Logging operations in the hills above Watsonville were a slower affair than similar harvesting efforts in the San Lorenzo Valley and along Aptos Creek and its tributaries. Yet that did not dissuade William “Bill” DeHart from giving the matter his full attention. DeHart moved to Santa Cruz County in 1869 after a colorful career in the U.S. Army and Marines during the Civil War. Following the war, he became a blacksmith in Vicksburg, Mississippi, bringing that trade with him to Whiskey Hill, now Freedom. In 1875, he bought a 160-acre farm and became an orchardist growing pears, apricots, and peaches. But the hills were calling.
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Unidentified lumber mill in the Santa Cruz Mountains, ca 1890. [University of California, Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage] |
In late 1887, DeHart partnered with Edward White, an early resident of Watsonville, in purchasing milling equipment to erect a sawmill on Mt. Madonna near Watsonville. For the task, White had acquired two large lots encompassing Banks Canyon, through which Casserly Creek flows, located due east of the old toll road to San José, now Mt. Madonna Road. Today, this is located in the part of Mount Madonna County Park that was transferred from Santa Cruz County to Santa Clara County in 1971. The tracts had an estimated yield of 7,000,000 board feet of lumber and the mill, under the supervision of DeHart, had a capacity of 15,000 board feet per day. The partners specialized in splitstuff, such as shingles and shakes, and made fruit boxes for customers throughout the Central Coast. Success came quickly—they incorporated their business relationship on November 2, 1889 as the White & DeHart Company. Yet fears were mounting that most of the remaining old growth timber on the hills would soon be harvested, ending an industry that had helped put Watsonville on the map.
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Advertisement for White & DeHart's lumber mill in the Salinas Daily Journal, published June 9, 1889. |
After three years in Banks Canyon, White & DeHart relocated to the Thompson Tract at Mill Canyon near Casserly Ridge, about five miles from Watsonville. Mill crews worked fast to move the machinery and erect the new mill, finishing the job sometime in mid June 1891. Meanwhile, fellers in the surrounding forest cleared several acres in preparation for the first season at the new site. Despite two lucrative harvests, White & DeHart’s second mill shut down permanently following the 1892 season due to lack of available timber.
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Sanborn Fire Insurance plan showing the original layout of the White & DeHart Company's box factory on Walker Street before improvements and expansion, 1902. [Library of Congress] |
Without timber to harvest and with a slumped lumber market, the partners pivoted to box-making for all of the fruit growers in the Pajaro Valley. They leased property on Walker Street near the Southern Pacific Railroad’s Watsonville Depot and built a box factory and feed mill. The mill produced a wide range of agricultural products, including fruit boxes, berry crates, and baskets, as well as a small production of lumber and feed. During the busy months, up to fifty people were employed to make tens of thousands of baskets and boxes a day. Without a direct source of timber, the company relied on redwood and pine imported from elsewhere in California for its products.
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Advertisement for White & DeHart Company's box factory in The Pajaronian, published October 5, 1893. |
After a six season hiatus, White & DeHart returned to milling in February 1899 and purchased stumpage rights to M. J. Hughes’ property on Rancho Salsipuedes along Hughes Creek, which the firm estimated had about 3,000,000 board feet of lumber. The narrow canyon, located about midway between the company’s previous two mills, would take no more than two seasons to harvest and the difficulty of moving a mill to the site for such a small return led the partners to focus primarily on extracting splitstuff to construct their boxes. Earlier, in November 1896, the partners had reincorporated, possibly in preparation for Edward White’s departure in 1899. White had worked with DeHart for over a decade but sold his interest to his partner, who in turn made his son, Joseph, secretary of the firm.
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Sanborn Fire Insurance map showing the full extent of the White & DeHart Company box mill on Walker Street following expansions, October 1908 (updated 1911). [UC Santa Cruz] |
Under the control of the DeHart family, the company expanded quickly and purchased five adjacent lots around 1900 to support its operations. The box mill vastly increased its output to support the rapidly-growing apple trade. The feed mill was moved to a new two-story building with storage for 15,000 sacks of grain. The small lumber mill on site was completely overhauled and its equipment replaced with higher capacity and heavier duty machinery. Another two-story building was devoted exclusively to manufacturing berry baskets and storing apple boxes. And at the back of the property, a blacksmith shop continuously produced wire, nails, and other material required for the factory. The company kept its corporate office on Second Street beside the mill and several staff cottages were located on nearby streets to lessen the commute.
On May 13, 1904, White and DeHart reunited as directors of the Hatfield Lumber Company alongside D. W. Johnston, J. W. Forgeus, and William J. McGrath. The group had acquired an untouched tract of redwoods on Hatfield Creek, a tributary of Pescadero Creek north of Chittenden on lands owned by the Casserly and Kelly families. Despite assurances in The Pajaronian that the firm was separate from White & DeHart, the editor clarified that the firm “will cut, haul and saw the logs for the Hatfield company,” suggesting a close relationship. By early June, the company was already contracted to ship 100 carloads of lumber, with a new 689-foot-long spur installed beside the Southern Pacific station at Chittenden. Most of the cut timber was taken to the White & DeHart box factory in Watsonville where it was turned into lumber. It then went to a newly-built Santa Clara Valley Mill & Lumber Company yard in Watsonville to be sold.
Hatfield Lumber appears to have initially met with bad luck early in its operation. A forest fire in early November burned its way through Pescadero Creek canyon, damaging equipment and ruining timber. The area was severely impacted in 1906 by the earthquake, as well, with the San Andreas fault passing almost directly through the canyon. High demand for lumber from the people of San Francisco, however, led the company to resume operations in March 1907 on Hatfield Creek. White & DeHart built a 30,000 board feet capacity sawmill near Chittenden station, thereby eliminating the need to ship logs to Watsonville on flatcars. The first commercial load was sent to Watsonville on July 4, 1907.
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A rift formed at Chittenden near Soda Lake with the southern Santa Cruz Mountains in the distance, 1906. Photo by Harold W. Fairbanks. [UC Berkley, Bancroft Library – colorized using MyHeritage] |
Operations on Hatfield Creek and elsewhere on Pescadero Creek continued with only minor problems for the next three seasons. In 1908, the Independent Lumber Company purchased most of the lumber for sale at its yard in Pajaro, with the remaining timber sent to the Santa Clara Valley Mill & Lumber Company yard in San José. Operations along Hatfield Creek ended in November 1909 with insufficient timber left to justify another season. DeHart dismantled the mill and shipped the mill and remaining lumber to Watsonville. Hatfield continued to cut splitstuff on the property for two more years, with White & DeHart taking over from December 1911. Nonetheless, the closure of the lumber mill signalled the end of large-scale logging at the southernmost end of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
The White & DeHart Company lingered a few more years at its Walker Street location. Tragedy struck the DeHart family in July 1914 when Joseph DeHart, secretary and son of William, died of a lung infection. The next year, a fire broke out on August 5 and rapidly consumed the company’s box factory. DeHart did not rebuild and allowed the business to lapse in February 1924. The property was purchased by the Pajaro Valley Cold Storage Company around 1919. The company’s tracts on Pescadero Creek, taken over by White & DeHart from the Hatfield company sometime in the early 1910s, were leased to the Mohawk Oil Company for drilling and prospecting in 1920. William DeHart died on May 20, 1928 at his home in Watsonville. Edward White, meanwhile, became the Commissioner for Immigration under President Woodrow Wilson in 1914 and was dismissed by President Warren Harding in 1923. He died in San Francisco on May 17,1931 at the age of 80.
Citations & Credits:
- Clark, Donald Thomas. Santa Cruz County Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary, Second Edition. Scotts Valley, CA Kestrel Press, 2008.
- Guinn, James Miller. History of the State of California and Biographical Record of Santa Cruz, San Benito, Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties. Chicago Chapman Publishing, 1903.
- Hatch, Andrew J. "Official Map of Santa Cruz County." A. J. Hatch: San Francisco, 1889.
- Southern Pacific Railroad Company. Miscellaneous records.
- Various articles from the Pajaronian, Salinas Daily Journal, San Benito Advance, San Juan Mission News, Santa Cruz Evening News, Santa Cruz Sentinel, and Santa Cruz Surf.