Stations: California Street

The Coast Line Railroad had already been operating for six years when it established a flag-stop at the intersection of Bay Street and California Street on the West Side of Santa Cruz. While the reason for the station is not entirely clear, it does follow a pattern begun in June 1910, when the railroad added five new flag-stops along its route, probably to undermine the customer base of the rival Ocean Shore Railway. Some of these stops later became permanent stations. On November 16, 1913, California Street first appeared on employee timetables.

A Southern Pacific Railroad excursion train crossing Bay Street at California Street on its way to Davenport, ca 1947. [University of California, Santa Cruz, Digital Collections – colorized using MyHeritage]

Why the railroad created a flag-stop at California Street is not entirely clear. Since it does not appear in agency books, the station was likely considered within the boundaries of the Santa Cruz freight yard. Its inclusion as a flag-stop in employee timetables, however, suggests it was primarily a passenger stop. If so, the easiest explanation for its existence is that it was the nearest stop to Santa Cruz High School. Students who lived north of the city along the Coast Line Railroad route could catch a morning southbound passenger train and get off at California Street, where they could then walk the half mile to the school.

The original Santa Cruz High School on fire, October 1, 1913. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries – colorized using MyHeritage]

The timing of the station’s opening is important, though. The June 1913 timetable does not show the station, while the November timetable does. An intermediate timetable released on September 21 has been lost. As a result, it is unknown if the station was established before or after the October 1 fire that burned the high school to the ground. Assuming it was founded after that fire, the flag-stop was probably intended to support students moving between various teaching locations, since classes were decentralized until the school was rebuilt. When the new facility opened in fall 1915, the railroad left the flag-stop on its timetables to continue to support students who lived north of Santa Cruz. As late as the mid-1920s, the station was mentioned in property advertisements as an incentive. A Southern Pacific survey map from 1949 even shows a shelter shed at the location, though no further description of this structure seems to have survived. However, on August 1, 1932, California Street was removed as a flag-stop when regular passenger service ended along the Davenport Branch.

Southern Pacific proposed improvement map showing the Bay and California Streets intersection. Although dated September 15, 1949, this is clearly based on an earlier plan since it shows both a station shelter and the start of the pumpworks spur. [California State Archives]

California Street also marked the junction point of the municipal pumpworks spur with the Davenport Branch. The construction of a sewage pumping station on the west side of Neary Lagoon had been approved in a special election held on June 20, 1887. Bids for construction only went out in March 1888 and the facility was completed in August. In addition to pumping sewage, the Santa Cruz Electric Light and Pump Company was able to produce electricity through the excess power created from the seventy-two horsepower Pitchford Improved Corliss steam engine, which ran the pump.

Lands acquired along the Davenport Branch for the sewage pumping plant, 1927. [Santa Cruz GIS]

A spur off the Coast Line Railroad to the pumpworks was a natural conclusion since the right-of-way passed directly beside the facility. The idea was first suggested in June 1908 and Southern Pacific quoted the city $891 to install a 580-foot-long spur. The primary purpose of this spur was to park oil cars that would provide fuel to the plant. Relocating the oil tankers to this spur would also allow the old oil tanker spur on Park Street, at the site of the former Santa Cruz Railroad depot, to be abandoned. In November, the price was accepted but the spur was not installed due to a dispute over payment between the city and railroad. Southern Pacific finally laid the spur in March 1909, but would not allow the city to use it until the city paid the amount that it owed for the installation. When this amount was paid is unknown.

Sanborn fire insurance map showing the pumping station and incinerator, 1917. [Library of Congress]

The next year, the city announced its intention to build a garbage incinerator beside the wastewater pumping station. The matter went to a long public debate with the plant only opening at the site in early 1915. The facility featured a 176-foot-high chimney and was oil powered, allowing it to use the adjacent oil cars on the spur track. Below the incinerator, the city’s dump quickly emerged, attracting rats, foul odors, and widespread complaints.

View across Neary Lagoon looking toward the Santa Cruz Union Depot, ca 1920. [UCSC Digital Collections – colorized using MyHeritage]

By the 1920s, the company that controlled the pumpworks had merged with other local power companies to become Coast Counties Gas & Electric. Under increasing pressure from the public due to water pollution in Neary Lagoon and Cowells Beach and vile smells emanating from the incinerator and wastewater, Coast Counties and the city began downsizing its operations along the Bay Street spur. The incinerator and dump were closed in early 1927 with a new city dump opening on the Scaroni Ranch four miles north of Santa Cruz. Meanwhile, Coast Counties shut down the old sewage plant and relocated it in 1928. Responsibility for the spur and oil tankers was taken over by Central Supply Company also in 1928. Over the next few years, the plant came to rely less on crude oil for fuel. At the same time, a new oil tanker spur had been installed in 1932 on the northern edge of the city limits at the end of Vernon Street. The city eventually negotiated the sale of the old incinerator property in June 1933 for $800 and, at the same time, asked Southern Pacific to remove the spur. 

The empty lot beside the railroad tracks where the California Street shelter once stood, 2022. [Google StreetView]

The Santa Cruz Wastewater Treatment Facility still occupies the southern end of the property. The former site of the incinerator is now the location of the Neary Lagoon Park tennis courts and playground. Between these and the lagoon is the former dump site, which is now reclaimed forest. The site of the California Street flag-stop still exists as the undeveloped section of land beside the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line at the corner of California Street and Bay Street.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
36.9636N, 122.0357W

The railroad right-of-way across California and Bay Streets is included within Segment 7 of the Santa Cruz Coastal Rail Trail, which is currently under construction and scheduled to be completed in summer 2023. Once completed, pedestrians and bicyclists will be able to pass directly beside the site of the former flag-stop. Currently, the location is still a stop for Metro buses. Perhaps at some point in the future, when passenger rail service is restored, passengers may be able to entrain and detrain at the Bay Street/California Street stop once again.

Citations & Credits:

• Koch, Margaret. Santa Cruz County: Parade of the Past. Santa Cruz, CA: Western Tanager Press, 1991.
• Santa Cruz Evening News, various articles, 1908-1932.
• Santa Cruz Sentinel, various articles, 1888-1933
• Santa Cruz Surf, various articles, 1887-1888.
• Southern Pacific Railroad, various records, 1905-1941.

Stations: Casino

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has a feeling of permanence about it. The towering Mission-revival walls of the Casino mix seamlessly with the rows of columns that flank the beachside colonnade. The immense space within Neptune's Kingdom causes people to stop and ponder, wondering what once was. The eerie circling of the Edwardian-style horses of the Looff Carousel contrasts remarkably with the screaming passengers of the Giant Dipper, although both herald back to an earlier, more innocent time. For many people, the Boardwalk is Santa Cruz, or at least the heart of it. And for the past century, that has often been true for tourists. Yet it was a combination of entrepreneurial vision and investment by the Southern Pacific Railroad that led to its success and lasting fame.

Colorized postcard of the Casino on a busy day during its inaugural year at the Santa Cruz Main Beach, 1907. [Derek R. Whaley]

The story of the Boardwalk does not begin with the beach. The beach had existed since time immemorial and people—Native Americans, Spanish, Mexicans, Americans, and others—already understood its allure. Since the 1860s, bathhouses and bathing sheds had existed along the Santa Cruz Main Beach, and these only expanded as the decades wore on. No, the story of the Boardwalk begins with a man: Fred Wilder Swanton. While not a child of Santa Cruz, Swanton grew up in the town from a young age. He had a vision for a greater Santa Cruz and tried to realize that vision every chance he had. He brought the telephone to California in the mid-1880s. He built and ran the Swanton House, the tallest hotel in the city. He operated the Knight's Opera House alongside his father. When the hotel burned down in 1887, he opened up the Bonner Stables and later, the Palace of Pharmacy.

The Swanton House on Front Street, run by Fred Swanton and his father, 1886. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries – colorized using DeOldify]

However, it was Swanton's interest in electricity that truly brought him local renown. In 1889, he alongside H. H. Clark founded the Santa Cruz Light and Power Company, the city's first widespread electrical system. Two years later, he helped found the Santa Cruz, Garfield Park & Capitola Electric Railway, the city's first electrical streetcar line. He remained invested when it became the Santa Cruz Electric Railway in 1892 and expanded his electrical control with the founding of the Big Creek Power Company shortly afterwards. But Swanton was always looking ahead. He sold the power company in 1900 and abandoned his stake in the streetcar system in 1906. He dabbled in other projects, both local and elsewhere, until he had gathered enough influence for his next big project in Santa Cruz: an amusement park.

A booster train with Fred Swanton (center back left, seated) and other directors of the Santa Cruz Beach Cottage & Tent City Corporation, ca 1904. [University of California, Santa Cruz, Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

From probably 1901, Swanton made his idea for a seaside amusement park on the Santa Cruz Main Beach clear to the Leibbrandt Brothers, Miller Brothers, and Southern Pacific Railroad, which collectively controlled the beach. However, it took around two years for their ideas to coalesce and an agreement to be reached. On October 29, 1903, the consortium founded the Santa Cruz Beach Cottage and Tent City Corporation with an initial investment of $100,000. This eventually reached $1.5 million following several months of campaigning by Swanton. The company consolidated all three of the bathhouses on the beach, as well as large tracts across the tracks from the Leibbrandts and Southern Pacific. In April 1904, the city council approved in a close vote an exclusive franchise on the beach for the corporation. Swanton and his associates began construction immediately, hoping to open in time for summer.

Colorized postcard, artificially made to appear like night, of the Neptune Casino on its opening day, June 2, 1906. [Derek R. Whaley]

The Neptune Casino and Plunge opened to great fanfare on June 11, 1904. The three-story, Moorish-style structure dominated the waterfront at the bottom of Cliff Street, occupying the site of the former Neptune Baths, from which it borrowed its name. Next door to the east, the Plunge Baths was refurbished and upgraded to match the style of its neighbor, with onion domes affixed to copper roofs. To the east, the Co-Operative Electric Company established a small structure surrounded by windows with onion domes on the corners of the roof. This housed the power plant for the park and ran the salt water pumps and boilers for the plunge. On the beach side of the building, several private hot tubs were installed for visitors. Between the Plunge and power plant, a 450-foot-long Pleasure Pier was extended out into the Monterey Bay, disguising the intake pipes for the baths while allowing visitors to leisurely stroll over the water.

Colorized postcard of the Tent City with the Neptune Casino and Plunge in the background, ca 1905. [Frank Perry]

The old Neptune Baths building was also renovated, substantially downsized, and moved across from the Neptune Casino, where it served as the restaurant for the tent city. The tent city originally did not have any cottages. It occupied the entire two blocks from the Esplanade (Beach Street) to Second Street, but only occupied the section directly north of the casino. The tents had raised wooden floors and half-walls that became colorful canvas about three feet above the floor. The canvas was extended overhead as a roof, as well. The tents had few amenities—little more than beds and a washing basin—with guests expected to dine in one of the resort's restaurants. Four water closets containing toilets and showers were scattered throughout the lot. By the end of 1905, several fully-enclosed wooden cottage were also built and the tent city property had begun expanding to Dolphin Street, a half-block to the east.

The Neptune Casino in its full glory, ca late summer 1904. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries – colorized using DeOldify]

The highlight of the new resort was the Neptune Casino, which, it must be noted, was not a gambling establishment. Rather, it was a more traditional, Italian-style casino where people gathered for more general entertainments. Half of the structure was composed of dressing rooms for bathers, with the ladies' rooms in the west wing of the building and the gentlemen's rooms on the east. The main facility was a massive ballroom where Swanton would host nighttime parties, serviced by a large bar. Upstairs, a smaller ballroom hosted a substantial grill restaurant that operated when the ballroom was not otherwise being used. Outside the casino, a bandstand stood alone surrounded on three sides by viewing windows, balconies, and verandas. A confection shop was also located just to the east. With the dressing rooms relocated, the Neptune Plunge expanded its own galleries around the large plunge pool in its center and both the casino and plunge hosted observation decks on their third stories. An electric carousel, a small aquarium, a tin-type photo studio, and a large roller rink added in 1905 completed this first iteration of the park.

The Neptune Casino and Neptune Plunge on a quiet day, ca 1905 [WorthPoint]

The increased activity at the beach, partially sponsored and promoted by Southern Pacific, spurred the railroad to finally register a railroad stop at the beach. Special excursion trains had undoubtedly stopped at the bathhouses for two decades by this point, but the railroad had never bothered to make the stop official. Horsecars and streetcars, however, had found the beach one of their primary destinations, with the two earliest horsecar lines reaching the beach in 1875 and 1877 respectively. The beach remained popular with streetcars until they were discontinued in 1926. The railroad hesitated until 1902, when a stop named Bandero, a fanciful play on the bandstand at the beach, appeared in company agency books. How frequently this stop was used is unclear, but Swanton utilized the railroad extensively in boosting the resort and likely promoted railroad access as a perk. Still, despite their investment, the railroad did not commit to a more formal, scheduled stop at this time.

The Neptune Casino and bandstand on fire, June 22, 1906. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries – colorized using DeOldify, with hand embellishments]

Swanton was rather smart when he built his resort. He invested little of his own money and ensured that his buildings were adequately protected from fire, allowing him to cut back on insurance premiums. But in this, he overplayed his hand. Although the resort survived the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake nearly unscathed, two months later, on June 22, 1906 and at the start of the summer season, a kitchen fire spread out of control and incinerated the entire complex. The Neptune Casino, Neptune Plunge, and Tent City Restaurant (the former Neptune Baths) were completely destroyed over the course of a few hours. The only structures that survived were the Pleasure Pier, the power plant and pump house (owned by the Co-Operative Electric Company), the roller rink, and most of the tents, some of which lost their tops. The facility was woefully underinsured and the corporation was out millions of dollars after only operating for two seasons.

The new casino and plunge buildings under construction, early 1907. [Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History]

Undaunted, Swanton set to work starting over. He incorporated a new firm, the Santa Cruz Beach Company, and recruited new investors while reassuring former investors to trust him. After cleaning out the debris, he reopened the exposed Plunge baths, installing a simple awning for cover. Next door, he erected a large tent as a temporary casino, where he was able to host dances all summer and even a California Republican Party convention. Meanwhile, he finally invested heavily himself, divesting himself of almost all other projects in order to acquire enough capital to rebuild. He hired the famed local architect William Henry Weeks to design and oversee the construction of the replacement facility.

A Southern Pacific booster train in front of the newly-opened Plunge Natatorium, with a band and several local government officials and company investors out front, 1907. [Brian Liddicoat]

As soon as the summer 1906 season ended, construction began and continued through the winter and spring of 1907. In the process, the Pleasure Pier was extended, all of the tents were expanded into full wooden cottages, and a new plunge bath was built. This time, Swanton spared no expense in ensuring the structure was fire proof, installing fireproof panelling and asbestos-laced concrete flooring as well as a widespread sprinkler system. He also made sure that his insurance plan would actually cover a future loss, which fortunately never came.

The Casino station point across from Entrance 1 between the Plunge and Casino, 1930s. [Derek R. Whaley – colorized using DeOldify]

To aid construction, Southern Pacific briefly installed a spur behind the power plant and roller rink in order to bring in supplies. As with before, Swanton disappeared in the spring to campaign for Santa Cruz, popping up at locations across the West Coast. And like before, he was not disappointed in the response. The new Casino, Plunge Natatorium, and Cottage City opened to universal praise on June 15, 1907—almost a year after the Neptune Casino burned down and three years after it had first opened. Southern Pacific celebrated this grand opening by finally establishing a permanent flag-stop at the beach, which it christened Casino.

Colorized postcard of the grill upstairs in the Casino's rotunda, ca 1910s. [Derek R. Whaley]

While similar in scope and size to the Neptune Casino and Plunge, the new structures were quite different. They were built in a Mission-revival style with adobé-like features and a tan and terracotta color scheme, intermixed with Russian onion domes on precipices, two Egyptian-style obelisks above the casino, and Roman-style embellishments. The casino was two-stories tall with a high dome atop a substantial rotunda. The first story was composed of an arcade, theatre, bar, restaurant, and shops, with the rotunda occupied by a bandstand. The upstairs was almost entirely a ballroom with a dining room in the rotunda and a kitchen to the side. In the sand just off from the rotunda sat a seasonally-erected bandstand, with seating provided along either side of the rotunda.

Colorized postcard showing the inside of the Plunge Natatorium with swimmers, ca 1910. [Derek R. Whaley]

Next door to the east, a new heated plunge was constructed with a 500,000 gallon capacity. The pool had an increasing depth with an inset smaller pool at a set depth for children. Around the pool upstairs was a patio with a diving board, a slide, and a ladder to a third-story slide. Dressing rooms were provided on either side of the pool on the first floor, while concessions shops flanked the beachside entrance. Overhead, a high wooden barrel-style ceiling with rows of windows allowed in light and gave the pool a sense of grandeur the older pool was lacking. In later years, trapeze rigs were mounted on the roof allowing carnival performers—mostly swim instructors and life guards—to entertain guests.

Colorized postcard showing the colorful Cottage City that was located across from the second casino, 1907. [Derek R. Whaley]

Most of the rest of the Boardwalk remained the same. The hot tubs in front of the old power plant became the Hanly Baths but retained its former function. The power plant itself was relocated outside, behind some early carnival games, while the newly vacant space became a storage room. The roller rink was replaced with more carnival games and a nickelodeon, which eventually evolved into the Fun House, an attraction that survived into the early 1970s. Along the beach side of the boardwalk, which now extended nearly to the San Lorenzo River, a miniature railroad called the Bay Shore Limited was installed, which Swanton used somewhat comedically to entice railroad investors to visit his park. Offshore, Swanton hired the Balboa to serve as a "pleasure ship," a venue for gambling and other less wholesome activities. Boats shuttled to Balboa from the Pleasure Pier.

Colorized postcard showing the second Casino with the Sea Beach Hotel in the distance, 1907. [Derek R. Whaley]

Over the next five years, Swanton expanded the park with more attractions and improvements. In 1908, he installed the park's first thrill ride: a LaMarcus Adna Thompson Scenic Railway. This early roller coaster excited adults and children alike despite its relatively slow speeds and gentle curves. In 1911, he hired Charles I. D. Looff to build a carousel between the Fun House and the Scenic Railway. That same year, he had the boardwalk between the rotunda and the end of the plunge on the beach side covered in a magnificent colonnade. This allowed a connection between the two buildings upstairs while providing protection to people walking downstairs.

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

The colonnade was likely made necessary by the addition to the park of the Casa del Rey Hotel across Beach Street from the Casino. The two structures were connected on the second floor by an arched enclosed bridge, and this archway and the colonnade made it possible for hotel guests to reach the Plunge without ever exiting a building. The hotel was the last major project related to the park overseen by Swanton. Like the Casino and Plunge, the three-story hotel was built in a Mission-revival style with Roman-style embellishments. Two substantial wings flanked a large lobby at the center of the complex. Within each mirrored wing was an interior garden area, and tennis courts were located north of the hotel. Behind it to the east, half of the cottage city remained intact, intermixed with a few private dwellings, a bakery for the hotel, a steam laundry for the park, and a substation of the Coast Counties Light & Power Company. Swanton also purchased land from the Henry Cowell Company at the northern edge of the city for the construction of the Casa del Rey Golf Links, which he connected to his hotel via another Southern Pacific Railroad stop located below the clubhouse.

Colorized postcard showing passengers waiting to board the train outside the Plunge Natatorium at the Casino flag-stop, 1910. [Santa Cruz MAH]

All of these projects cost a lot of money—personal money of Swanton's as well as the money of the company's other investors. And building everything in 1911 was not a fiscally responsible action since the country was in the midst of a recession. A financial panic in 1910 prompted by a crackdown on corporate monopolies by the federal government had already led to the collapse of the Ocean Shore Railway project. Swanton's amusement park almost met the same fate. By the end of 1912, the company was on the brink of bankruptcy and most of its investors had pulled out. In late 1914, it did finally go bankrupt and Swanton personally went bust. The City of Santa Cruz operated the park through the summer of 1915 and at the end of the year, several former investors and city officials joined forces to found the Santa Cruz Seaside Company. 

Colorized postcard of the beach outside the colonnade, 1920. [Derek R. Whaley]

One of the first tasks of the new company was to divest itself of liabilities. It sold off the Casa del Rey Golf Links, which became the Santa Cruz Golf & Country Club. It leased out the Casa del Rey Hotel, the Plunge, the Carousel, and most of its other attractions and entertainment to concessionaires, who would be responsible for running these at a profit in the future. World War I made this transition of responsibility all the easier, and by 1920, the Seaside Company only directly managed the Casino and served more in a role of property manager than amusement park developer.

People walking along the wood-plank boardwalk at the Pleasure Pier plaza, 1930s. [Santa Cruz Seaside Company – colorized using DeOldify]

Nonetheless, the Boardwalk continued on into the 1920s without much central direction. In 1924, the park's lead attraction and most iconic structure was built: the Giant Dipper. Based on a design by Frederick Church and built by Arthur Looff, the son of Charles Looff, the wooden roller coaster replaced the Scenic Railway and opened to the public on May 17, 1924. It proved popular immediately and has won numerous awards in the years since. It was run as a concession by the Looff family into the 1950s. Also in 1924, the first Miss California Bathing Beauty Contest was held at the Boardwalk, bringing statewide attention to the park that would last until 1965.  In the summer of 1927, Southern Pacific began sending idle passenger trains from San José to the Boardwalk on Sundays as a special excursion service. The service was later expanded to San Francisco and Oakland and christened the Sun Tan Special beginning with the 1931 season. The Seaside Company also approved the expansion of the Boardwalk to the end of the beach and under the railroad tracks, where a towering Shoot-the-Chutes ride was erected in 1928 on what was called River Park.

The tracks of the Sun Tan Jr. miniature railroad running between the beach and the boardwalk near the entrance to the Giant Dipper, 1930s. [Santa Cruz Seaside Company – colorized using DeOldify]

The Great Depression of the 1930s saw the closure of the River Park development and only a few new rides and attractions opened during this period. The most popular events, other than the usual big band performances and nightly dances, were the water carnivals held in the Plunge. From feats of spectacular diving prowess to world record underwater swimmers to fiery dives off the roof of the building into the Monterey Bay, there was always something to keep people entertained. Lawrence "Skip" Littlefield ran the Plunge in these years and oversaw Seaside Company promotions more generally through the 1930s and 1940s. His charisma and vision helped keep the park afloat when many other parks across the country shut down. Indeed, even as regular passenger service along the Santa Cruz Branch ended in 1938 and through the mountains in 1940, the popularity of the Boardwalk ensured that weekend specials in the summer months continued.

Colorized postcard showing an aerial view of the Santa Cruz Main Beach, with the Boardwalk, the Casa del Rey Hotel, the Pleasure Pier, and the San Lorenzo River mouth, 1946. [Derek R. Whaley]

World War II put a pause on the Boardwalk's nighttime activities and these years proved especially difficult since most younger men were overseas and rationing made park operations difficult to sustain. The remainder of the cottage city was abandoned during this time and the Casa del Rey became a military hospital and convalescence home. The Sun Tan Special was suspended from 1942 through 1946. Nonetheless, the Seaside Company continued on. A lack of corporate guidance throughout this period continued the haphazard development of the park, which once again resumed a slow progress toward the river mouth.

The first Sun Tan Special to run following the end of World War II, June 1947. [Jim Vail – colorized using DeOldify]

The final change in the park's dynamics occurred in 1952, when one of the Seaside Company's directors, Lawrence Canfield, obtained a controlling interest in the firm. Canfield immediately initiated a major renovation of the Casino and Casa del Rey, modernizing them and updating their styles to match current trends. It was at this time that the aerial bridge connecting the two buildings was removed. Canfield brought big bands back to the renamed Coconut Grove ballroom and began the process of reacquiring rides and attractions that sprawled across the sands. The end of the Sun Tan Special after the 1959 season did nothing to reduce the number of customers visiting each summer, and by the early 1960s, Lawrence's son Charles began the process of consolidating many of the Boardwalk's carnival games under his Canfield's Concessions company.

The Wild Mouse at the end of the Boardwalk with two cars operating, late 1950s. [Santa Cruz Seaside Company – colorized using DeOldify]

The closure of the Plunge due to falling interest and increasing costs in 1963 saw the building become a miniature golf course and the Pleasure Pier demolished. Lawrence renovated the riverside portion of the park, as well, installing a seawall and building the Grand Prix and Cave Train rides, as well as the Wild Mouse roller coaster. In 1971, the Fun House—the oldest attraction at the beach—was demolished and replaced with the Jet Star roller coaster and bumper cars. Above the boardwalk, the Skyglider was installed, an aerial ski lift-style ride. The Wild Mouse was eventually replaced with Logger's Revenge, a gravity log flume ride, in 1977. Meanwhile, the Coconut Grove slowly became primarily a venue for hire with fewer public events held there. A new ballroom—the Sun Room—was added between the Casino and Plunge building in 1980. Across the street, the Casa del Rey was abandoned as a hotel and turned into a managed retirement community, a stopgap measure until a better use for the facility could be found.

Ed Hutton with Seaside Company directors and other VIPs speaking on opening day of Neptune's Kingdom, 1991. [Santa Cruz Seaside Company]

Charles Canfield took charge of the Seaside Company in 1984. The next year, the first run of the Santa Cruz Big Trees & Pacific Railway from Roaring Camp in Felton ran to Santa Cruz, marking a new era for the Boardwalk and local railroading. Despite a rise in violent crime and poverty in the Beach Flats neighborhood across from the park, the Boardwalk continued to revive under Canfield's management. The 1989 earthquake actually helped this along. The Casa del Rey was severely damaged in the quake, leading to its demolition and conversion into a much-needed parking lot. Meanwhile, the Plunge building was converted into Neptune's Kingdom. Canfield's Concessions also was merged into the park and became the Games Department, while several of the restaurants were taken over by the Seaside Company.

The Coasters performing at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk bandstand, 2001. [Santa Cruz Sentinel]

Throughout the late 1990s and 2000s, the park continued to consolidate with several concessions merging into the Seaside Company and the bureaucratic structure of the company evolving and shrinking to more centrally manage the park. Free Friday Night Bands in the summer became a regular event during this time, drawing tourists from across the Bay Area. A fairly regular policy of refreshing one significant ride each year also became standard, with major renovations made to the Cave Train area in the 2000s, the Haunted Castle building in the early 2010s, and the Entrance 2 plaza in the late-2010s, the latter of which saw the demolition of the Dolphin Baths building, the oldest building at the beach. Canfield passed on the presidency of the Seaside Company to his grandnephew, Karl Rice, in 2017 while his son, Tom, serves as Vice President of Operations.

The Holiday Lights Train in front of Neptune's Kingdom, 2010s. [Roaring Camp Railroads]

Today, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk remains a major tourist attraction on the Central Coast of California and is the longest-living seaside amusement park on the West Coast. It draws tourists from around the world every year, including via Roaring Camp Railroad's Santa Cruz Big Trees & Pacific Railway (the Beach Train). Indeed, the Boardwalk continues to be a major target for railroad passenger projects and attempts in 1996, 2012, and more recently have all focused primarily on bringing seasonal tourist traffic to the Boardwalk via rail. The current owner of the Santa Cruz Branch, the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, has a vision for passenger service in the county, and the common carrier, Progressive Rail, included restoring the Sun Tan Special as a part of its sales pitch in 2017. While Casino Station may be long gone, the idea of such a station at the Boardwalk lives on in the memory and minds of many.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:

36.9643N, 122.0195W

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is still a thriving amusement park sitting beside the original location of the Casino flag-stop. The location of the flag-stop sign itself is at the end of the island across from the loading dock between the Casino and Neptune's Kingdom. A flag pole and garbage marks the location almost perfectly.

Citations & Credits:

• Beal, Chandra Moira and Richard A. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk: The Early Years—Never a Dull Moment. Santa Cruz, CA: Pacific Group, 2003.
• Dalbey, Michael. "The Co-Operative Electric Company Santa Cruz, California 1904-1908." Santa Cruz, CA: Researchers Anonymous, 2017.
• Dunn, Geofrey. "The Boardwalk Empire." Good Times, 27 June 2012. Accessed 6 July 2012. http://www.gtweekly.com/index.php/good-times-cover-stories/3960-the-boardwalk-empire.html.
• Machado, Gay. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk: A Century by the Sea. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 2007.
• Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Coast. Santa Cruz, CA: Zayante Publishing, forthcoming.

Curiosities: The Beach before the Boardwalk

There was a time once when the Santa Cruz Main Beach was simply a beach. No wharves or piers marred its scenic views. No buildings stood upon its sand dunes and drifts. No roads or rails crossed its ill-defined shores. And the San Lorenzo River meandered lazily over the flats on its slow march to the Monterey Bay. It was a simpler time. The Spanish colonists and Mexican settlers did little to change this landscape, sticking instead to the interior where they were safe from the exposed coastline where pirates and Russian fur traders prowled. Only the Americans were bold enough to erect permanent buildings on the hill above the mouth of the San Lorenzo River, and even they did so slowly and cautiously.

The Neptune Baths with a Pacific Avenue Street Railroad horsecar parked outside, ca 1890. [University of California, Santa Cruz, Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

Despite a three-quarters-mile-long beach dominating the Santa Cruz waterfront, bathing was simply not something people did in the mid-nineteenth century. European modesty beginning around the time of the Protestant Reformation led to a clamping down on any public bathing, indoors or otherwise, and it became the realm of children alone for over three centuries. Near the middle of the 1800s, however, doctors and scientists began to investigate the medical benefits of cleanliness and bathing. Salt water especially was thought to have medicinal properties and heated fresh- and salt-water baths began to pop up, first in the United Kingdom and then in the United States. Sulfur-rich hot springs that did not require artificial heating led to some of the first resorts. Nonetheless, there was much resistance to public bathhouses of any nature, especially on the East Coast. On the West Coast, where there was a distinct lack of any such society in the 1860s, the idea of public bathing was less repugnant. Indeed, Santa Cruz may have hosted the first purpose-built public bathhouses in California.

The Liddell family's Long Branch Bath Houses between Pacific Avenue and Main Street at the Santa Cruz Main Beach, 1876. [California State University, Chico – colorized using DeOldify]

The precise chronology of events is unclear but tradition has it that Elizabeth Liddell, alongside her daughter Mary, opened the first bathhouse on the Santa Cruz Main Beach in time for the 1864 summer season. The timeline for this makes sense since Elizabeth's husband, George Liddell, had just died in April of that year leaving her with her eight children to manage the estate. Presumably, their home served as the core of the new bathhouse and was expanded over subsequent years to add an ever-growing number of "bathing houses"—changing rooms with showers—to the facility.

The Liddell bathhouse below the Ocean View House and between the two wharves with the other beach bathing facilities in the distance, ca 1878. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

The home was located between Pacific Avenue and Main Street just above the beach, with the bathing houses erected atop the beach. Once son, Robert, appears to have been largely uninvolved with the property and served as the chief of police for the city in the 1870s. However, his brother, William, operated the bathhouse throughout the 1870s. In 1876, following a thorough refurbishment and upgrade to make it resemble a popular New Jersey bathhouse, William reopened the family's estate as the Long Branch Bath Houses. The facility featured over a hundred bathing houses and sold bathing suits imported from New York.

The Railroad Wharf with the Long Branch Bath Houses beside it and the Douglas House overhead beside the homes of the Liddell family, ca 1885. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

Around the same time that the Liddells were setting up camp along the waterfront, John Leibbrandt brought to the beach the city's first portable bath sheds. These tall, stubby wagons gave people the ability to change into bathing suits and enter the water without undermining their modesty. When a bather was finished, they climbed back into the wagon and were hauled up above the high tide line on skids while they changed back into their day clothes in the privacy of the closed interior. Although clunkier in many ways, these portable changing rooms provided the highest degree of modesty for bathers since they would never be seen out of the water in their bathing suits.

Lillie King in a buggy on the Santa Cruz Main Beach, 1882. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

The popularity of the bathing sheds eventually led Leibbrandt to open his own bathhouse in 1872. The Leibbrandt Bath House was a modest establishment that included thirty bathing houses with heated showers. Bathing suits could be rented and those not comfortable swimming could use a rope that was connected to an anchored raft offshore. Leibbrandt also erected additional bathing facilities near the mouth of the San Lorenzo River in 1876. John was joined in the operation of the bathhouses by his brother David  around 1879. Another brother, Jacob, periodically joined them until 1891, when he relocated to the family tract across from the bathhouse and took the lead in managing the facilities.

The Santa Cruz Beach with buggies on the beach and the Leibbrandt bathhouses in the background, 1882. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

A third bathhouse arrived at the beach in time for the 1879 summer season. Albert F. Wheaton was a recent East Coast arrival in March 1879 when he applied for a permit to erect and operate a bathhouse at the beach. The structure he proposed was to be 40' x 150', two stories in hight, with the first floor comprised largely of 100 bathing houses. In addition, the first floor would contain two warmed pools, one for men and one for women, and a large dance hall. The second floor was to be devoted to a second hall and a saloon. The bathhouse would be surrounded with a veranda with broad steps down to the beach. Wheaton's Bath House opened the first week of June with a great celebration sponsored by several of the city's elite. Unfortunately, on August 10, a fire struck the building and partially destroyed it, prompting a legal battle over fire insurance claims that lasted for four years. The structure was never rebuilt.

The boardwalk between Pacific Avenue and the bathhouses with people strolling, ca 1885. [Derek R. Whaley – colorized using DeOldify]

Access to these bathhouses evolved over time. The Liddells, who owned a house just around the corner from Pacific Avenue, didn't require any formal pathway to get to their establishment. But as more bathhouses sprang up further down the beach, access became more difficult. The popularity of the Leibbrandt bathhouse convinced the city to finance the erection of a wood plank walkway from the bottom of Pacific Avenue to the bathhouse around 1874. It was later extended all the way to the San Lorenzo River. The trio of bathhouses that were erected at the beach during this period proved immensely popular with hundreds of bathers visiting every weekend in the summer months despite poor access by rail, ship, or wagon. The beach boardwalk became a core part of the beach scene, with people strolling on it daily to access the attractions.

Members of the Leibbrandt family and other staff outside the Dolphin Bath House, 1888. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

The railroad's relationship with the Santa Cruz Beach began relatively early. The tracks of the Santa Cruz Railroad first crossed the beach around 1875, when a fill and long trestle began just east of the bathhouses and grew increasingly high as it approached the San Lorenzo River. Construction of the line, in fact, required a slight shifting of Leibbrandt's bathhouse. These tracks were acquired by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1881 and standard-gauged in 1883, but there was no formal railroad service to the bathhouses at this time, although there were likely picnic trains on occasion. When Southern Pacific leased the South Pacific Coast Railway in 1887, the company began using the latter's Santa Cruz Beach Station at the bottom of Pacific Avenue and the foot of the Railroad Wharf for transfers with the other railroad and the horsecar line. This was the only official railroad passenger service at the beach for over twenty years.

Two Pacific Avenue Street Railroad horsecars on the beachfront, ca 1885. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

The first horsecar line to run to the bathhouses was operated by the Santa Cruz Railroad beginning in 1875 where it operated from the Lower Plaza to the San Lorenzo River. The company incorporated as the City Railroad in 1877 but continued to use the Santa Cruz Railroad's tracks. In early 1877, the Pacific Avenue Street Railroad horsecar line installed its own tracks to the bathhouses and river, directly competing with the other line. The two continued in competition until 1882, when the City Railroad shut down following the Santa Cruz Railroad's acquisition by Southern Pacific.

The Santa Cruz Beach with two Santa Cruz Electric Railway streetcars, ca 1900. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

In 1891, the Santa Cruz, Garfield Park & Capitola Electric Railway installed tracks down Beach Street and up Riverside Avenue, paralleling the existing Southern Pacific Railroad and Pacific Avenue horsecar tracks. A year later, the company merged with the Pacific Avenue line to become the Santa Cruz Electric Railway and their tracks were shortly afterwards consolidated into a single line. In mid-1903, a new competitor, the Santa Cruz, Capitola & Watsonville Railway, added its own tracks down Beach Street, resurrecting the old feud over access to the bathhouses, but this was short-lived as all of the streetcar lines consolidated the next year into the Union Traction Company and the redundant tracks were once more removed.

Construction of the Railroad Wharf, with the Liddells' bathhouse below the Douglas House between the two wharves, 1875. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

The erection of the Railroad Wharf at the end of Pacific Avenue by the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad in 1876 likely led to the demise of the Long Branch Bath Houses. The beach in front of the bathhouse became completely surrounded by industrial piers, with the Powder Works Wharf and Railroad Wharf flanking it and a serpentine connecting wharf linking the two together offshore from 1877. In 1879, William Liddell reported a reduction in revenue to the renamed Liddell Bath House, although the facility was still listed as operating as late as 1885, after which date he and his bathhouse disappear entirely from newspapers. Photographs show that the facility was entirely gone by the late 1880s.

The Neptune Baths soon after opening, 1884. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

In late 1883, Captain C. F. Miller purchased the old Wheaton Bath House site beside the Leibbrandt baths and hired Charles Kaye to construct a new modern facility. In January 1884, Kaye outlined his plans. The new structure would contain fifty bathing houses, each 8' x 10' in size, some of which would contain heated showers. The bathhouse would also feature a large dancing hall with an adjacent reception room and a dining room. The whole structure was estimated to cost $10,000. An additional $2,000 was provided for amusements across the railroad tracks, including the Steam Flying Horses, a steam-powered carousel. Miller's Neptune Baths opened on May 20, 1884 and quickly became the dominant presence at the Santa Cruz waterfront. Leibbrandt, in response to the new rival next door, even renamed his facility the Dolphin Bath House to match the nautical theme of his neighbor.

Steam Flying Horses at the Santa Cruz Beach across the tracks from the Dolphin Baths, ca 1885. Photo by Romanzo E. Wood. [CSU Chico – colorized using DeOldify]

Another development in 1884 was the opening in April of the Free Museum, operated by J. F. Parker. This structure—likely a relocated home—sat on the beach between the two bathhouses for nearly twenty years selling refreshments, confectionaries, coffee and tea, cold lunches, and snacks, alongside a curio shop selling mostly of sealife, shells, and interesting-shaped rocks, in addition to fireworks! At the end of its first season, the building was moved onto pilings to better secure it from high tides and the whole structure was reinforced and renovated. To attract customers, Parker installed a large lighted sign on the roof that read MUSEUM, and he painted the words "Free Museum" on the rooftop on either side. The next year, Parker expanded the small cafe into a full restaurant. Fights over limited space caused the museum to be moved three times between 1887 and 1893 until Parker finally decided to relocate entirely to Garfield (Woodrow) Avenue near the Vue de l'Eau on the West Side.

The Dolphin Bath House with driftwood seats at the Santa Cruz Beach, ca 1885. 

[UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

A more friendly rivalry also developed in the 1880s between the two bathhouse, which ranged from swimming races between swim instructors to an escalation in the scale and scope of the establishments. Both bathhouses expanded into running circus-like water carnival performances, many of which used a floating dock that sat offshore from the Neptune Baths. They began running rival dances and balls. They both hired the popular Hastings band for performances and attempted to attract high profile visitors. The water tanks and heaters for the showers and indoor pools were relocated to provide more space for bathing houses and water features such as private hot pools. The Leibbrandts even erected a swing set for children on the beach.

The Santa Cruz Beach with the Neptune Baths, Plunge Baths, and Dolphin Baths along the shore and swimmers in the water, ca 1900. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

The rivalry softened when Captain Miller's sons, Ralph and Albert E., took over daily operations of the Neptune Baths in the late 1880s. Indeed, in 1891, the Leibbrandt brothers partnered with the Miller brothers, as well as a local financier, A. P. Hotaling, to create a massive indoor saltwater plunge pool between the Neptune and Dolphin bathhouses. Designed by L. B. R. Olive, the structure was intended to rival other great bathhouses of the West Coast including the Sutro, Piedmont, and Olympic houses. The budget was set at $25,000 and Olive was only given two months to build the behemoth structure.

The Plunge Baths towering over the beach with tents and bathers, ca 1895. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

Olive did not disappoint. The final facility was an Eastlake-style two-story building measuring 60' x 150'. It included a 40' x 90' heated salt water plunge pool kept at 83˚F as its centerpiece. The pool was 9' deep in the center with a 4' depth on one side and a 2.5' depth on the other. The entire pool was tiled using the latest technology and design. The water arrived in the pool via an intricate piping system that ended with a waterfall on one side of the pool.

The Plunge Baths beside a covered patio with bathers in the tide zone, ca 1895. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

On the first floor, Olive surrounded the pool with 100 dressing rooms and a promenade. A cafe, billiards room, and refreshment area was also on the first floor. A handsome fireplace completed the arrangement. The second floor also hosted 100 changing rooms as well as an observation gallery, another cafe and billiards room, and a bandstand. At the top of the building was added a small observatory surrounded in glass. The entire interior was decorated with palms, flowers, vines, and exotic plants in an attempt to give it a tropical feel. Springboards were also kept around the pool and a flying trapeze hung from overhead for water carnival performers to use. The Leibbrandt & Miller Plunge Baths opened around July 15, 1893.

The Santa Cruz Beach from the Railroad Wharf, ca 1900. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]

In addition to these activities, for two years from 1895 to 1896, the San Lorenzo River was dammed in order to create a lake for a Venetian Water Carnival. The carnival was the brandchild of James Philip Smith, owner of the Santa Cruz Electric Railway, who wanted to help revive the community after the disastrous Pacific Avenue fire of 1894. The carnival ran for a week and featured masked balls, fireworks, an aquatic parade, and a crowing ceremony for the queen of the carnival. Various sporting activities were also held throughout the week. Smith paid to have extravagant electrical lighting strung up throughout the area to allow for nighttime events and to advertise his streetcar line. The event proved popular enough that it was revived twice, with the last carnival held in 1912.

The Santa Cruz Main Beach during a normal summer day, ca 1893. [Bancroft Library – colorized using DeOldify]

Despite the runaway popularity of the Santa Cruz Main Beach, Southern Pacific delayed establishing a formal stop for the bathhouses. It was only in late 1902, around the time that Fred W. Swanton was gathering funds and support for his Santa Cruz Beach & Tent City Corporation, that a flagstop appeared exclusively in agency books under the name Bandero, a reference to the bandstand at the beach. The stop remained unpublished on company timetables until September 1, 1907, when the railroad formally established Casino Station—named after Swanton's newly-opened grand casino—as the stop for the beach. But that is another story...

Citations & Credits:

• Beal, Richard and Chandra Moira. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk: The Early Years - Never a Dull Moment. Santa Cruz, CA: The Pacific Group, 2003.
• McCaleb, Charles S. Surf, Sand & Streetcars: A Mobile History of Santa Cruz, California. Second edition. Santa Cruz, CA: Museum of Art & History, 2005.
• Machado, Gay. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk: A Century by the Sea. Santa Cruz, CA: Ten Speed Press, 2007.
• Santa Cruz Sentinel. Miscellaneous articles, 1865-1903.
• Santa Cruz Surf. Miscellaneous articles, 1883-1903.
• Southern Pacific Railroad. Various records.