Car Stops: Arana Gulch and the Catholic Cemetery

The eastern limits of the municipal area of Santa Cruz—once comprising the City of Santa Cruz and the Township of Branciforte—have long been set at Arana Gulch, a depression formed by Arana Creek, which has its source far up Hidden Valley Road. The County Road—now Soquel Avenue—snakes through the gulch, splitting at its midpoint to head toward Soquel or Capitola. On the east side of the gulch is Old Holy Cross Cemetery, which was established in 1873 as an overflow cemetery for Catholic residents of the county. Most of the people buried at the old Santa Cruz Mission cemetery were reinterred here in 1885 when the Holy Cross Church was built. All of these facts contributed to the idea that any street railroad system on the East Side of the San Lorenzo River should extend to at least Arana Gulch.

An East Santa Cruz Street Railroad horsecar running along Atlantic Avenue with a view north across Wood's Lagoon and up Arana Gulch, ca 1892. [UC Santa Cruz Digital Collections – colorized using MyHeritage]

The gulch was named after José Arana, who was originally granted Rancho Potrero y Rincón de San Pedro Regaldo by California Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado on August 15, 1842. This 92-acre land grant sat north and northeast of Mission Santa Cruz on the mission's former pastureland. Arana moved to the west side of his namesake gulch around the time that California became a state in 1850. He lived there until his death on March 1, 1868. East of Arana Creek was Rancho Arroyo del Rodeo, originally owned by the family of José Antonio Rodriguez but sold to John Daubenbiss and John Hames in 1845. Prior to Arana's relocation to the area, the depression had been known as Rodriguez Gulch by English-speaking settlers and retained that name into the 1850s.

An East Santa Cruz Street Railroad horsecar on Soquel Avenue near Cayuga Street, ca 1893. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries]

By the late 1880s, the population density of Santa Cruz had grown such that easier means of transportation were required for people who needed to commute daily from the outskirts. While horse-driven street railroads had reached the West Side by the late 1870s, the East Side only had a brief service from 1876 to early 1881 when the City Railroad, running on the Santa Cruz Railroad's tracks, operated to Railroad (Seabright) Avenue. Following a nearly decade-long lapse in service, William Ely, a well-respected East Side community member, petitioned the Santa Cruz Common Council on November 4, 1889 to extend a horsecar line along Soquel Avenue to the western ledge above Arana Gulch. The council approved the franchise on December 3 and the East Santa Cruz Street Railroad was incorporated a week later.

East Santa Cruz Street Railroad No. 4 on Soquel Avenue, ca 1895. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries]

Ely was quick to build the line to Cayuga Street and it officially opened on May Day 1890. But rather than extending the line to Arana Gulch, as promised and contractually obligated to do, Ely wanted to redirect the line down Cayuga to Seabright Beach. At a tense meeting with the Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors on May 10, Ely was given permission to build this new branch line, so long as he completed the track to Arana Gulch first. He was given a month to resume building the track the requisite 4,000 feet to its agreed terminus.

The track to Arana Gulch and the Catholic Cemetery was finally completed on April 17, 1891. Although it was completed with no fanfare, the Santa Cruz Surf noted that it brought the streetcar line one step closer to Soquel and Capitola. It also noted that the fact that the streetcar line ended at the cemetery meant people could more easily visit their deceased friends and relatives. Why it was actually important is unclear—it may have been done to ensure East Siders that they were not forgotten. While the streetcar tracks were being installed down the County Road, the Board of Supervisors used the construction as an opportunity to fill, regrade, and otherwise improve the main road to Soquel. In 1894, plans were announced to extend either the Arana Gulch or Seabright branches to Capitola, but the economic conditions of the time put this project on hold. 

East Santa Cruz Street Railroad listed for sale, Santa Cruz Surf, October 22, 1901.

By the end of the century, it was clear that the future of the line was in electrification or abandonment. Fred Swanton, former owner of the Big Creek Electric Company, already controlled the city's other railroad, the Santa Cruz Electric Railway, and bought a controlling stake in the East Santa Cruz Railroad in the late 1890s. In May 1902, he received permission from the Board of Supervisors to extend the Arana Gulch Branch to Soquel and Capitola, but a better opportunity presented itself. The owners of the Santa Cruz, Capitola & Watsonville Railway Company, which planned to build an electric streetcar line between the named places, offered to buy the aging horse-railway. Swanton and Ely agreed to the sale in August 1902. Electrification of the line was approved by the Board of Supervisors on January 6, 1903, with a proviso that the Arana Gulch track be electrified no later than October 15. By the time the Union Traction Company consolidated all of its predecessors on September 2, 1904, the Arana Gulch Branch had been electrified for nearly a year.

A Union Traction Company electric streetcar near DeLaveaga Park, ca 1909. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries]

Very little is actually said of the Arana Gulch and Catholic Cemetery stops. A notice in June 1895 stated that a turntable was to be installed at Arana Gulch, but it is unknown if this ever happened. In January 1902, a letter to the Sentinel reflected on a recent trip the writer took on the horsecar line to Arana Gulch and down Haynes Hill, presumably the name for the western slope of Arana Gulch. This is the only concrete evidence that the streetcar line actually descended into the gulch itself, though there is no evidence it climbed the eastern embankment. Service to Arana Gulch was repeatedly curtailed during years with tight budgets, with the branch being closed most of 1905. However, the line was not abandoned and surveyors working for the Ocean Shore Railway Company hoped to use the Arana Gulch Branch as its mainline between Santa Cruz and Watsonville.

Perhaps as a reflection of this newfound optimism, the tracks beyond Cayuga Street were replaced with heavier rail in June 1906 in anticipation of the line's extension to Soquel. At the same time, most of the network was upgraded to standard-gauge, which left the short Arana Gulch Branch in a difficult situation. Beginning June 28, horsecars once more plied the branch line from Cayuga to Park Way, not because the branch wasn't electric, but because the new standard-gauge system was not compatible with the older narrow-gauge electric cars. The 160-acre property of Adolph Hagemann, which on the western rim of the gulch, marked the terminus, suggesting that trackage into the gulch, if any ever existed, was abandoned no later than this point. Service to Arana Gulch was every half hour from 7:20 a.m. to 6:20 p.m., and the Evening Sentinel reported that the line was "doing a good business." On June 3, 1907, the Board of Supervisors approved the extension of the line to Soquel and Capitola and its electrification. However, that same day the Board of Supervisors permitted the construction of an entirely new branch line along Water Street and Morrissey Boulevard to DeLaveaga Park.

A woman waiting for a Union Traction Company streetcar at Morrissey Boulevard, December 1, 1918. [University of California, Santa Cruz]

This new line effectively rendered the Arana Gulch Branch redundant. When the DeLaveaga trackage reached the old Arana Gulch track on October 15, 1908, it seems certain that the two lines were linked and the old Cayuga to Morrissey trackage put out of service, though it was not abandoned at this time. The trackage from the new branch along Soquel Avenue to Park Way must have been upgraded to standard gauge at this time. Plans were still in place to eventually extend this trackage to Soquel, while another scheme intended to take the track up Park Way into DeLaveaga Park, where it could more easily reach Laveaga Heights at the top of the park. At the Park Way entrance, a large entry sign would be installed.

Sign welcoming people to the City of Santa Cruz on Soquel Avenue at Park Way, March 1931. [UC Santa Cruz]

For some reason, this Park Way route was never built despite the newspaper spending many words on it throughout 1910. The Morrissey track to DeLaveaga was electrified in late 1910, signalling the end of plans to create a grand entrance at Park Way. Meanwhile, Union Traction quietly abandoned its Cayuga Street to Morrissey track in October 1911 to allow it to be concreted for automobile traffic. When precisely service ended to the bottom of Park Way overlooking Arana Gulch is unknown, but it was likely around this same time. A decade after the stop was abandoned, a large sign was installed over the road at Park Way welcoming people to the City of Santa Cruz.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:

Arana Gulch: 36.981635, -121.998820 (speculative)
Catholic Cemetery: 36.983216, -121.994716 (speculative)

There are no known photographs of either stop's shelter, assuming any such structure was built. To make matters even more frustrating, the precise locations of the streetcar stops for Arana Gulch and the Catholic Cemetery remain uncertain. The Arana Gulch stop was somewhere in the vicinity of Park Way according to multiple sources. Since the County Road crossed Arana Creek in this section, it is plausible that the streetcar line did as well, in which case the stop for the Catholic Cemetery was likely the Capitola Road Extension, which was originally Capitola Road. However, if it did not climb to the top of the eastern hillside, then it probably stopped across from today's La Fonda Avenue, where there was a footpath to the cemetery. The cemetery itself closed in 1946 and fell into disrepair for half a century before volunteers restored it. The area immediately south of the stop sites is now Arana Gulch Open Space, which includes walking trails to Woods Lagoon and the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor.

Citations & Credits:

• Clark, Donald Thomas. Santa Cruz County Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary. 2nd edition. Scotts Valley, CA: Kestrel Press, 2008.
• McCaleb, Charles S. Surf, Sand & Streetcars: A Mobile History of Santa Cruz, California. 2nd edition. Santa Cruz, CA: Museum of Art & History, 2005.

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.

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.

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.