Curiosities: Stagecoach Lines

Before the arrival of the railroad to the Monterey Bay, people used other modes of transportation to traverse the Santa Cruz Mountains and reach San Francisco. For some, the primary methods were steamships that traveled up and down the California coastline. For others, the security of solid ground led them to choose the stagecoaches that regularly crossed the mountains. In the 1850s and early 1860s, stage travel was almost exclusively via Watsonville, San Juan, Gilroy, and Santa Clara, but the completion of the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad in January 1864 made the prospect of a shorter route directly from Santa Cruz to San José more promising.

An example of a six-horse Concord stage, at New Almaden, 1896. Courtesy Laurence E. Bulmore Collection, History San José – colorized using MyHeritage]

By 1860, a turnpike ran from Los Gatos to the Summit, which prompted Santa Cruz locals to invest in two rival turnpikes on the Santa Cruz County side. The older one, operated by Charles “Mountain Charlie” McKiernan and Hyram Scott, meandered down the Summit via Bean Creek and Branciforte Creek. The other followed Soquel Creek to Soquel and then continued along the county road to Santa Cruz. The earliest known stagecoach drivers to run on these roads were H. W. Pope and a Mr. Rockefeller. William H. Hall, owner of a San José stage line, soon hired both drivers and set the cost of travel at $5.00 per passenger. The slightly shorter distance and the higher patronage led to the abandonment of the Soquel Turnpike and its conversion into a free road, with little public funding to maintain it. Stages left Santa Cruz three days a week at 1 a.m. to meet the steamer Sophie McLean at Alviso, where it would transport passengers for San Francisco.

Stereograph of the Pacific Ocean House in Santa Cruz, with a buggy and 4-horse Concord stagecoach outside, 1866. Photography by Lawrence and Houseworth. [Courtesy California State Library – colorized using MyHeritage]

The completion of the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad caused Hall to rethink his business. Why take a steamer from Alviso to San Francisco when you could take the train? George T. Bromley saw the potential of such a relationship. In 1865, Bromley had served as the manager of the Continental Hotel on Market Street in San José. This brought him into regular contact with railroad customers traveling between San Francisco and San José, and also presumably with people wishing to continue over the mountains to Santa Cruz, where ocean swimming in the summer months was beginning to take off and walks through the redwoods were all the rage. His position as a successful proprietor caught the interest of influential people in Santa Cruz, who hired him in March 1866 to become the first manager of the Pacific Ocean House on Pacific Avenue. The hotel opened on April 4 with a grand ball attended by all of the city’s elite.

Advertisement for the San Jose Stage Line, published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel March 2, 1867.

The difficulty remained bringing people to Santa Cruz, and although Bromley claimed that the hotel was never in want of customers, he still saw the potential of a stage line. He worked with Hall and William Reynolds of the Auzerais House in San José to organize the San Jose Stage Line, which would use the Pacific Ocean House as its southern terminus. Reynolds acquired three Concord coaches for the line and 40 horses, divided into nine teams of six each, plus spares, which would be stationed at waypoints along the line to ensure no horse became overworked on the run. For those seeking higher class accommodation on the journey, Reynolds also contracted with local coach suppliers to rent higher-quality coaches. Service began in mid-February 1867. Coaches left Santa Cruz daily at 7:30 a.m. for Santa Clara or San José, where passengers would meet the 6:00 p.m. train to San Francisco. Through fare was set at $5.00 for First Class travel on the train, or $3.00 for Second Class, with a set amount of $3.00 for travel via stage just to San José or Santa Clara.

Advertisement for the San Jose Stage Line, published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel May 4, 1867.

On May 1, the line was rebranded the San Francisco and Santa Cruz Railroad and Stage Line. Two coaches now traveled daily in each direction across the Summit. Coaches in Santa Clara received passengers from the 8:10 a.m. train and brought them to Santa Cruz by 5:30 p.m. Passengers heading the opposite direction caught the stage at the Pacific Ocean House at 9:00 a.m. and arrived in time for the 4:00 p.m. train in Santa Clara. An advertisement on May 4 noted that the ticket agent at the Santa Clara railroad depot was H. D. Polhemus, while the agent in San Francisco in the General Stage Office was William G. Roberts. Although the names of most of the drivers are unknown, the Sentinel noted in February 1868 that George Heller was a cautious and responsible driver.

The Pacific Ocean House passed through several owners from November 1867 throughout 1868, but Hall remained owner and Reynolds superintendent of the stage line. The business, however, appears to have suffered over the year and likely shut down for an extended period over the winter. Service resumed in May, but Hall allowed the reputation of the business to deteriorate. Reynolds became injured at some point and Hall took direct leadership over the firm, during which time several accidents occurred and customer satisfaction reached an all-time low. No longer interested in running the company, Hall sold the firm for $10,000 in December 1869 to William E. McFarland, an experienced stagecoach driver and manager.

Advertisement for the San Francisco, San Jose and Santa Cruz Railroad and Stage Line, published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel December 11, 1869.

McFarland restored the company’s relationships with the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad and the Pacific Ocean House, via its new proprietor Henry Skinner, and renamed the company the San Francisco, San Jose and Santa Cruz Railroad and Stage Line. Regular service resumed immediately under the capable hands of David R. Green and Con. R. De Nise. In April 1870, a half interest in the firm was acquired by a W. J. Conner, formerly of the Watsonville Stage Company.

Advertisement for the Stage and Express Company, published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel June 3, 1871.

As McFarland’s company was finding its footing, a rival appeared on January 8, 1870. This new firm was formally incorporated as the Santa Cruz and San Jose Stage and Express Company, a joint stock company, in May. The company hired as its drivers Heller and Silas Cambridge, two “old and experienced stagemen” who “have never met with an accident, are temperate men, and faithful to their profession.” Henry Whinnery served as superintendent of the line, with S. A. Bartlett appointed president and Edward Bender secretary. McFarland’s line ceased operating in October 1870, likely for the winter season, but it never resumed and appears to have been acquired by its rival. In a notice regarding delinquent subscribers to the Stage and Express Company published in the Sentinel in March 1871, McFarland is named, suggesting he had thrown in with the competition. Other subscribers included Hyram Scott, Charles McKiernan, and the Porter brothers. At a meeting on August 12, McKiernan replaced Bartlett as president and Peter Hinds took over for Whinery as superintendent.

Advertisement for Paddack's Opposition Stage Line, published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel January 28, 1871.

Opposition to the Stage and Express Company arose in early January 1871 from Isaac E. Paddack, owner of the hotel in Lexington. Tired of the high prices charged by the stage line, he purchased 29 horses and a few Concord coaches and began running Paddack’s Opposition Stage Line between Santa Cruz and Santa Clara via the Soquel Turnpike. He hired as drivers Josh W. Gray and Tom Mann, who both had worked for trans-mountain stage lines in the past. Paddack’s plan worked—by the end of the month, the Stage and Express Company had ceased running passenger coaches over the hill. The situation was resolved quickly, though, when Hall returned to the business a third time and purchased both lines in early February. The Opposition line survived under that name until April 1, when all advertisements for any stage service disappeared from Santa Cruz newspapers.

Advertisement for the Watsonville Stage Company, published in The Pajaronian March 3, 1870.

There was less drama between the stagecoach lines that ran between Santa Cruz and Watsonville. In the early years, this route was the only feasible means of traveling from Santa Cruz to San Francisco until steamships almost entirely displaced this method of travel in the late 1850s. Throughout the 1860s, ships and stagecoaches over the mountains negated the need for a Santa Cruz to Watsonville stage line, though one did exist. The Watsonville Stage Company, initially run by F. C. Adams, began service around 1861. By 1870, it ran stages to San Juan, Monterey, Salinas, and other locations in Monterey County. Gilroy, however, was the primary destination for travelers because it was there that the Santa Clara and Pajaro Valley Railroad ended from March 1869. W. J. Conner managed the company at this time.

Advertisement for the Watsonville Stage Company, published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel June 20, 1874.

In December 1870, the Watsonville Stage Company was reincorporated under the same name, with ownership passing to H. F. Jackson, A. W. Billings, and W. T. Warren. On November 27, 1871, the Southern Pacific Railroad reached Pajaro. Tom Sutton was the best-known driver on the line and its popularity earned it the nickname “The People’s Line.” A. J. Jennings served as both Pajaro Depot agent and secretary of the firm. A stakeholder, Scott & Company, took sole control in April 1873, at which time the Pacific Ocean House became the Santa Cruz agency for the company.

Advertisement for the Santa Cruz Railroad Stage Line, published in the Watsonville Pajaronian April 15, 1875.

In March 1874, an opposition line, capitalizing on the popularity of the railroad, was formed named the Santa Cruz Railroad Stage Company. The Pajaronian only mentioned one driver for this line, Syd Conover. The stage left from the St. Charles Hotel in Santa Cruz at 7:30 a.m. daily to meet with the morning north- and southbound trains, and would return in the afternoon upon the arrival of the late train from San Francisco. Through tickets from Santa Cruz to San Francisco were available at the hotel from the company’s office. The presence of rival lines kept prices down but there simply was not enough traffic to warrant both lines. In mid-April 1875, the Santa Cruz Railroad Stage Company and the Watsonville Stage Company were purchased by Danforth Porter, who merged them into one service. He continued running stages until May 1876 when the completed Santa Cruz Railroad rendered the stage service unnecessary.

Advertisement for the Pioneer Stage Company, published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel September 2, 1871.

The completion of the railroad to Pajaro and the stages that connected Santa Cruz to Pajaro briefly stole the thunder from the trans-mountain stage line and forced it to lower costs and reduce frequence. Nevertheless, people still wanted a line through the mountains. In August 1871, McFarland joined with George L. Colgrove (or Colegrove), a driver on one of the old lines, and J. B. Crandall, a veteran of California staging, to form the Pioneer Stage Company. While lacking a relationship with the Southern Pacific Railroad, the new company put up a fierce competition. They ran their stages over the Soquel Turnpike rather than Mountain Charlie’s toll road, and operated out of the Santa Cruz House and the New York Exchange Hotel in San José. Tickets were set at one dollar. In January 1872, George Colgrove & Company took over management of the Stage and Express Company and the two businesses combined, running as the Pioneer Stage and Express Company. The Pacific Ocean House, still run by Skinner, became the southern terminus with stops at Paddack’s hotel for dinner on all northbound stages. The business also acquired the United States Mail contract for the Summit and Scott’s Valley.

Advertisement for the Pioneer Stage and Express Company, published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel June 20, 1874.

Colgrove’s business remained steady for the next eight years. He and his partner and co-driver, H. Ward, used three Troy coaches, an older and smaller style more suitable to narrow mountain roads with tight turns. The route shifted over the years. In 1873 after the merger, it turned to Mountain Charlie’s toll road. Then, in March 1875, the partners began a second route from Felton to Santa Clara via Boulder Creek and Lexington, with the main route moving back to Soquel and then running to Patchen on the Summit and Alma, before joining at Lexington with the other route. They abandoned this ambitious dual system in September due to low ridership and reverted to the Mountain Charlie route. Around this time, Colgrove hired another driver, John Dowd, he remained with the company until the end.

Advertisement for the Pioneer Stage and Express Company, published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel August 24, 1878.

Advertisements for the Pioneer Stage Line disappeared after June 3, 1876, but service continued nonetheless. Late in the same month, Ward and Colgrove supplemented their usual coaches with pleasure carriages, more akin to railroad cars than traditional stagecoaches, though less weather resistant. These allowed passengers a broad view of the scenic landscape as they meandered through the Santa Cruz Mountains. On June 1, 1878, the company shifted its northern station to Los Gatos, where the South Pacific Coast Railroad had established its southern terminus as construction began through the mountains. Colgrove worked closely with railroad management to turn his stage line into a replacement service for the incomplete section of track, running dual stages to Santa Cruz and Soquel. Ward had left the business by this time and Chris C. Coffin had taken over as co-owner and driver.

Advertisement for the Pioneer Stage and Express Company, published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel April 26, 1879.

The company shifted its terminus further south to Alma House near Lexington in August, and then moved it to Wright’s Station in April 1879, thereby making the travel time between San Francisco and Santa Cruz only six hours. All coaches ran via Soquel after this point due to the terminus’s closer proximity to the Soquel Turnpike. This would be the last change in the route for the Pioneer Stage Line. With the impending completion of the South Pacific Coast Railroad in May 1880, Coffin sold his stock and left the company. Colgrove, meanwhile, became a conductor for the railroad. The last regular stagecoach over the mountains ran on May 14, 1880, after which the only scheduled service left in Santa Cruz County was the regular stage to Pescadero.

Citations & Credits:

• Various articles from the Pacific Sentinel, Santa Cruz Sentinel, and Watsonville Pajaronian, 1857–1880

Companies: Maywood Manufacturing Company

Everett W. Eyer liked the name of his hometown so much that he brought it with him to Santa Cruz. In 1931, he began producing commercial-grade unfinished furniture from a small workshop in the south Los Angeles suburb of Maywood. The Great Depression caused prices for finished goods soar making do-it-yourself furniture a popular alternative. Maywood at the time was a hive of activity with small-scale industries. But by the end of the World War II, Eyer found himself crowded out. He decided it was time to find a more spacious venue for his business.

Everett Eyer inspecting an unfinished chair with Ed Scofield, plant superintendent, published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel August 3, 1955. [Colorized using MyHeritage]

It is not known why Eyer chose Santa Cruz over other options, but upon his arrival in December 1949, he rented space in the newly-enlarged Coast Drum & Box Company warehouse on Mission Street near Swift Street. This site was ideal since it already had a Southern Pacific freight spur, allowing him to ship out products quickly and frequently. However, his rental agreement was only for a short time and by early 1951, the Coast Drum & Box Company wanted him out. Eyer, dependent on railroad access for the profitability of his venture, began searching for a new home along the line.

Maywood Manufacturing's new complex under construction on Thompson Avenue, published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel–News August 9, 1951. [Colorized using MyHeritage]

After a few fruitless months of searching, Fred Morris, a member of the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce, convinced Eyer that it would be better to build a custom warehouse beside the tracks. Eyer recruited new partners in his venture—George S. Morden, Reginald Moore “Pat” Booker, and Mannis N. Dick—who together incorporated Maywood Manufacturing Company, Inc. They purchased 5.5 acres of land at 1115 Thompson Avenue in Live Oak from Albert Knauer. The location had room for a 13,200 square foot warehouse and plant, as well as a small lumber mill. A railroad spur was installed around September, directly paralleling the main warehouse. The entire facility cost the firm around $30,000 to build.

Workers preparing a workshop within the new Thompson Avenue facility, published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel–News August 9, 1951. [Colorized using MyHeritage]

The company picked up a new partner in July 1952 in the form of Lottie Henry. Only three years later, though, in April 1955, Morden and Dick left the firm leading Eyer, Booker, and Henry to divide it into three entities: Maywood Manufacturing, Maywood Properties, and Maywood Milling Company. Shortly afterwards, an entirely new board of directors took over, including Kenneth Ferguson, Robert J. Pedder, George A. Andrews, Jr., A. L. McDonnell, and H. R. Ketterbaugh. Eyer remained as manager, guiding the company through its first decade in Santa Cruz. He ran a staff of around 70 employees and produced about 350 separate items, including chairs, desks, cabinets, and dressers. In August 1955, he oversaw a massive $75,000 expansion that saw the addition of over 30,000 additional square feet of space for a conveyor belt system, processing rooms, and a painting annex. The company also expanded into select finished products.

Maywood Manufacturing advertisements, published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel February 10, 1970 (left) and February 28, 1971 (right).

In March 1959, William H. Raley took over all three companies as president and manager. He remained at the helm for nearly two decades. By this point, Maywood was producing over 50,000 pieces of furniture a year and selling from more than 600 stores across Central and Northern California. Raley expanded distribution to Hawaii and Alaska, and began trialing plastic lamination techniques. While most products were produced using ponderosa pine, Raley began importing hardwood from Taiwan for use in stools.

L. S. Melindy and Dale Shultz working a machine at Maywood Manufacturing, published in the Santa Cruz SentinelAugust 3, 1955. [Colorized using MyHeritage]

Maywood was not immune to problems. The company suffered countless burglaries and several fires, though none of them were overly successful or damaging. By the mid-1970s, people were turning away from do-it-yourself furniture. Cheap imported furniture and increased family incomes meant that the target market for Raley’s firm was no longer profitable. On September 2, 1977, he sold the business to two couples, James H. and V. Joyce Elliot, and John T. and Caroline K. Shook, all of San José, but they could not keep it afloat. In early 1980, Maywood went bankrupt and all of its equipment and chattel was put up for auction.

A Maywood Manufacturing worker preparing a dresser for shipment, published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel February 2, 1968. [Colorized using MyHeritage]

In February 1981, Tom Bowers purchased the property and turned the warehouse into Bowers Park, a light industrial business park. It was probably at this time or shortly afterwards that the railroad spur was removed. Among the first occupants of the former warehouse were SAE Automotive Enterprises, Microalgae International Sales Corp (Miscorp), Light Force Spirulina Company, and Santa Cruz Cabinets.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
36.968, -121.971
1115 Thompson Avenue, Live Oak

The site of the Maywood Manufacturing Company freight spur began at the end of Thompson Avenue and went west alongside the south side of the warehouse still located at 1115. All evidence of the spur has been either removed or buried beneath dirt and asphalt. Bowers Park remains in use today and is home to several light industrial firms.

Citations & Credits:

• Santa Cruz Evening News, Santa Cruz Sentinel, Santa Cruz Sentinel–News, and The Daily Breeze, 1931–1981.
• Southern Pacific Railroad records.

Stations: Monte Vista

The Loma Prieta Branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad is the only line in the Santa Cruz Mountains where the terminus was substantially moved. Yet both of its terminal stations were given the same name: Monte Vista. Spanish for “mountain view,” Monte Vista is a romantic name for what was, in reality, a pair of industrial stops surrounded by steep canyon walls far up Aptos Creek. While its second iteration did feature a scenic tourist destination in Five Finger Falls, where the creek cascades down a cliff wall to a pond below, neither stop was intended for regular passenger service.

Southern Pacific No. 80 "Jupiter" with a passenger car at the first Monte Vista, ca 1884. [Courtesy University of California, Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage]

Reflecting the branch’s industrial purpose, Monte Vista did not appear in Southern Pacific agency books until 1887 and employee timetables until 1892. The 0.8-mile-long railroad route from the village of Loma Prieta to the Loma Prieta Lumber Company’s mill at Monte Vista was completed on March 14, 1884, which neatly coincided with the consolidation of the Loma Prieta Railroad and Santa Cruz Railroad into the new Pajaro & Santa Cruz Railroad. The mill itself began operations earlier on June 1, 1884 at a site that straddled Aptos Creek where the creek turns sharply north. The grade down to the mill was steep but another track wrapped above and behind the mill, where logs could easily be dumped into the millpond. Other sidings and spurs ran throughout the mill’s grounds to allow for the efficient loading of flatcars by lumberjacks.

"Jupiter" with a flatcar and two boxcars at the first Monte Vista, ca 1884. [Pajaro Valley Historical Association – colorized using MyHeritage]

When it opened, the mill at Monte Vista was an industrial marvel. It featured Santa Cruz County’s first band saw, which was capable of producing 50,000 board feet of lumber per day. The mill itself required eighteen men to run it, while another 130 men cut trees in the surrounding forest, hauled logs to the mill, and ran the yard. In total, over 200 workers and their families lived within the vicinity of the mill, in cabins on the hillsides and in the boarding house. The cookhouse and manager’s office were also located at the mill on the east bank of the creek. During its first two years in operation, the mill used oxen teams to haul logs to the mill, but it began supplementing these with pack mules and horses from 1885. Also, rather than using old machinery, the company purchased entirely new boilers, pumps, tanks, and saws, which increased the efficiency of the mill and the quality of its products. The mill suffered some problems, though, most notably the small size of its millpond, which restricted the number of logs it could process.

The original mill at Monte Vista, probably just before the start of the 1885 season owing to the lack lumber and the general cleanliness of the yard. [Aptos History Museum – colorized using MyHeritage]

The successes of Monte Vista were short lived. On May 13, 1885, the entire mill burned to the ground only two days after opening for its second season. Only the boilers survived, while $40,000 worth of lumber, rolling stock, and structures were destroyed. Despite a lack of insurance, the company set out to rebuild the structure with what they had available. With finances tight, the company focused on rebuilding the primary mill leaving everything else, such as rebuilding the shingle and planing mills, aside. Logs to both rebuild the mill and become its first stock came from the surviving logs in the millpond. Reconstruction of the mill continued through 1885 while a new mill was built at Pajaro Station to process excess lumber that could not be handled at the ruined Monte Vista site. The latter mill reopened in a limited capacity at some point in July 1885, though it was focused primarily on rough-cut lumber that would be further processed elsewhere.

Hydrography and trackage in the vicinity of the mill at Monte Vista, 1884–1888, by Ronald G. Powell.

The mill at Monte Vista reopened at its previous capacity, albeit with a lower quality of product, on April 27, 1886. At the same time, construction on a new mill south of Loma Prieta began and Chinese grading crews began work extending the Loma Prieta Branch north of Monte Vista. Efficiency gradually increased until mid-June, when a second train was required to transfer lumber between Monte Vista and the mill at Pajaro. When the season closed in October, the mill at Monte Vista was dismantled and its parts moved to the new location on the east bank of Aptos Creek on the site of the company’s Molino shingle mill. Monte Vista would remain as a minor operation until late May or early June 1887, when the last of its machinery was moved to the new mill.

"Jupiter" pushing six flatcars of logs and two excursion cars down the grade from Monte Vista, ca 1888. [Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History – colorized using MyHeritage]

On March 14, 1888, the 1.4-mile-long extension north was completed bringing the Loma Prieta Branch 6.4 miles into the Aptos Forest. Construction to this point was deadly, with several workers dying in explosions and landslides through the narrow-gap known as Hell’s Gate. The extension avoided using expensive prefabricated bridges and instead opted for locally-sourced redwood structures cut by the mill itself. The name Monte Vista was moved to this new terminal station and would remain here for over a decade.

Photo montage showing four scenes around Monte Vista, including (clockwise) a group photograph of fellers and site workers, "Jupiter" collecting logs at a transloading site just north of the camp, oxen milling on the tracks at the camp, and an overview of the camp showing trackage, skid roads, and structures, ca 1889. [Santa Cruz MAH – colorized using MyHeritage]

Unlike its predecessor, the second Monte Vista only supported a shingle mill, used to process splitstuff, and a large worker camp for housing fellers and hauling teams working in the surrounding hills. As such, it had several transloading stations for transferring logs to waiting flatcars, and it had corrals to house oxen, mules, and horses overnight. Southern Pacific kept a small crew and workshop at the station to service rolling stock, while the lumber company had an office there. The camp also featured telephone and telegraph facilities, a Wells Fargo Express and post office, and a company store.

A hunter posing beside Aptos Creek near Monte Vista, ca 1895. [Pajaro Valley Historical Association – colorized using MyHeritage]

Because of the proximity of Five Finger Falls and its status as a tourist destination, Monte Vista became a popular excursion destination for local and Bay Area tourists. Special excursion trains ran up the line every summer, dropping off tourists for an adventurous afternoon or an overnight stay. To support this, a dance hall was erected nearby and a relatively flat area alongside Aptos Creek was converted into a campground. There may have even been a small saloon and hotel as well as guest cabins. Southern Pacific, in response, established a small depot just to the south of the workers’ camp. Visitors could fish, hunt, visit the waterfalls and White’s Lagoon, or walk through the parts of the Aptos Forest that had not yet been visited by the woodcutter’s axe.

Workers posing on logs loaded onto flatcars behind the "Jupiter" at Monte Vista camp, ca 1890. [Courtesy University of California, Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage]

For the remainder of the year, Monte Vista was strictly an industrial worksite. Few families lived around the camp—most remained around Loma Prieta, where the school there could cater to the children’s educational needs. Southern Pacific maintained a water tower at Monte Vista as well as several sidings and spurs to shunt rolling stuck around. Cars operating further up the line may have used a combination of locomotives, steam donkeys, and gravity to shift due to the steep grades. A small millpond sat just north of the camp, probably extending from the pond at Five Finger Falls. Ox teams were used by lumber crews due to the steep meandering gullies that wound their way up the mountainsides. The teams dragged logs chained together to the pond or to one of the transloading sites, depending on their ultimate fate.

Hydrography and trackage in the vicinity of Monte Vista camp, 1888–1902, by Ronald G. Powell.

The camp at Monte Vista operated with several interruptions due to poor market conditions from May 1888 to March 1899. During this time, the track was extended another 0.68 miles to a landing where Aptos Creek breaks into three tributary streams. It may have been continued further, but this is where Southern Pacific officially ended the Loma Prieta Branch. Plans were put in place to extend the line via a tunnel to Hinckley Gulch, but the expensive cost of maintaining the Loma Prieta Branch to Monte Vista combined with the poor economic climate shelved these plans. A further complication came in late March 1899 when a massive storm hit the Santa Cruz Mountains and washed out two bridges and caused several slides on the road to Monte Vista. Though expensive to repair, Southern Pacific restored the line and it continued operating passenger and freight service to Monte Vista until November 20, 1899.

Oxen with a log train at the transloading station just north of Monte Vista camp with few empty flatcars in the foreground, ca 1895. [Porter Family Collection, Santa Cruz MAH – colorized using MyHeritage]

After the annual closure of the mills in 1899, Monte Vista was disestablished as a station by Southern Pacific. The station structure and other facilities were torn down or removed, while the Loma Prieta Lumber Company shut down its recreational facilities, including the dance hall, saloon, and related structures. The tracks themselves were retained in case Southern Pacific decided to build the proposed tunnel to Hinckley Gulch, or some other need arose. However, there was very little timber left to cut in the hills above Monte Vista except that which could not be reached from the camp. By early 1900, Southern Pacific had decided to formally abandon the trackage north the village of Loma Prieta, marking the end of large-scale logging along Aptos Creek.

Postcard of a hunter posing below Five Finger Falls near Monte Vista camp, ca 1892. [Aptos History Museum – colorized using MyHeritage]

Throughout 1901, lumber company crews dismantled Monte Vista and harvested the last timber that could be gathered around the site, either cutting it into splitstuff or hauling the logs to the millpond at the Loma Prieta mill. A small stretch of track at Spring Creek was retained into 1902 to harvest timber around the village’s drinking source, which the company had previously feared would contaminate the village’s water if harvested. After the town’s abandonment in 1901, however, this was no longer a concern. Monte Vista and the entire branch beyond Loma Prieta Station was abandoned on June 30, 1902, and the rail was pulled over the ensuing months. The ties and bridges were left behind to rot and collapse into Aptos Creek.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
First location: 37.03128, -121.8823
Second location: 37.04681, -121.86539

Both locations of Monte Vista can be accessed via the Aptos Creek Trail in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, though neither is obvious to the casual observer. Most of this trail either is or parallels the former Loma Prieta Branch railroad route. To reach the first location, follow the Aptos Creek Trail to the sign noting the epicenter of the Loma Prieta Earthquake and then continue for until the trail takes a decisive turn northward. Where the trail turns is the site of the first Monte Vista, which once spanned both sides of the creek below. There is almost no evidence of this early site and no signage.

To reach the second site, continue following the trail until you reach the Big Slide, which occurred during the 1982 winter storm and washed out much of the former right-of-way. Unfortunately, this slide became worse in 2017 and washed out a log bridge which had previously allowed people to easily cross it. The trail beyond is officially out of commission so continue at your own risk. Crossing the slide is not an easy task due to the steep climbs on both sides. When you reach the other side, find the trail and continue along it until you reach Five Finger Falls. The second Monte Vista is actually behind you on either side of the creek. Some old pilings and felled timber may be seen depending on the conditions, but otherwise the site is unremarkable. There was once signage here, but it is likely now gone due to years of neglect caused by the slide destroying the trail and the collapsed bridge making access difficult.

Citations & Credits:

• Articles from the Inyo Independent, Santa Cruz Sentinel, Santa Cruz Surf, and Santa Cruz Evening News, 1884–1901.
• Hamman, Rick. California Central Coast Railways. Second edition. Santa Cruz, CA: Otter B Books, 2007.
• Powell, Ronald G. The Reign of the Lumber Barons: Part Two of the History of Rancho Soquel Augmentation. Santa Cruz, CA: Zayante Publishing, 2021. [Amazon Associates link]
• Southern Pacific Railroad Agency Books and Employee Timetables, 1887–1902.
• Tenth Annual report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners of the State of California for the Year Ending December 31, 1889. Sacramento: State Office, 1890.

Curiosities: Coastal Shipping

Santa Cruz County did not always have rail services. Before 1876, travel to the remote northern cove of the Monterey Bay was difficult, with roads sometimes impassible and seas too rough to travel. Ultimately, it was ocean-going vessels and coastal steamers that dominated the early Santa Cruz freight industry, resulting in a series of wharves erected at the ends of Bay Street, Pacific Avenue, and Main Street. But what were the companies that used these structures and when and why did they stop visiting the Santa Cruz waterfront?

The SS Roanoke beside the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf on opening day, December 5, 1914. [University of California, Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage]

Santa Cruz had been a seaport long before it became a US state. The Spanish mission used the Santa Cruz Main Beach to receive supplies from Mexico and the produce from the mission and the spring on Beach Hill refuelled ships' supplies. By the early 1840s, people like Isaac Graham used oxen and horse teams to haul lumber to the beach, where it was loaded onto boats and transferred to ships anchored offshore. It was a tedious process and led to only small profits. In 1846, Graham and his business partners built their own ship on the beach, the first of many to be named Santa Cruz. It was followed soon after with a second Santa Cruz and the Zach Taylor. These small ships, though, would hardly be able to compete with the larger vessels that would soon run along the Central Coast.

"Bird's Eye View of Santa Cruz," by Charles B. Gifford, showing steamships and tall ships off Davis & Cowell's wharf and Gharky's wharf, ca 1872. [Bancroft Library – colorized using MyHeritage]

As the lumber and leather industries were gradually supplemented by commercial agricultural products, quicklime, blasting powder, and other types of freight, the need for a reliable means of transferring freight to ships increased. Cowell's wharf, originally built at the end of Bay Street as a simple chute in 1849 by Elihu Anthony and Edward S. Penfield to load ships with potatoes, evolved into Santa Cruz's first industrial wharf. This was followed in 1857 by David Gharky's wharf at the end of Main Street. The Railroad Wharf at the end of Pacific Avenue joined the pair in 1876, connected to Gharky's wharf with a viaduct from 1877 to 1882. Finally, in December 1914, the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf was completed. Other landings and wharves existed at times in the county, too, at Waddell's Beach, Davenport Landing, William's Landing, Soquel Wharf, Aptos Wharf, and Watsonville Landing.

The SS Ancon at the Railroad Wharf, ca 1877. Photo by Romanzo E. Wood. [Chico State University – colorized using MyHeritage]

By the mid-1870s, Santa Cruz was the busiest seaport on the California coast outside of the San Francisco Bay. The three wharves did a bonanza business shipping the redwood timber and quicklime that was rapidly building the nearby metropolis. Explosive powder from the California Powder Works were shipped to the Gold Country for mining, to timber tracts to destroy stumps and other obstacles, to railroads to grade their routes, and to the New Almaden quicksilver mines to bore new tunnels. People were also visiting Santa Cruz, primarily to enjoy the bathing beach beside the outlet of the San Lorenzo River, which was conveniently located directly beside and between the wharves. The Leibbrandts and Liddell families worked hard to attract visitors during the summer months, ever expanding their bathing pavilions and adding amenities. In the mountains, resorts were also opening up at the Welch's Big Trees Grove, Hotel de Redwood, Olive's Sulphur Springs, and elsewhere.

A steamship, possibly the Fannie Gilmore, loading barrels of quicklime at the bottom of Cowell's wharf, ca 1890. [Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History – colorized using MyHeritage]

In the earliest years, a variety of companies sent ships along the California coastline to call at its ports, most notably the California Steam Navigation Company, which in 1867 became the California, Oregon, and Mexico Steamship Company and in 1869 the North Pacific Transportation Company. These companies mostly ran schooners specially outfitted for coastal shipping, often featuring both steam-powered paddle-wheels and wind-powered rigging. Davis & Jordan purchased a steamship of their own in 1857, yet another Santa Cruz, and used it to transport quicklime to San Francisco. The cost of operating the ship and the loss of business to Gharky's wharf after 1857, though, led them to downgrade to the smaller Fannie Gilmore. By this point, Santa Cruz was undeniably a seaport even if the ships calling were from a broad array of commercial shipping firms.

Cowell's wharf with a steamship docked and the Railroad Wharf in the distance, ca 1900 [UC Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage]

It was not until 1875 that a major coastal shipping concern began operating out of the port on a regular schedule. The Pacific Mail Steamship Company had been founded in 1848 to handle the delivery of US mail along the Pacific Coast. Its mainline ran from the Panama Isthmus to San Francisco, and it did a bonanza business shortly after its founding as the California Gold Rush took off. It only took a passing interest in intermediate ports for the first 25 years of operation, but by the mid-1870s it was looking to expand and Santa Cruz was a logical destination. Its ships called into port regularly, causing Gharky's wharf to be renamed the Steamship Wharf in local parlance. The company's dominance did not last long, though.

A steamship heading docking at the Railroad Wharf, ca 1900. [UC Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage]

In early 1876, around the time that the Railroad Wharf was completed, Goodall, Nelson and Perkins began running its own steamships along the Central Coast, mostly using older ships acquired in 1875 from the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. They initially called at the Railroad Wharf since their business was primarily transporting the lumber brought in from the San Lorenzo Valley flume. However, they also had a well-regarded passenger service with modern ships that outpaced those of their rival. Ratcheting up the competition, on October 17, 1876, the company reorganized itself as the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, a name meant to put fear in the hearts of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company's board of directors. The firm established a local office at the end of Pacific Avenue near the base of the Railroad Wharf and across from the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad's main office.

Painting of the SS Senator, 1848, by James Bard. [Mariners' Museum and Park, Newport News, VA]

While the two firms fought over routes to the Pacific Northwest, they mostly cooperated in shipping freight from Santa Cruz. In 1877, to increase efficiency and the safety of shipping blasting powder, the Railroad Wharf and Gharky's wharf were connected by a viaduct with railroad tracks. This meant that steamships of either company, or other firms, could dock at either wharf and receive the same level of service. The opening of the Santa Cruz Railroad in 1876 seems to have had little impact on shipping since it was still cheaper to ship most freight out of Santa Cruz via steamship than rail. Passenger service, though, may have begun to decline from this time as passengers generally preferred the gentle ride of a railroad compared to the rolling and longer voyage of a coastal steamship.

Lumber being loaded onto a tall ship docked at the Railroad Wharf, ca 1900. [UC Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage]

The beginning of the end came early. In May 1880, the South Pacific Coast Railroad opened between Santa Cruz and Alameda. This route made shipping by rail substantially cheaper and provided even more incentives for passengers to take the train. For a short time, many industries used both methods of transport, especially after the Southern Pacific Railroad took over the South Pacific Coast in 1887, immediately increasing prices. However, the end was inevitable. In 1880, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company abandoned all attempts to compete with the Pacific Coast Steamship Company and shifted its focus to Central America and trans-Pacific shipping. This left the latter company with a virtual monopoly over freight and passenger services out of Santa Cruz. Its only competitor was Davis & Cowell, who used their own ships and reluctantly began using the railroad as well.

Barrels being hoisted onto the SS Margaret at either the Railroad Wharf or the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, date undetermined. [UC Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage]

Southern Pacific finally stabilized its rates around 1890s, successfully undercutting shipping rates while still charging more than was probably necessary for its services. The California Powder Works would continue to ship powder out from the Railroad Wharf until around 1900, but most other firms shifted to one of the rail lines out of the county. The widespread expansion of rail networks across the Central Coast in the 1880s and 1890s led to the collapse of the Pacific Coast Steamship Company in the Panic of 1893. The company was revived under new owners in 1897 but its focus shifted further and further north, especially during the Klondike Gold. Within a decade, almost all regular coastal passenger service was ended with the company focusing instead on long-distance travel between key Pacific ports, among which Santa Cruz was no longer counted.

The Railroad Wharf with a steamship docked beside it and the pleasure ship Balboa anchored in the Monterey Bay, ca 1907. Photo by James E. Boynton. [Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History – colorized using MyHeritage]

The decline of commercial steamship service was felt quickly in Santa Cruz after the expansion of the railroads. In 1882, the Steamship Wharf was demolished, as was its connection to the Railroad Wharf. There was simply not enough traffic to justify three commercial wharves at the waterfront. Cowell's wharf thrived for another 25 years, but when a winter storm damaged it in 1907, the Henry Cowell Lime & Cement Company changed its policy and began using the railroad more heavily. Once the line through the mountains was reopened in 1909, it completely abandoned its old wharf and the commercial shipping service it had run for over 50 years. The Railroad Wharf, meanwhile, had been largely taken over by Italian fishing families by 1910, though it was briefly cleared of shacks around the time that the Municipal Wharf was erected beside it in 1914. However, with the new wharf available for steamship service, the Railroad Wharf became a fishing hub with a cannery and other facilities installed.

The SS Roanoke docked at the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf on opening day, December 5, 1914. [UC Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage]

The Municipal Wharf, meanwhile, had been designed with steamships in mind. It was long enough to reach deepwater, and the curve at the end was to allow ships to dock in accordance with the prevailing tide. On opening day, December 5, 1914, the SS Roanoke docked as part of the celebration, having just passed through the newly-opened Panama Canal. To the people of Santa Cruz, who had paid for the wharf after Southern Pacific declined to make needed improvements to the Railroad Wharf, it seemed like a return to the coastal shipping days of old. But it was only a dream. After nearly two decades of trial and error, the city failed to attract a regular flow of steamships. The Great Depression put the final nail in the coffin when Southern Pacific successfully removed its tracks from the wharf in 1931, signalling a defeat for the city. By this point, several Italian fishing families had relocated to the Municipal Wharf from the Railroad Wharf, which had been demolished in 1922. The wharf gradually evolved from a commercial shipping destination to an Italian fishing station to a tourist destination. So ended Santa Cruz's dream to regain its status as a Central Coast seaport.

The SS William H. Murphy docked at the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf with boxcars of cargo and a smaller steamship docked beside the warehouse, ca 1916. [UC Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage]

Ships of the Lines:

The most prominent companies ran several ships along the Central Coast, but Ernest Otto, a late Santa Cruz Sentinel writer who wrote extensively about his memories of the 1870s and 1880, recalls the names of several of the ships that called at Santa Cruz. These included:

• Senator – Launched in 1848 from the shipyard of William H. Brown, New York City. A 219-foot-long two-masted steam-powered paddlewheel schooner with a capacity of 190 passengers and 300 tons of cargo. Operated 1848–1849 by James C. Cunningham; 1849–1851 by Charles Minturn; 1851–1854 by People's Line; 1854–1867 by the California Steam Navigation Company; 1867–1872 by the California, Oregon, and Mexico Steamship Company / North Pacific Transportation Company; 1872–1875 by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company; 1875–1882 by Goodall, Nelson & Perkins / the Pacific Coast Steamship Company; 1884–1906 by the Kamo Coal Company (New Zealand) / Northern Steamship Company as a stationary barge; and 1906–1912 by the Devonport Steam Ferry Company. Scrapped in New Zealand, ca 1912.
• Pacific – Launched in 1850 from the shipyard of William. H. Brown, New York City. A 223-foot-long three-masted steam-powered paddlewheel schooner with a capacity of 546 passengers. Operated 1850–1851 by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company; 1851–1858 by Cornelius Vanderbilt; 1858–1859 by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company; 1859–1867 by the California Steam Navigation Company; 1867–1872 by the California, Oregon and Mexico Steamship Company / North Pacific Transportation Company; 1872–1875 by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company; and 1875 by Goodall, Nelson & Perkins. Wrecked in Washington, November 4, 1875.
• Los Angeles – Launched 1863 from the shipyards of J. T. Fardy & Bros, Baltimore. A 130-foot-long two-masted Pawtuxet-class steam cutter with an unknown passenger capacity. Operated 1863–1873 by the United States Revenue Cutter Service as the Wayanda; and 1873–1894 by Goodall, Nelson & Perkins / Pacific Coast Steamship Company as the Los Angeles. Wrecked off Point Sur, April 22, 1894.
• Ancon – Launched in 1867 from Hunter's Point, San Francisco, for use as a ferry in Panama for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. A 226-foot-long two-masted schooner with a capacity of 268 passengers. Operated 1867–1872 by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company; and 1875–1889 by Goodall, Nelson & Perkins / Pacific Coast Steamship Company. Wrecked in Alaska, August 28, 1889.
• Gipsy – Launched in 1868 from the shipyard of Middlemas & Boole, San Francisco. 102-foot-long two-masted steam-powered schooner. Operated 1868–1905 by Goodall, Nelson & Perkins / Pacific Coast Steamship Company. Wrecked at Monterey, September 27, 1905.
• City of Chester – Launched 1873 from the shipyard of John Roach & Sons, Chester, Pennsylvania. A 202-foot-long two-masted steamship with a capacity of 214 passengers. Operated by 1876–ca 1879 by the Oregon Steamship Company / Oregon Steam Navigation Company; and ca 1879–1888 by the Pacific Coast Steamship Company. Wrecked in San Francisco Bay, August 22, 1888.
• State of California – Launched in 1878 from the shipyard of William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia. A 306-foot-long two-masted steamship. Operated 1878–1913 by the Pacific Coast Steamship Company. Wrecked in Alaska, August 17, 1913.
• Pomona – Launched 1888 from the shipyards of the Union Iron Works, San Francisco. A 225-foot-long two-masted steamship with a capacity of 200 passengers and 300 tons of cargo. Operated 1888–1897 by the Oregon Improvement Company; 1897–1908 by the Pacific Coast Steamship Company. Wrecked near Eureka, March 17, 1908.

Other ships that called periodically at Santa Cruz of which less information is known include the Adriana, Monterey, Eureka, San Vicente, Salinas, and William H. Murphy.

Citations & Credits:

• Gibson, Ross. "Ships and wharves of old Santa Cruz." Santa Cruz Sentinel, 01/18/2009.
• Otto, Ernest F. Our Old Santa Cruz... Volumes 1 and 2. Santa Cruz, CA: Zayante Publishing, 2023-2024. [Amazon link]
• Whaley, Derek R. SIDETRACKED: The Santa Cruz Beach to 1903. Santa Cruz, CA: Zayante Publishing, 2024. [Amazon link]
• Various newspaper articles and other sources summarizing the histories and fates of individual ships.