colorized using DeOldify]

Meanwhile, John M. Gardiner, vice president and general manager of the Capitola line, was busy acquiring new properties for the company. His partners also owned the Monterey & Pacific Grove Railway and wanted to expand it. Meanwhile, they merged various power companies that they controlled to create the Monterey County Gas & Electric Company, thereby expanding their power and influence in the region. Together, Swanton and Gardiner wanted to extend the Capitola streetcar line over the San Lorenzo River to cut the distance to Capitola by around three miles.

One of three locally-built electric locomotives used by the Ocean Shore Railway in San Francisco, 1907. [Walter Rice Collection, Cable Car Guy – colorized using DeOldify]

At the same time that Swanton and Gardiner were advocating for new streetcar projects, the Ocean Shore Railway Company, led by Big Creek Power Company president John Q. Packard, was incorporated, with many speculating that it planned to take over either or both streetcar lines in order to build a railroad route across the Santa Cruz County. In June 1904, the company was granted by the Board of Supervisors for permission to build the line but no further action was taken at this time.

San Jose–Los Gatos Interurban Railway Company #2, ca 1902.

Rumors reached a fever pitch soon afterwards when it was revealed that F. S. Granger was moving to Santa Cruz. Granger had been responsible for building the San Jose–Los Gatos Interurban Company and had agitated for an interconnected network of streetcar and interurban lines spanning the breadth and width of the Santa Clara Valley, potentially connecting to existing lines south of San Francisco. However, in early 1904, the Southern Pacific Railroad announced plans to build a rival streetcar line and Granger sold his stake in the firm to the larger company to avoid competition. On June 22, the Santa Cruz Surf speculated that Granger would take over as president of the Santa Cruz Electric at the annual general meeting. The next day, the Santa Cruz Sentinel revealed that just such a thing had happened. Granger now controlled half of the electric streetcar lines in the county.

A Santa Cruz, Capitola & Watsonville streetcar on the Santa Cruz Electric track in front of the Tent City office on Beach Street, 1904. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

The backroom deals shifted to even darker backrooms as little word was leaked of negotiations between Granger and the Capitola line's management. Speculation focused more on cooperation between the two lines, which Granger periodically touted even as several serious accidents and confrontations occurred in July and August. But an insider in late July revealed that more was happening and that the possibility of the two companies merging was increasingly likely, with Warren Porter, treasurer for the Capitola line, meeting with Granger frequently.

A Santa Cruz, Capitola & Watsonvile liveried streetcar outside the Hotel Capitola, ca 1905. [Randolph Brandt Collection, UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

The ultimate merger of the two electric streetcar lines on September 2 did not come as a surprise, but it was not revealed to the public immediately. The Sentinel was still speculating about goings-on throughout September and the news only broke on October 4, the same day that the Santa Cruz, Capitola & Watsonville completed its route to Capitola. The board of the Union Traction Company was a composite of directors from the two companies, including Gardiner, Porter, Granger, and former Santa Cruz mayor and California lieutenant governor William T. Jeter. Swanton and other major stockholders in both firms retained a stake in the new company. Granger surprisingly sold his stock in the new company around November 27 and moved to San Luis Obispo to promote a new electric streetcar line there.

The new Union Traction carbarn on Sycamore and Pacific showing a streetcar and repair vehicle in two bays and the passenger waiting area and office at the corner, 1905. [Randolph Brandt Collection, UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

Within weeks of consolidation, the two streetcar systems were unified and new timetables released to coordinate the various lines. The Santa Cruz Beach returned to having only a single streetcar track and cars to Capitola began at the corner of Soquel and Pacific Avenues. The entire system encompassed 18 miles of track with branch lines to Vue de l'Eau on the West Side and to Arana Gulch. Plans to build a track across the San Lorenzo River and a line up to the California Powder Works via the Ocean Street cemetery were both abandoned as being too costly. Meanwhile, the old and somewhat dilapidated Pacific Avenue Street Railroad carbarn at Pacific Avenue was demolished and replaced with a new structure to house the many cars of the system, provide a maintenance facility, and protect the network's electrical motors that powered the overhead wires.

Changing times—a Santa Cruz, Capitola and Watsonville Railway streetcar at Vue de l'Eau following its merger with the Santa Cruz Electric Railway, 1904. [Jim Vail – colorized using DeOldify]

By 1905, the dust had begun to settle on the politics around the consolidation and the board of directors began to take action on their long-term plans. Service along several of the small branches was cut back, including streetcars to the San Lorenzo River at the beach, up Arana Gulch, down Center Street, and up Walnut Avenue to Mission Street. The latter was reduced to Rincon (Chestnut) Street, where it could access the Park Street railroad station. Meanwhile, Martin V. McQuigg, a board member who represented the interests of the Monterey County Gas & Electric Company, began advocating for a connected service between Santa Cruz and Monterey, with an extension of the line to Salinas. Monterey County supported this plan by donating a 50-foot-wide right-of-way and $50,000 to build the line. However, McQuigg was not able to convince Gardiner and his faction, which were eager to sell the streetcar system to the Ocean Shore Railway.

The main streetcar track down Capitola Avenue to the Hotel Capitola, ca 1913.  [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

In September 1905, Gardiner entered negotiations with Henry Huntington of Los Angeles with the goal of eventually unifying all of the electric railroad systems from San Francisco to San Diego into one vast system. The immediate goal was to create a Santa Cruz-Monterey Counties network that could later be extended to Hollister to the east and linked to the Ocean Shore Railway to the north. Unfortunately for Gardiner, Huntington dropped out of negotiations and the plan fell apart. Gardiner and McQuigg decided that their futures were elsewhere and sold their stakes in Union Traction. This placed control of the company into the hands of James W. Forgeus, a former Capitola line stockholder who had not yet given up hope on an Ocean Shore deal.

Union Traction #2 with closed side panelling on the Vue de l'Eau line, ca 1910.  [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

Despite losing funding, the Ocean Shore Railway's directors decided to build its railroad anyway and grading began September 17, 1905 from Santa Cruz. This put Forgeus in an interesting position since he supported the railroad's plan but was aware of its potential for failure since the Ocean Shore was at least the sixteenth company to propose a route to San Francisco via the coast. In late 1905, Ocean Shore attempted to buy Union Traction outright in order to acquire its electrical plant and rights-of-way, but Forgeus rejected the offer. After further negotiations, however, the Ocean Shore purchased Union Traction on February 5, 1906 and began running a streetcar down Beach Street to the San Lorenzo River in order to secure a right to build a mainline track there at a later point in time. Ocean Shore control over Union Traction proved brief, however, when it stopped making payments shortly after the April 18, 1906 earthquake. Control of the streetcar company reverted back to its former directors around mid-June.

A Union Traction car on Garfield Avenue near Vue de l'Eau, September 1907. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

Following the Neptune Casino fire on June 22, Forgeus approached a group of men planning to rebuild the casino and bath house complex at the Santa Cruz Main Beach. The leader of these men was John Martin, who co-founded Pacific Gas & Electric Company in October 1905 and had helped consolidate the Santa Cruz Electric Light & Gas Company and the Co-operative Electric Light Company into the Coast Counties Power Company. As an electric company itself, Union Traction had a mutual interest in working with Coast Counties and Martin. On July 7, Coast Counties bought Union Traction and most of the former board members resigned. Martin took over as president and moved the corporate offices to San Francisco.

The Union Traction maintenance-of-way vehicle with crew on Mission Street near Santa Cruz High School, ca 1915.  [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

Like the previous owners of Union Traction, Martin set out a grand plan for his streetcar network. One of his first stated goals was to extend new branches out to Big Trees near Felton, to Soquel, and even to Watsonville. In the meantime, though, he wanted better trackage rights along the Santa Cruz Beach, double track downtown, and new routes to the IOOF cemetery at the top of Ocean Street, to de Laveaga Heights, and across the San Lorenzo River to Seabright. In other words, he wanted to double the current trackage of Union Traction.

Passengers in a Union Traction open-air car on the Pacific Avenue double track, ca 1910. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

For many of these proposed improvements, Martin hired S. Waldo Coleman, an electrical engineer who had worked in both the electricity and streetcar industries. Coleman had the vision but money was always an issue. The first thing he pushed for was standard-gauging the tracks and adding double track to Pacific Avenue. All of the Santa Cruz streetcar tracks had been narrow-gauge since the first horsecars began running in the 1870s. Standard-gauging would allow the cars to directly exchange with the Southern Pacific trackage, when necessary, and also would make acquiring parts easier. After receiving permission from the Santa Cruz Common Council in January 1907, Coleman set to work and began standard-gauging the line, double-tracking Pacific Avenue, and enlarging the carbarn on Sycamore Street to support the larger cars and increased power requirements. The route from the Lower Plaza to the beach re-opened on standard-gauge tracks on September 13—the line to Capitola re-opened on November 14.

The Union Traction's maintenance-of-way vehicle beside the Water Street bridge over the San Lorenzo River, ca 1910. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

Despite endless announcements of new branches and ambitious plans for the future, the financial crisis of 1907-1908 ended the steady stream of East Coast capital that had flowed into California for the past sixty years. Without this money, Union Traction was unable to build its routes to Big Trees, the IOOF cemetery, and Soquel. However, Martin had enough funds for one last extension of Union Traction trackage. In August 1907, the Common Council approved the construction of a streetcar franchise from the Lower Plaza to de Laveaga Heights via Water Street, Morrissey Avenue, and Fairmount Avenue. This project required a new dedicated bridge over the San Lorenzo River beside the Water Street bridge. Grading and bridge construction began in early October but quickly stalled due to financial problems.

A Union Traction streetcar heading into de Laveaga park, February 1913. [Ron Pumphrey – colorized using DeOldify]

Reassessing their options, Martin and his partners decided to move forward with the North Santa Cruz Branch since they hoped to make back their investment quickly via property sales. In December, they founded the Laveaga Realty Company to facilitate the sales of property along the new streetcar line. After months of delays, work resumed on the line on August 17, 1908. A temporary horsecar line was instated between Martin Boulevard and Prospect Heights while construction continued. Permission was received from the Common Council to electrify this section two years later on June 10, 1910 and the first electric streetcar to Laveaga ran on July 2.

A Union Traction car parked outside the entrance to the Casa del Rey Hotel with a Southern Pacific locomotive passing in front of the Casino in the background, ca 1912. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

Elsewhere, other minor changes were occurring to streamline the streetcar system and eliminate unprofitable routes. In 1909, the tracks on Walnut Avenue and Center Street were removed and the Arana Gulch branch beyond Cayuga Street was abandoned. In 1911, a short spur was added up Cliff Street to cater to patrons of the new Casa del Rey Hotel. For several years, a dedicated streetcar ran between the hotel and the Southern Pacific Union Depot. In 1913, the Front Street and Riverside Avenue tracks were removed.

Union Traction #17 at the corner of Water Street and Pacific Avenue, ca 1922. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

With the completion of the major construction projects along the line, Union Traction became the accepted transportation system for mid-county. Tickets from Santa Cruz to Capitola cost 10¢ each way and each car could hold 30 customers—more if people squeezed. Streetcars were run by a motorman while a conductor took payment and managed customers. An average day on the main Capitola line brought an average of $80 to $100. In the summer, fifteen cars operated across the network with service to Capitola running every quarter hour. In winter, cars ran every half hour. On normal days, the streetcars were responsible for shuttling workers between various businesses and taking high schoolers from Capitola to Santa Cruz High.

Motorman Moody outside Union Traction #24, a Birney streetcar, at the end of Woodrow Avenue, January 1926. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

Financial problems continued for the company throughout this time. The primary problem was that Santa Cruz's population was not growing—it had reached a height of 15,000 in 1906 but had stagnated. Yet costs continued to climb even as patronage did not. Coleman increased fares, cut routes and staff, and reduced the number of staff required to operate trains. Yet despite increased revenue by 1919, Union Traction was still not turning a profit and much of its equipment and right-of-way was falling into disrepair. Fares increased again in 1920 and 1921, and more efficient Birney Safety Cars were bought in 1922 to reduce long-term maintenance costs. 

Union Traction #22 leaving the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk for downtown, ca 1923. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

Unsurprisingly, it was the automobile that eventually led to the demise of Union Traction, but not for the usual reasons. Rather than some shady backroom deals with auto companies, Union Traction began to fail because the city demanded it pave the roads through which its tracks passed. Despite petitions to various state boards and a public vote defending them, the city still required them to pay for the paving job, the money for which Union Traction simply did not have. In 1924, they received permission to abandon the Laveaga Branch and the Capitola Branch, replacing both with bus service. December 9 was the last day streetcars ran along either branch. The company also sold all but eight of its cars in November. People didn't seem to notice the change and praised the new buses. The removal of tracks began immediately, eliminating the company's fiscal responsibility to pave miles of roadways in East Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz mayor John B. Maher standing beside Union Traction #23 and a new Union Traction bus on Pacific Avenue, late 1925. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections]

Yet Coleman was not finished. In October, he had also petitioned to abandon the branch to Vue de l'Eau and Mission Street. The Common Council attempted to block him and demanded that Union Traction either retain the West Side trackage or abandon the system entirely. Coleman called their bluff and filed for abandonment in April 1925. After months of negotiations, the city, state, and Union Traction finally agreed to the abandonment of all streetcar service in the city of Santa Cruz in August, contingent upon Union Traction providing replacement bus service and removing all streetcar infrastructure from the city's streets. At midnight on January 15, 1926, the last Union Traction streetcar driven by Lee Baldwin departed from the Santa Cruz Beach and arrived at the Sycamore Street carbarn.

The Twin Lakes streetcar stop with a Model T Ford in the background, ca 1925. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

No scheduled streetcar service has ever since operated in Santa Cruz County. Union Traction quickly sold their bus line to the Auto Transit Company in 1926, which in turn was sold to Pickwick Stages System in 1927. The company was run privately until the early 1940s, when it became the Santa Cruz Transit Company. After experiencing a financial collapse in the mid-1960s, it was finally bought out by the cities of Santa Cruz and Capitola to become the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District on February 20, 1969—today's Santa Cruz Metro bus system.

Capitola Avenue at the end-of-track of the Union Traction line, 1920. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

Few remnants of the streetcar system remain except the extra-wide Woodrow Avenue on the West Side of Santa Cruz and the equally wide Morrissey Avenue on the East Side. At very low tides, the pilings of the Twin Lakes Beach viaduct, originally built by the Santa Cruz, Capitola & Watsonville Railroad and later upgraded by Union Traction, are visible. The old Union Traction carbarn on Sycamore Street remained behind for decades to be used by Coast Counties Gas & Electric for various purposes, but it has since been demolished.

Citations & Credits:

• McCaleb, Charles S. Surf, Sand & Streetcars: A Mobile History of Santa Cruz, California. Second edition. Santa Cruz, CA: Museum of Art & Histo ry, 2005.

Streetcars: Santa Cruz Electric Railway

There were two very different breeds of streetcars in Santa Cruz County in the nineteenth century. There were the three old, slow-moving horsecar lines that together meandered from Walnut Avenue on the West Side to Arana Gulch and Twin Lakes on the East Side. And there was chic, new electric streetcar lines, that eventually spanned from West Cliff Drive to Capitola and Delaveaga Park. The electric lines did not emerge out of nothing, though—the first company began as a modest rival to the Pacific Avenue Street Railroad, intent on outpacing its horses and moving Santa Cruz into the twentieth century.

A Santa Cruz, Garfield Park and Capitola Electric Railway streetcar at the end of Front Street beside the tracks for the Pacific Avenue horsecar line, 1891. [University of California, Santa Cruz, Legacy Digital Collections — colorized using DeOldify]

The Pacific Avenue Street Railroad was doing extraordinarily well in 1890. It had already beaten out its competition, Frederick Hihn's Santa Cruz City Railroad, and faced only peripheral competition from the newly-built East Santa Cruz Railroad horsecar line. But despite the success, the fact was that horsecar lines were only so fast and efficient. The idea of an electric streetcar line was attractive to many, especially recent arrivals from the East Coast and Europe, where electric metropolitan lines were widespread. Raised in Brooklyn, Fred W. Swanton was one such man with a vision for an electric future. He teamed up with H. H. Clark to bring electricity to Santa Cruz via the Santa Cruz Light and Power Company. Shortly afterwards, he began to advocate for an electric streetcar system similar to that installed in San José in 1890. He was aided in his vision by James P. Smith from New York. Together they held a meeting on May 19, 1891 where they discovered an abundance of support from the public. They quickly had sufficient subscribers to move forward with their plans.

Santa Cruz, Garfield Park & Capitola Electric Railway (1891–1892)

The Santa Cruz Common Council approved their proposed streetcar line and, as a result, on June 2, 1891, the Santa Cruz, Garfield Park and Capitola Electric Railway was incorporated. The proposed route was from the northern boundary of Santa Cruz (near Vernon Street), down River Street, along N Pacific Avenue, down Front Street to Minnesota (Soquel) Avenue, down Minnesota and then up Pacific Avenue to Walnut Avenue, up Walnut to Mission Street, down Mission to Younglove Avenue, and then down Younglove and Garfield (Woodrow) Avenue to the cliffs, where the end of track was to be marked by the Vue de l'Eau station and ocean observatory. Permission was also granted to continue from Garfield and Pelton Avenue, down Lighthouse Avenue and Bay Street before continuing to the Santa Cruz Main Beach bathhouses. At Riverside Avenue, the route would turn inland, continue down Leibbrandt Avenue, the Laurel Street Extension, and Front Street and then turn down Cathcart Street and onto Pacific Avenue, where it would meet its other end at the bottom of Minnesota Avenue. The total distance of the proposed route was five miles and permission was granted by the city for the electric streetcar line to share the rails of the Pacific Avenue Street Railroad and the East Santa Cruz Railroad.

The Santa Cruz, Garfield Park and Capitola Electric Railway offices and car shed at the corner of Front and Cathcart Streets, 1892, with a young boy in the foreground. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections — colorized using DeOldify]

This sharing agreement was a major blow to the two horsecar lines but the city's leaders simply didn't care. The idea of the electric system was years in the making and had the capital support of two wealthy and ambitious investors. These facts alone pushed it over the edge but when incorporation came, almost every major investor in the city came forward to provide funds, including William T. Jeter (future city mayor and California lieutenant governor), J. Harvey Logan (superior court judge), Frank McLaughlin (future city mayor), Frank W. Ely (son of the owner of the East Santa Cruz Railroad), Edward G. Greene (former Vermont legislator), and Swanton himself (future city mayor). While Frederick A. Hihn did not invest, the project had the potential to greatly benefit his Camp Capitola resort, which was projected to be the eastern end of the line.

A Santa Cruz, Garfield Park and Capitola Electric Railway car parked outside a freshly-renovated Sea Beach Hotel, 1892. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections — colorized using DeOldify]

The streetcar company planned to adhere to a narrow gauge but of heavier rail and a slightly wider gauge than that used by the existing horsecar lines, meaning that no track would actually be shared. Work on the line began almost immediately with a viaduct installed along Front Street and a carbarn at the junction of Pacific Avenue and Cathcart Street. Work progressed quickly as rolling stock arrived and was assembled. The initial route had its trial run on November 1 and ran into several problems, with derailments, insufficient power to make it up Weeks' Hill on Walnut Avenue, and other issues, but these were soon resolved and full operations began on November 25.

An electric streetcar at the lower end of Pacific Avenue, ca 1894. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections — colorized using DeOldify]

Both of the branches of the streetcar network proved popular. People caught the 20-minute cars to the Vue de l'Eau regularly for a picnic and walk on the cliffs, while beachgoers hopped on the beach route along the San Lorenzo River to relax on the shore or visit the bathhouses. In the first year of operation, cars were often packed from morning until midnight. The immediate success of the company led the financiers to install a third branch down Center Street and on to the waterfront, where the track paralleled the Southern Pacific and the Pacific Avenue horsecar tracks down the middle of Beach Street, with the route eventually connecting to the other beach branch at the end of Riverside Avenue. This move proved too much for the old horsecar line and on August 6, 1892, the Pacific Avenue Street Railroad Company sold out to the Santa Cruz, Garfield Park and Capitola Electric Railway. 

Santa Cruz Electric Railway (1892–1904)

With all these changes and the acquisition of new property and rights, the company reincorporated as the Santa Cruz Electric Railway on August 23, 1892. Most of the board of directors were the same but plans to connect the Vue de l'Eau to the beach and install a route to the city limits along River Street were abandoned. The horsecar line up Mission Street to Walnut Avenue officially shut down for upgrading and electrification in December and the tracks down Pacific Avenue were upgraded to a wider gauge and heavier rail in March 1893 with the last horsecar running around March 20. Six new streetcars were built to operate down the Pacific Avenue line. The first run to Vue de l'Eau on the upgraded Lower Plaza to Walnut Avenue tracks began on April 2, while the Pacific Avenue route to the beach reopened to electric traffic around April 30.

A Santa Cruz Electric Railway car cruising down the Front Street viaduct, ca 1898. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections — colorized using DeOldify]

Over the next several years business continued apace, as did accidents along the line. Derailments, vandalism, electric problems, washouts, cut wires, and every other problem impacted the city's first electric streetcar line. Not long after upgrading the Pacific Avenue tracks, the Center Street route was quietly abandoned since it was no longer necessary—it had achieved its purpose. Meanwhile, the old horsecar line into the freight yard was upgraded to become an occasional route for streetcars desiring to meet morning trains. A small shelter was also erected on Pacific Avenue just across from the new Union Depot for people to transfer between the trains and streetcars. After trouble establishing official stops, the streetcar company decided that any street corner could serve as a car stop so long as the driver was flagged enough in advance.

A Santa Cruz Electric Railway car on Pacific Avenue with men on top repairing electrical lines, April 1894. The recent fire has devastated the buildings between Pacific Avenue and Front Street. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections — colorized using DeOldify]

A recession beginning in late 1893 followed by a devastating fire downtown in April 1894 slowed growth. The offices and old carbarn for the Santa Cruz, Garfield Park and Capitola Electric Railway, located at Front and Cathcart, were destroyed, prompting the company to relocate permanently to the former and more spacious Pacific Avenue Street Railroad carbarn at Pacific and Sycamore. Yet the company was otherwise uneffected and service resumed the next day. The Vue de l'Eau Casino was erected that summer off West Cliff Drive and streetcar service was extended to the mouth of the San Lorenzo River, where the city had installed a dam to form a large lagoon area. To draw tourists to this new river venue, James Smith promoted the popular Venetian Water Carnival in 1895 and 1896. Meanwhile, Fred Swanton tapped a new power source north of Davenport through his Big Creek Power Company, which quickly became the primary source of electricity for the city, including its streetcars. The upgrade of power led to the firm replacing the old carbarns on Sycamore with an entirely new, greatly-expanded complex in April 1897.

Southern Pacific Railroad (left) tracks beside the tracks of the Santa Cruz Electric Railway running behind the Neptune Bathhouse with the Sea Beach Hotel in the distance, ca 1900. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections — colorized using DeOldify]

Nonetheless, simplification of the line was inevitable. After the second water carnival, the line was cut back to Riverside Avenue and the Walnut Avenue section was abandoned since the Mission Street trackage obtained from the Pacific Avenue horsecar line covered much of the same area. Plans to extend the route to Capitola were shelved until the economic situation improved. This finally item proved to be a mistake, though. Swanton, desiring capital to invest elsewhere, sold Big Creek Power in February 1900 and soon used the proceeds to buy most of the attractions at the Santa Cruz Main Beach. The new owners, R. C. P. Smith and John M. Gardiner, had a vision of their own: to build an electric streetcar system that spanned the Monterey Bay from Santa Cruz to Pacific Grove and inland to Salinas. As part of this project, they began buying power companies throughout the area. With their sources of energy secured, Smith and Gardiner then incorporated their own Santa Cruz, Capitola and Watsonville Railway Company on September 11, 1902. 

Passengers detraining a crowded Santa Cruz Electric Railway streetcar at the Neptune Bathhouse, ca 1900. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections — colorized using DeOldify]

The Santa Cruz Electric Railway had been outmaneuvered with the help of one of its own financiers. A fight soon ensued in the spring of 1903 over rights-of-way in the Lower Plaza. The Santa Cruz Electric had rights to most of the major thoroughfares in the city, leaving the new Capitola line on the periphery, largely adhering to the existing East Santa Cruz horsecar line's boundaries. But the new company wanted more, such as access to the Union Depot and more solid access to the Lower Plaza, especially after it revealed plans to extend a line across the San Lorenzo River at Water Street and up Ocean Street to the Odd Fellows Cemetery and the California Powder Works. Despite all the back and forth in newspapers and public discourse, it was clear that the Santa Cruz Electric held the high ground. Yet, after several court cases and meetings, the Capitola line retained all of its advantages and its competitive edge, leaving the Santa Cruz Electric Railway with few options left except to improve services in the hope it would block its rival's progress.

Two Santa Cruz Electric Railway streetcars on the esplanade outside the newly-opened Neptune Casino with the Santa Cruz, Capitola and Watsonville Railway tracks at far right with a car parked beside the casino in the distance, 1904. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections — colorized using DeOldify]

Beginning in May 1903, the older streetcar line once more extended its tracks to the river along the beach and restored service along Walnut Avenue to Mission Street. It also streamlined its timetable, designating official stops in order to make service more consistent, and it resumed full service year-round rather than reducing service in the winter. New cars were brought in and the route as a whole was repaired and upgraded. But it was too little and too late. With most of the old East Santa Cruz horsecar line electified by  by June 1904 and the new track to Capitola nearly completed, the two streetcar lines were at an impasse. Neither could expand services much further and both still retained a unique competitive advantage over the other: West Side access for the older line, East Side and Capitola access for the newer.

Changing times—a Santa Cruz, Capitola and Watsonville Railway streetcar at Vue de l'Eau following its merger with the Santa Cruz Electric Railway in 1904. [Jim Vail – colorized using DeOldify]

Following weeks of speculation, James Smith finally sold the Santa Cruz Electric Railway to a newcomer, F. S. Granger of San José, on June 21, 1904. Granger immediately set to work improving the line further, with plans to reopen the Vue de l'Eau Casino and expand service to the Powder Works. He also opened up negotiations with the Capitola streetcar line to coordinate schedules more closely, apparently ending the short rivalry between the firms. In reality, though, he was negotiating with Smith and Gardiner. On September 2, 1904, the Santa Cruz Electric Railway was reincorporated as the Union Traction Company. That same day, it was revealed that the Santa Cruz, Capitola and Watsonville Railway had merged into this new entity as well. The board of directors of the new company included members of both former companies, with several major investors remaining on as silent financial partners. The consolidation marked the end of Santa Cruz County's first electric streetcar line, but also heralded the beginning of a standard-gauge, unified streetcar system that would dominate municipal transportation in the county for the following twenty years.

Citations & Credits:

• McCaleb, Charles S. Surf, Sand & Streetcars: A Mobile History of Santa Cruz, California. Second edition. Santa Cruz, CA: Museum of Art & History, 2005.

Car Stops: Vue de l'Eau

The Pacific Avenue Street Railway had been uninspired and coerced by Santa Cruz politicians into extending its horsecar line up Mission Hill to access Santa Cruz High School and several churches located along Mission Street in 1880. An attempt was made to abandon this unprofitable track in 1883 and later attempts to extend it to West Cliff Drive between 1887 and 1889 stalled due to lack of capital and interest. The potential of the Garfield Park development, popularly known as The Circles due to the concentric circular roads that emanate out from the central Christian Church of California tabernacle, shifted interest in extending the line in 1890, but the horsecar line was slow to respond and a new company, the Santa Cruz, Garfield Park & Capitola Electric Railway Company, was incorporated in May 1891 to do what the old horsecar line had not. By the end of 1891, electric cars were running to Garfield Park and beyond.

Colorized postcard showing the Vue de l'Eau on Cliff Drive at night, ca 1900.

At the forked end-of-track on its West Side route, the streetcar company erected the Vue de l'Eau—"view of the water" in French—chalet at the end of Garfield (now Woodrow) Avenue. This small two-story structure built by a E. L. Van Cleeck was a Victorian marvel. Perched precariously on the cliff overlooking eroding sandstone arches, crashing waves, and encroaching ice plants, the Vue de l'Eau was intended to be a tourist magnet in an era before bathing was the most important beachside activity. The original structure include a spacious waiting room and ticket office on the ground floor with an octagonal overlook on the second, providing panoramic views of the Monterey Bay to the southeast, the marine terraces to the north, and the whole of the Pacific Ocean to the west.

The Vue de l'Eau observatory and stop with a Santa Cruz, Garfield Park & Capitola Electric Railway streetcar heading down Garfield Avenue, ca 1898.
[University of California Santa Cruz, Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

Colorized postcard of a storm battering the marine terrace beside Vue de l'Eau, ca 1920.

The Daily Surf described the structure as such:

It is a unique and beautiful building, its lines suggesting the pagoda but modernized sufficiently to adapt it to place and circumstances. It is an oblong structure of one story, surmounted by a large octagonal observatory, this in turn finished by a peaked, tower-like roof. The end view is the more picturesque, but the broad side with its wide windows and the ample veranda entirely surrounding it has a comfortable and roomy look that is inviting.

The building is 47 feet long by 22 feet wide and contains a waiting room 23 x 16 feet in dimensions and a lunch room 12 x 13 1/2. 

The octagon observatory will be a charming room, being 16 feet across in each direction and entirely enclosed with glass which is set in eight large double windows reaching to the floor. The whole will be brilliantly lighted by incandescent electricity and the views will be something superb. 

It will be one of the proper things of the near future to go to Vue de l'Eau for a supper, a luncheon, a dance and a good time generally. 

The Vue de l'Eau formally opened on the same day that the new streetcar line ran, November 1, 1891.

Possibly the earliest photograph of the Vue de l'Eau streetcar station and observatory, ca 1894.
[Santa Cruz Public Libraries]

A horse and buggy beside the Vue de l'Eau, ca 1895.
[Worthpoint – colorized using DeOldify]

The streetcar company became the Santa Cruz Electric Railway in August 1892 after merging with the Pacific Avenue Street Railroad. This soon led to the expansion of the company down Pacific Avenue to the beach on newly upgraded tracks. Streetcar service to Vue de l'Eau, which was already regular, became more frequent during the summer months, shuttling crowded cars between the Santa Cruz Union Depot (from 1893) and the casino, often in alternation with cars travelling to the Santa Cruz Main Beach's bath houses. The increasing popularity of the Vue de l'Eau area, with its clifftop walks and beautiful views, prompted further development.

The Vue de l'Eau Casino with a streetcar passing down Garfield Avenue at left, ca 1900.
[UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

In May 1892, the streetcar company opened a mid-sized casino at the northeast corner of Pelton and Garfield Avenues to correct for the unexpected demand experienced by the Vue de l'Eau. Much like the two casinos that were later erected at the Santa Cruz Main Beach, the Vue de l'Eau casino was a family-friendly attraction that included a ballroom on the second floor and a restaurant and lounge on the first. The Surf described it as "a large and picturesque building with peaked gables and curving roof outlines, broad verandas entirely surrounding both the first and second stories, double mullioned windows looking out both seaward and landward, and many other attractive features." A long porch wrapped around the building, providing views on the ocean side. Management of the attractions was in the hands of George Denison, who had run the Ben Lomond Hotel for several seasons. His office was located on the top story of the building. The railway also set out a baseball diamond on the lot beside the casino where the company baseball team, the Electrics, played.

Colorized postcard of the Cliff Museum across from the Vue de l'Eau
at the end of Garfield Avenue, ca 1904. [Frank Perry]

The appeal of Vue de l'Eau also attracted J. F. Parker to relocate his curio museum from the Santa Cruz Main Beach to beside the Vue de l'Eau on March 1, 1893. Occupying a Victorian-style, purpose-built, two-story structure, the Cliff Museum was more of a restaurant and tourist shop than an actual museum. In fact, the Parkers lived in the top upper floors, with the first floor reserved for business. It focused on selling minerals, sea mosses, shells, and other marine curiosities, as well as food, drinks, postcards, and souvenirs. Parker imported expensive jewelery and handcrafted driftwood and shells but few of the items sold at the store were locally made.

The Cliff Museum, Vue de l'Eau, and Crown Arch, ca 1905.
[Ronnie Trubek – colorized using DeOldify]

The Crown Arch beside Vue de l'Eau, ca 1911.
[Julia Gaudinski – colorized using DeOldify]

In 1901, Albert Magor became the proprietor of the Cliff Museum and drew people in with special sales, live bands, and a promise to give back a percent of his profits to the community. He also ran contests, such as counting the number of shells in a bottle. He expanded the museum to Pacific Avenue, as well, with a small satellite museum located approximately where today's Metro Center is found. John A. Moore took over in 1902 and followed his predecessor's example by advertising heavily in the local newspapers. The museum benefited from the addition of a small conservatory in 1903 and Moore hoped to enhance the museum's appeal in 1904 with the addition of a large sign on the roof reading "Free Cliff Museum."

Colorized postcard of waves breaking beneath Vue de l'Eau, c 1920.

Members of the O'Brien family on a sandstone arch just west of Vue de l'Eau, ca 1910.
[Santa Cruz Public Libraries – colorized using DeOldify]

For a decade, the appeal of the Vue de l'Eau reigned supreme in Santa Cruz, drawing visitors from across the Central Coast. But then two things occurred in the same summer that led to the slow collapse of the operation. In June 1904, Fred W. Swanton opened his Neptune Casino, Plunge, and Tent City at the Santa Cruz Main Beach. The size and scale of the new Moorish-style casino placed it in an entirely different ballpark than the now aged Vue de l'Eau out on the fringe of the city. It essentially incorporated all of the merits of the old facility, including its adjacent casino, restaurant, and even the museum, placing them all within a short walk of each other alongside a bandstand, a sprawling beach, and rides. Then in September 1904, the streetcar line was consolidated with the Santa Cruz, Capitola, and Watsonville Electric Railway to become the Union Traction Company.

Santa Cruz Electric Railway streetcar at the end-of-track beside the Vue de l'Eau Casino
with The Circles church, known as The Ark, in the distance, ca 1905.
[Santa Cruz Public Libraries – colorized using DeOldify]

Initially, the new streetcar company wanted to rebuild and expand the old Vue de l'Eau facilities. But the man behind this idea resigned and the company sold the Vue de l'Eau in January 1905 to the Greater Norris & Rowe Circus, which planned to use the six-acre property and the casino for its winter quarters and to establish a year-round zoo. Operated by A. C. Norris, his son Clarence, and H. S. Rowe, the circus traveled across the West Coast during the year in the company of 500 performers and support staff, two rings, and a full menagerie of animals. No zoo ever materialized and, despite signing a ten-year deal, the circus only remained in town for four winters. The Norris family, which owned homes in Garfield Park, were bought out by Rowe in early 1909 and permanently took the circus to the midwest soon afterwards, where the circus stumbled and then failed completely early in the 1910 season.

Vue de l'Eau on the cliffs, ca 1913.
[Santa Cruz Public Libraries – colorized using DeOldify]

The writing was on the wall for the Vue de l'Eau in 1925 when Union Traction attempted to shut down the line to West Cliff Drive. The city gave the company an ultimatum to either abandon all traffic in downtown or keep all of the cars running. Union Traction chose the former and on August 27, it was agreed that the route to Ocean Cliffs, as it was then called, would be abandoned no later than January 1, 1926. In reality, it took a little longer and the entirety of the Union Traction network was abandoned on January 14.

Alice Williams sitting on a cliff near Vue de l'Eau, ca 1923.
[UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

Vue de l'Eau perched above the cliffs in its final years, ca 1920s. [Colorized using DeOldify]

It hardly mattered to the Vue de l'Eau. The once-loved Victorian-style station and observatory had lost its lustre by May 1925 and the Garfield Park Improvement Association had it removed at the beginning of June, with several of its timbers repurposed into benches and placed along Cliff Drive. Around the same time, the Vue de l'Eau's most famous sandstone bridge, the Crown Arch, collapsed into the sea, the last significant arch along that stretch of coast. The closure of Vue de l'Eau and the end of the streetcar line quickly led to the financial insolvency of the Cliff Museum, which closed to the public after the 1926 season.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
36.9529N, 122.0373W

Vue de l'Eau was located at the bottom of Woodrow Avenue on West Cliff Drive. The site of the stop has almost entirely eroded into the sea but a remnant of it survives as an ice plant section just across from the end of Woodrow. Meanwhile, a park on the southwest corner of the road marks the location of the Cliff Museum.

Citations & Credits:

• Gaudinski, Julia. "The Vue de l'Eau: public transit to paradise." Santa Cruz Waves, August 4, 2014.
• Griggs, Gary B. "Our Ocean Backyard—West Cliff: A Local Treasure." Santa Cruz Sentinel, November 19, 2011.
• Griggs, Gary B., and Deepika Shrestha Ross. Then & Now: Santa Cruz Coast. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2006.
• McCaleb, Charles S. Surf, Sand and Streetcars: A Mobile History of Santa Cruz County. Second edition. Santa Cruz, CA: Museum of Art & History, 2005.
• Santa Cruz Surf and Santa Cruz Evening News.
• Sawyer, Preston. "Santa Cruz Yesterdays: At Vue de l'Eau, over 60 years ago." Santa Cruz Sentinel, December 9, 1956.
• Stevens, Stanley, ed. "Garfield Park, Santa Cruz aka The Circles: Early History, 1889-1890." Santa Cruz Public Libraries.