Santa Cruz Trains

The Santa Cruz Mountains town of Felton was not always divided between old and new. Indeed, it was not always even Felton! The origin of the town is found the destruction of Rancho Zayante in the mid-1860s, when Isaac Graham's lawyer, Edward Stanly, began the long process of subdividing the property into parcels that could be used primarily for commercial gain. Large tracts went to the Isaac Davis Henry Cowell, Eben Bennet, George Treat, Thomas Bull, Frederick A. Hihn, and other early entrepreneurs who used it primarily for lime and logging operations. But the area immediately west of the confluence of Zayante Creek into the San Lorenzo River was kept by Stanly for the creation of a formal township, designed and parcelled by county surveyor T. W. Wright.

The area where Felton would develop in Rancho Zayante, as mapped in 1859, showing no parcels and few settlements.

[Bancroft Library]

Felton was only formally called that from 1868 and Stanly named the town after his nephew, John Brooks Felton. The town centered on Baldwin Avenue—named after Stanly's wife, Cornelia Baldwin—and was quite small in its first years. Wright used Bull Creek to the south and Fall Creek to the north as the town boundaries, and the ford across the river to Graham's Grade marked the town center. Before Wright even began, the site already had a small schoolhouse, hotel, and general store—catering to lumber- and quarrymen, and gold miners—but more hotels, a larger schoolhouse, and other commercial and residential structures were quickly erected within the township. The entirety of the town remained on the west bank of the river, with only farms, a few scattered homes, and a fuse factory situated on the east bank.

Stereograph showing the San Lorenzo Valley flume's terminus with the "Santa Cruz" locomotive on the western fork pulling a passenger car. The Santa Cruz & Felton warehouse can be seen at left with the Cremer House in the distance, c. 1876.[California State Library]

By the time that the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad entered the town in late 1875, Felton was already a well-populated area, at least in comparison to other settlements within the mountains. Lumber had become the primary industry in the area and it was lumber that would put Felton on the map. In tandem with the construction of the railroad line from Santa Cruz to Felton, the San Lorenzo Valley Flume & Lumber Company had erected a massive lumber flume network that stretched up the valley for over eight miles to a mill situated north of modern-day Boulder Creek. While originally intended to continue all the way to Santa Cruz, the flume terminated instead at Felton due to a lack of water sources in San Lorenzo Gorge. Thus, just south of downtown, a transfer station was built where lumber would fall off the flume into large piles and then be loaded onto waiting trains. The flume served as the original purpose for railroading in the Santa Cruz Mountains and the town of Felton thrived during these years as lumbermen, carpenters, and engineers came to the town to work at the flume exchange.

The "Santa Cruz" with both passenger cars, c. 1877, parked beside what is
thought to be Old Felton Depot. The reason for the decorations is unknown.
[UC Santa Cruz, Digital Collections]

A depot was eventually built at Felton, although when or where precisely remains unknown. No photographs of the depot or tracks on the west bank of the river survive except for photos of the Holmes limeworks. But Sanborn Fire Insurance maps from a later period show that the tracks forked south of town. A stereograph of the flume terminus proves that trains could park on either side of the flume for loading, so it can be assumed that the forked tracks in later maps are the same as these. The western fork was longer than the eastern and probably catered to the depot directly, in addition to the lumber deposited on that side of the flume. Near the eastern fork, the Union Mill and Lumber Company erected a planing mill to improve the quality of some of the lumber shipped out from Felton.

Felton at the intersection of Baldwin Ave. (State Route 9) and Felton Empire Road, c. 1885. [George Pepper]

For ten years, the flume terminus gave Felton life and a purpose, but the purchase of the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad by the South Pacific Coast Railroad in 1879 signalled impending change. The railroad built a new Felton Station across the river near the fuse factory and rebranded the earlier station "Old" Felton. At the same time, the company was finding the flume to be terribly inefficient, especially since increasing amounts of lumber were being cut at Pacific Mills (future Ben Lomond) and Boulder Creek. To remedy this issue, the Felton & Pescadero Railroad was incorporated in 1883 to replace the flume with a railroad. The company wanted to simply run tracks behind downtown Felton, closely following the route of the flume, but the townspeople protested and even incorporated as a city briefly to block the railroad from doing so. The railroad responded by laying out a new right-of-way across the river that completely bypassed downtown Felton. When the new line opened in 1885, the flume terminus was dismantled and the town began to decline. Lumbermen flocked to Boulder Creek while engineers joined the new railroad or moved away.

Sanborn Fire Insurance map from 1895 showing the layout of Felton.
Note the railroad tracks to the right with the abandoned planing mill beside the river.
Also note the two warehouses in the pull-out box across from Maple (Hihn) Street.
[UCSC Digital Collections]

Although never intended to be taken as a judgment, the term "Old" Felton became an appropriate description of the town. After the railroad relocated to the east bank, the town was unincorporated. Soon afterwards, much of downtown burned down in a substantial fire on October 20, 1888. The only building that survives today from before this fire is the Cremer House, which was fortunate to be on the opposite side of the road from where the fire raged. During the rebuilding, Southern Pacific, which acquired the South Pacific Coast in 1887, hinted that they would build a new depot in town, but this never happened. Instead, Felton devolved into a quiet settlement, populated by quarrymen, mountain farmers, and small tourist resorts and ranches. Welch's Big Trees became its primary attraction. In later years, especially after the San Francisco Earthquake and World War I, Felton became a seasonal resort community, with several successful subdivisions popping up south of town along the west bank of the river.

Old Felton Station did not die easily, despite all of these changes. The station point remained on timetables for decades and continued to cater to various interests. The IXL Lime Company used the old Santa Cruz & Felton depot building for storage until October 1893, when it burned down. Meanwhile, the H. T. Holmes Lime Company erected a warehouse along the eastern fork to store lime barrels, at the same time leasing space in the surviving Santa Cruz & Felton warehouse for the same purpose. In 1897, regular passenger service, infrequent as it was, ended permanently and Old Felton disappeared from employee timetables. The Felton Branch became strictly an as-needed line and passengers would have to head over to Felton Station to catch a train.

A section of a 1918 Sanborn Fire Insurance map showing the Standard Oil warehouse beside the now single track south of downtown Felton. Note the limited growth in the town between 1895 and 1918. [UCSC Digital Collections]

Perhaps surprisingly, the 1906 earthquake and subsequent standard-gauging of the tracks did not signal the end of the station and branch line. Indeed, Southern Pacific upgraded the tracks in town and replaced the southern route to Felton Junction with a much more proximate connection across the river beside the Felton Covered Bridge, converting Old Felton into a stop on the Boulder Creek Branch. The town petitioned the railroad to re-route the Boulder Creek Branch through downtown Felton, clearly seeking to correct the misstep of an earlier generation, but Southern Pacific wasn't interested. In the end, the upgrade was done exclusively on behalf of the Holmes Lime Company, but downtown Felton benefited from it nonetheless. Standard Oil, which dominated the national automotive fuel industry at the time, installed a gasoline and oil station at the site of the old Holmes warehouse. The company used the adjacent Old Felton Branch tracks to bring in tanker cars, when necessary, giving the branch line an additional purpose for a few decades while also providing a needed service to the community.

Standard Oil probably left around 1926, which is when Old Felton Station was officially abandoned by the railroad. Whether or not the tracks to the former station site remained in place after this time is unknown—the Holmes kilns continued to periodically use the tracks further to the south until 1939. By this point, Felton was rebounding and entering its third life as a year-round commuter town. The influx of people after World War II ensured that, while the railroading history of downtown Felton may be forgotten, the town itself would live on.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
Approx. 37.0512N, 122.0730W

The site of Old Felton station is not known with certainty. Since it was intended to be usable by the public, it must have been located on the western side of the tracks near the end of the western fork. This would situate it across from Kirby Street at the modern site of Kathy Nails. The original Santa Cruz & Felton warehouse was further to the south, approximately where the Mountain Community Resources building is today. The flume would have been situated behind this, terminating around the site of the Felton Presbyterian Church. No remnants of this period survive except for the Cremer House.

Citations:

Clark, Donald Thomas. Santa Cruz County Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary. Second edition. Scotts Valley, CA: Kestrel Press, 2008.
Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Santa Cruz, CA, 2015.

One of the more curious oddities in Santa Cruz County history was the lumber flume that ran for approximately twelve miles from the headwaters of the San Lorenzo River down the San Lorenzo Valley to Felton, where it interchanged with the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad. Incorporated as the San Lorenzo Valley Flume & Transportation Company in August 1874, the company intended to cut timber at numerous sites along the San Lorenzo River and its tributaries, drag these cut logs to a large lumber mill near the confluence of King's Creek and the San Lorenzo River, and then float the lumber down the flume to Felton, where it would be loaded onto trains and shipped out on waiting steamships moored at the Railroad Wharf.

People standing atop a trestle along the San Lorenzo Valley flume, c. 1877. Photo by R. E. Wood.
[California State Library]

Construction began in early 1875 and took most of the year to complete. The mill north of Boulder Creek was built first. From here, prefabricated sections of v-flume were constructed and floated down the flume to the end, where carpenters appended them onto the existing flume. This process was continued until the flume reached Felton. Because the flume required a consistent downward grade to avoid pooling, shallow spots, or areas of varying water speed, the flume had to be relatively straight and only changed in elevation by five inches for every eighty feet. To ensure this consistent slope, large redwood bridges were built over the San Lorenzo River and other streams, some of which as beautiful arches such as one at Brackney. To ensure a steady supply of water, feeder flumes were installed up Feeder Creek, King's Creek, Two Bar Creek, Bear Creek, Boulder Creek, Clear Creek, Love Creek, Newell Creek, and other tributaries. The lack of such tributaries south of Felton was the primary reason why the flume company decided to build a railroad for the final seven miles of the route to Santa Cruz.

One of the arch bridges over the San Lorenzo River along the flume, c. 1877.
[Images of America: Santa Cruz, California]

The flume was an immediate success. In addition to the flume company's mille, other mills popped up all along the flume's course, including the Peery mill in Lorenzo, Boulder Mill south of Lorenzo, Pacific Mills (Ben Lomond), and smaller operations outside of Felton. But with these additional lumber patrons, the flume began to strain. Soon after it was completed, the company realised that a 40-inch-wide v-flume could not sustain the valley's production of lumber. To make matters worse, the flume was leaky and the water supply ran dangerously low during the summer months, which was traditionally the high season for the lumber industry. A disastrous winter storm in early 1876 also severely damaged both the flume and railroad line, and storms continued to impact both in later years. In 1878, the flume company even incorporated a new subsidiary railroad with the intention of replacing the flume with a railroad line through the Santa Cruz Mountains to San Jose, although this may have just been a publicity stunt. Despite all of this, the flume served as the primary conduit of lumber between the upper San Lorenzo Valley and Felton from October 1875 to 1885.

People posing beside and atop the flume, c. 1877. Photo by R. E. Wood.
[California State Library]

The flume was also popular with locals for personal reasons. From the very beginning, a sport known as flume-riding came into vogue. People crafted various boats and ride them down the flume when lumber was not floating down the line. This concept was first trialled by the flume company itself in 1875, when it used the flume to ship its work camp to a new site via improvised boats. Locals also often used the 12-inch boardwalk that ran along the entire length of the flume as a thoroughfare, despite the fact that it was intended for use only by flume walkers (people who ensured the lumber didn't get piled up) and that there was no guardrail to protect people from falling off (which happened several times).

Flume walkers high up on the flume, c. 1880. [Images of America: Santa Cruz, California]

The South Pacific Coast Railroad acquired the entire flume operation in 1879 when it leased the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad. However, management and operation of the flume likely remained with the original owners since the railroad had other priorities. However, a combination of increased demand and a decreased supply of water in the early 1880s forced the railroad company to direct their attention to the aging flume. In June 1883, the Felton & Pescadero Railroad was incorporated as a subsidiary to replace the flume in its entirety, with priority given to the seven miles between Felton and Lorenzo. Construction began late that year, but the flume continued to operate throughout this time. The narrow-gauge railroad route to Boulder Creek (which was chosen as a better site than Lorenzo) was completed in April 1885 and the demolition of the flume along the route was completed in short order.

The flume terminus at Boulder Creek, c. 1886. [Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History]

For another three years, a stub flume continued to exist, hauling lumber from the mill two miles north of town to the main freight yard at Boulder Creek. It was a short and temporary solution. The Felton & Pescadero had been incorporated ostensibly to connect the two namesake towns while simultaneously tapping the resources of the upper San Lorenzo Valley, Big Basin, and the Pescadero watershed. For whatever reason, this never happened. The South Pacific Coast Railroad consolidated all of its subsidiaries in early 1887 and reincorporated as the South Pacific Coast Railway, only to almost immediately lease its entire operations to the Southern Pacific Railroad. From this point forward, it seems likely that the flume passed to private hands, probably those of James F. Cunningham, a valley entrepreneur, who appears as the owner of the flume mill from this time. In 1888, the flume was replaced with a logging railroad owned by the Santa Clara Valley Mill & Lumber Company, although some of the small feeder flumes may have continued to exist for several more years.

Almost no verifiable remnants of the flume survives today, although many rumors persist including that the Felton freight depot was built from recycled flume boards and that dams that supported the feeder flumes still survive along Bear and Boulder Creeks. Fortunately, many stereographs were taken of the flume by Romanzo E. Wood and other photographers, allowing us to gaze back at this remarkable time in the history of the San Lorenzo Valley.

Citations & Credits:

Robinson, Lisa. Images of America: The San Lorenzo Valley. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2012.
Robinson, Lisa. The San Lorenzo Valley Flume. Boulder Creek, CA: San Lorenzo Valley Historical Association Press, 2013.
Rogers, Winfield Scott. "A 14-Mile Flume Brought Lumber Out Of Valley."Santa Cruz Sentinel, 9 February 1972, 6.
Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Santa Cruz, CA, 2015.

When the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad arrived in Felton in 1875, it was situated on the west bank of the San Lorenzo River. On the east bank, the area was mostly just pasture land—former forest harvested decades earlier by Isaac Graham's logging crews during the days of Mexican California. By 1873, the plot of land beside the river ford was owned by John S. Hager, who decided to build a picnic ground in the low flat created at the confluence of Zayante Creek and the river. In 1881, the location was named Camp Felton, just in time for the arrival of the Felton & Pescadero Railroad, the right-of-way for which passed directly beside the picnic area.

On June 17, 1880, the Santa Cruz Weekly Sentinel published a short commentary noting the merits of the area as a picnic grounds:

Within a few hundred yards of Felton, just across the San Lorenzo and between it and the Zayante, lies the prettiest spot for picnics and camping parties on the whole San Lorenzo. It has been used by the people of Felton to picnic at for many years, and the grove has been partially cleared of underbrush, avenues and winding walks have been cut, rustic seats put in many places, tables and benches to accommodate a great many put up, a large dancing floor laid, and many other things done to make it pleasant and comfortable, but the place has been known to few besides the Feltonites. Now that the S. P. C. R. R. is in running order, picnic parties have discovered this lovely retreat, and it is occupied from a party from San Francisco numbering some two hundred, who propose to stay some time. They are very comfortably settled, having sent down in advance three car-loads of freight, with men to put up tents and arrange things for housekeeping. They have thirty four white tents among the green trees, and the camp has a very cheerful, animated look. There is a large majority of women and children during the week, but on Saturdays the husbands and fathers come down to spend Monday with their families in the quiet shades of this most beautiful grove. They spend their time hunting, fishing, bathing, gathering ferns, flowers, etc., and in visiting the different lime kilns, mills, big trees — which are only a short mile from camp — go to Santa Cruz and take a plunge in the ocean and come back on the next train.

George Treat, a prominent Felton entrepreneur and lumberman, took over Camp Felton in 1885 and helped develop it into a seasonal retreat. He advertised widely to attract seasonal campers, and the nearby Felton Station was certainly a draw. But other more appealing camping and picnic areas throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains increasingly offered more attractions. Treat leased the property to Joseph Ball in 1891, who renamed the place Maple Grove even though there were no maple trees there. It was under Ball's proprietorship that the Felton Covered Bridge was completed in 1893, allowing the residents of Felton to directly access the picnic area without needing to ford or wade through the river.

An oxen team hauling a log alongside the tracks near Maple Grove, c. 1890s. [The Valley Press]

The direct railroad history of the location begins in 1903, when the Southern Pacific Railroad added a flag-stop for the picnic area under the uninspired name River Station. This stop was intended exclusively for passengers visiting Maple Grove and it appears that no formal structures were ever installed there by the railroad. Just before the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, the stop was renamed Riverside and placed on the formal timetable, albeit without scheduled stops. Curiously, at the same time, the picnic grounds were officially renamed Felton Grove and Felton Baseball Ground, under the management of Glass and Draper. It can be assumed that the baseball diamond was installed at around this time. The station remained unchanged until the line was standard-gauged in 1908.

Felton Baseball Grounds beside the railroad right-of-way, c. 1910s. The large, shaggy tree is still standing within the parking lot of Felton Bible Church. [Vicki Wees]

The removal of the Felton Branch and its replacement with a spur across the San Lorenzo River beside the covered bridge seems to have marked the end of Riverside. In 1909, it was seemingly renamed Pettis, but the next year, that location appeared at the site of Brackney further down the Boulder Creek Branch suggesting the renaming was simply an editorial mistake. River Station and Riverside arose during a time that saw a massive expansion of excursion services and summer picnic trains throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains, so it is perhaps not surprising that it appeared when it did. However, its rapid disappearance is odd but may be tied to subsequent developments at the site.

In 1910, David and Alice Goulding were running the Felton Grove Planing Mill & Lumber Yard at or near the site, suggesting the picnic area had disappeared by this year. Little else is known about the site throughout the 1910s including whether or not the mill and yard utilized any railroad spur. Ownership may have changed hands several times, and the property itself may have been subdivided.

Felton Grove Auto Camp in the mid-1920s. [Ronnie Trubek]

Things changed dramatically on May 30, 1922, when the Felton Grove Auto Camp opened its doors on the property. No longer dependent on the railroad, the campground now catered exclusively to auto campers who came with camper trailers and tents. The resort included tennis and basketball courts, a playground for children, tent cabins for families, and scenic paths alongside the river and Zayante Creek. The San Lorenzo River was also seasonally dammed to create an impressive swimming hole just downstream from the covered bridge. In 1937, a new central building that doubled as a dance hall was erected near Felton Grove's entrance on Park Avenue.

The entrance to Felton Grove Auto Camp, 1937, with the railroad tracks to Old Felton in the foreground. [Ronnie Trubek]

Despite some minor improvements throughout the 1930s, Felton Grove Auto Camp was hit hard by the Great Depression. All formal newspaper advertising for the park appears to have ended in 1932. In 1934, the resort became a summer camp for St. Joseph's Military Academy of Belmont, who continued to use the location until at earliest 1938. A bad winter storm in 1938 severely damaged parts of the resort, but the resort reopened in May of that year with a large season-opening dance. For the remainder of the 1930s until the start of World War II, Felton Grove Resort served as a popular evening retreat for locals and visitors alike, even while the military academy students continued to camp outside each summer. Floods could not permanently sway the resolve of the resort owners and visitors. The late 1930s was the heyday of Felton Grove Resort, but then the war came and nobody had time to vacation anymore.

Felton Grove subdivision, circa 1928. The railroad right-of-way can be seen at the top of this map. [Ronnie Trubek]

World War II changed the demographics of the San Lorenzo Valley dramatically and also altered the vacation patterns of Americans. As such, small resorts such as Felton Grove could not compete with larger or more rugged campsites. By the mid-1940s, Felton Grove began evolving into a year-round residential subdivision. Amenities originally offered by the auto camp such as dancing and sporting activities continued through the 1950s, but then faded away as Felton itself evolved into the semi-rural commuter suburb that it is today.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
Approx. 37.0508N, 122.0679W

It is not entirely clear where the location of Riverside was, but it was probably near today's Felton Covered Bridge County Park or the adjacent Valero gas station, which is approximately the point where the Boulder Creek Branch crossed Graham Hill Road. In any case, there were never any structures associated with this stop and, as such, nothing of it survives to the present.

Felton Grove still does survive, although not precisely in the manner it had originally been conceived. The dance hall still sits behind the laundromat on Park Avenue. All of the original camper spots have been converted into residential properties, but terrible winter storms remind residents that the area was only ever intended for seasonal enjoyment, not year-round habitation. The former railroad right-of-way to Old Felton has since been converted into another stretch of squarish properties, but these are not formally a part of the Felton Grove subdivision and were probably parcelled off in the late 1940s.

Citations & Credits:

Wees, Vicki. Felton Grove, 2013.
Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Santa Cruz, CA, 2015.

The seven-mile-long railroad route between Felton and Boulder Creek hosted a surprising number of stations over the fifty years that the branch line existed. An early stop, established in 1890, was Kent's Spur, located only a mile north of Felton. Brothers James Edgar and Lewis Alphonse Kent were lumbermen in search of timber. In 1889, they purchased a tract of forestland on the east bank of the San Lorenzo River just north of town and soon they asked the railroad to install a spur so they could load flatcars with logs and split stuff. The railroad obliged, although the length, direction, or position of the spur remain a mystery. From the start, the operation at Kent's Spur was small and intended to be short-lived. The Kent brothers finished harvesting the land in 1893, after which the stop disappeared from station books. Half the land was sold to Silas H. Baker, and Baker picked up the other half two years later after the Kents' homes were destroyed in a fire and they moved to Santa Cruz.

A scene from Rideout Ranch along the right-of-way, c. 1912. [Carol Harrington]

Around 1901, the Bakers sold the land to Ida E. Rountree, a major property owner in the area, who in turn sold a large portion of it to Phebe Abbot Rideout in 1906. Rideout founded the Rose Acres Ranch at the site and operated it until 1932. On the remainder of Rountree's land, between the railroad tracks and the river, a tiny subdivision was developed in 1912 named Bonny Brae, a companion to the Brookside subdivision across the river. The name Bonny Brae played on the Scottish theme of the San Lorenzo Valley and simply meant "pretty hillside" in Scotch English.

A man standing beside the horse paddock at Rideout Ranch, c. 1912. [Carol Harrington]

The property developers convinced the Southern Pacific Railroad to provide passenger access to Bonny Brae and Brookside and the railroad once again obliged, establishing Bonny Brae Station in 1913. The location was only ever a flag-stop and how much it was used is open to debate. There were only around a dozen parcels plotted out along the tracks here, with two dozen more across the river. Like many other stops along the branch, there was no station shelter or platform at Bonny Brae, just a sign beside the tracks. Unfortunately, no photographs survive of the station.

Rideout Ranch main house, c. 1912. [Carol Harrington]

Bonny Brae lingered on railroad timetables until the end of the Boulder Creek Branch in January 1934, although passenger service ceased no later than May 1931. The right-of-way became Rose Acres Lane, although San Lorenzo Way remained in place to cater to the homes of the Bonny Brae subdivision. Rideout Ranch was purchased by George Knight who turned it into Rose Acres Dude Ranch & Riding Stables in 1937. At the northern end of Rose Acres Lane, Ron Ballauf purchased half of the Rideout property to establish Rose Acres Farm, which still grows Douglas fir trees for Christmas today.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
37.0582N, 122.0755W

The housing subdivisions that prompted the establishment of Bonny Brae flag-stop remain on either side of the San Lorenzo River, sandwiched between California State Route 9 and San Lorenzo Way (accessible via an aging 1912 bridge). The southern end of Rideout Ranch is now called Daybreak Camp while the northern end is still owned by the Ballauf family.

Citations & Credits:

Clark, Donald Thomas. Santa Cruz County Place Names: A Geographic Dictionary. Second edition. Scotts Valley, CA: Kestrel Press, 2008.
Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Santa Cruz, CA: 2015.

It must be stated from the start that this is not solely the story of Brackney station, but rather three stations that all appeared at or near the same site within the Brackney subdivision located to the east of California State Route 9 between Felton and Ben Lomond. The Brackney area is unique within the San Lorenzo Valley in that it is one of only two places where the state highway meanders onto the east bank of the San Lorenzo River (the other locale is Ben Lomond). But the river at Brackney is also unusual in that it veers dramatically to the west for a brief moment, creating a high plateau at the foot of the adjacent hill. Steep hillsides fall to the river on either side of this plateau, confining it and keeping it separate from any other place in the valley.

E. J. Rubottom and Will Glass, relatives
and friends who journeyed together during
the Yukon Gold Rush. [Ancestry.com]

The Felton & Pescadero Railroad was not afraid of the Brackney area when it first graded through here in 1884, but it should have been. The San Lorenzo Valley Flume had wisely built through the center of the plateau. This still required high bridges over the river, but the flume did not also have to contend with landslides. The railroad, undoubtedly seeking to avoid the construction of expensive bridges, took a more dangerous course, drilling and mining a right-of-way along the steep eastern cliffs above the river, cliffs that were proven to be made of sandstone rather than granite. Several graders died while cutting through this section and it remained the most problematic portion of the route to Boulder Creek throughout its fifty years. Even today, this portion of the former right-of-way shows signs of old and recent slides and the roadbed has risen dramatically as a result.

When the grading crews first entered this section, they passed through the lands of Emphrey Jones Rubottom, who had purchased the lands in 1878 from his stepfather, Almus L. Rountree. It is not entirely clear what Rubottom and his family used the land for, although it seems certain that some of it was used for farming since Rubottom filed several patents for farming equipment during this time. Whether Rubottom was granted an unregistered train stop by the Felton & Pescadero Railroad is unknown, and the Southern Pacific Railroad only registered such a station in 1890. It was around this time—and the station is probably a result of this—that Rubottom and his half-brother John Almus Rountree began harvesting tan oak and timber on their two properties, which collectively occupied the entire plateau. How long the operation lasted is unknown, but the stop did appear briefly in 1907 on railroad timetables suggesting it was still active at that time. However, when the tracks were standard-gauged early the next year, Rubottom's stop disappeared.

At the time Rubottom was removed from station books, another stop appeared named Pettis. Employee timetables appear to have mistakenly situated this at the site of Riverside because it subsequently appeared further to the north in the Brackney area. Pettis was only ever listed as an Additional Stop and nothing is known about it. It had no spur or siding and must have simply been a flag-stop for locals in the Brackney area. Even the name—Pettis—is of unknown origin although it likely relates to a local property owner, possibly a family that briefly purchased Rubottom's property.

The history of the area becomes much more clear from this point forward. Alonzo L. Brackney had lived in Felton since 1889, having moved from Pennsylvania originally. He owned land immediately north of Rubottom's tract and when Rubottom died in 1913, Brackney purchased the rest of the plateau from his heirs. Like so many other aspiring entrepreneurs in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Brackney hoped to develop a small resort on his property and it was ideally situated and appropriately rustic for such a purpose. He named the resort Camp Brackney and installed cottages and tent cabins throughout the property. The proprietors of the Hotel Rowardennan in Ben Lomond managed the resort.

The sharp turn at Brackney before heading around the bend toward Glen Arbor, c. 1920. [The Valley Press]

At Brackney, Southern Pacific kept things simple. With the tracks now upgraded and the former spur removed, only a small shelter was needed at Brackney—something that would protect people waiting to board the train but not require anything more. The small cross-shaped shelter supported three sets of benches beneath a roof that had "Brackney" emblazoned on a sign atop it, while passengers would have to use a flag to wave down a passing train. An identical-styled structure was used at Newell Junction, further to the north, and at Asilomar on the Monterey Branch. Because of the sharp turn on the approach through Brackney, a check rail was installed to avoid the wheels from slipping.

The junction where once stood Brackney station. The right-of-way continues to the left down the service road. The shelter was situated just beyond the gate on the left. [Derek R. Whaley]

Brackney never proved itself as a successful resort and, from the beginning, Brackney began parceling out his property for use as a seasonal homes. Out of the way along a route declining in use and popularity, Brackney fully embraced its status as a housing subdivision in the late 1920s. Brackney himself had hoped to start an entirely new small township on his land, which he called "San Lorenzo," but the new homeowners continued on with just Brackney. While a few businesses did spring up both beside the railroad tracks and on either side of Highway 9, no formal township formed on the plateau. The station remained on timetables until the line shut down in January 1934, although all passenger service ceased at the end of 1930. The remnant right-of-way was purchased by the City of Santa Cruz Water Department probably in the late 1950s as a part of their Newell Creek reservoir project and it continues to be used as a service road today.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
37.0685N, 122.0786W

The site of Brackney is near the top of Brackney Road off State Route 9. Just after the road turns south, it splits between a driveway and a Santa Cruz Water Department road. The latter marks the former railroad right-of-way and this junction point is the approximate location of the former station shelter. Throughout the Brackney area, the right-of-way survives and can be generally hiked upon, with caution, although it is strictly-speaking water district land. To the south, the former route wraps around the San Lorenzo River, passing through a cut, before ending at the back gate of the Rose Acres Tree Farm. To the north, the road briefly parallels Brackney Road before passing through two gates and on around the San Lorenzo River, ultimately ending at the fence of a home on Fremont Avenue in Glen Arbor. Further exploration is impossible in either direction without trespassing on private property.

Citations & Credits:

Clark, Donald Thomas. Santa Cruz County Place Names: A Geographic Dictionary. Second edition. Scotts Valley, CA: Kestrel Press, 2008.
Rountree, Edward T. "A Commentary on the book 'South Pacific Coast'by Bruce A. MacGregor". Santa Cruz, CA: University Library, 1974.
Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Santa Cruz, CA, 2015.
"Will Glass / E J Rubottom Photo", Glass Family Highlights. Posted March 1, 2008. Accessed December 13, 2018.

Glen Arbor was never a booming metropolis and its station was never any more than a rustic, although undeniably large, shelter in the eyes of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Established in 1911, Glen Arbor was the third in a quartet of small stations set up after standard-gauging was completed in 1908, the others being Siesta in 1909, Bonny Brae in 1912, and Phillipshurst in 1913. There was great anticipation surrounding the establishment of Glen Arbor. Located on the east bank of the San Lorenzo River midway between Felton and Ben Lomond, the subdivision was built upon a large and recently deforested tract that had seen little use other than some grazing and farming activity. Part of the problem was isolation: the river cut a deep moat on two sides, while a steep, sandy hillside flanked the subdivision to the east, leaving the north as the only escape route. The only roads that could reach the tract were a 1.5-mile-long road from Ben Lomond or a longer road to Olympia, north of Felton. Both went through rugged, industrial country. Fortunately, the Felton & Pescadero Railroad had forged a path directly through this area back in 1885, and Southern Pacific still maintained the route in 1909, when the Glen Arbor subdivision was first proposed.

Glen Arbor, looking north-east, c. 1910s. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries]

J. W. Wright purchased the property that would become Glen Arbor from the Rountree and Brackney families. He saw the area as his chance to make a pleasure city—i.e., a resort community—in the San Lorenzo Valley. Jumping on the Scots Gaelic-themed names of the area, he called the subdivision Glen Arbor, which means "a shady place among the trees." And while there certainly were trees along the riverbank, the plateau upon which the subdivision was established appears from photographs to be relatively barren. Nonetheless, Wright, via his property manager L. W. Coffee, set off immediately to market the subdivision to wealthy Bay Area elite.

A summer home built in the Glen Arbor subdivision, c. 1920s. [George Pepper]

Coffee parcelled off a stunning 600 lots as the core of the development, and government records of the subdivision show an impressive breakdown with dozens of homes lining Riverton Avenue (later Glen Arbor Road), Hermosa Ave., Fernwood Ave., Oak Ave., Fremont Ave., Caledonium Ave., and Arden Ave., many of which would prove near-impossible to build upon due to geographical constraints. An advertisement from June 1909 notes that riverside lots cost $50 while lots within the subdivision cost $30. Lots sold surprisingly fast, with nearly 200 allegedly sold by the date of the June advertisement. Coffee brought in hundreds of visitors each week throughout the spring and summer of 1909 to sell lots. He ran barbecues and picnics, offered free railroad tickets to prospective buyers and their families, and generally feted them as best he could.

Glen Arbor hosting a passenger train, as viewed from the Coffee residence that looked directly west down Riverton Avenue, late 1910s. [Bruce MacGregor]

The newspaper advertisement shows Glen Arbor's signature station already in place, suggesting the building was established two years before the railroad officially registered the stop in 1911. The structure served many purposes and was built by Wright, not by the railroad. Eaves outside beside the railroad tracks acted as a passenger shelter, while the inside of the building acted as a community center and post office, the latter only operating from 1914 to 1915. Despite its impressive size, the station at Glen Arbor only ever served as a flag-stop—it had no railroad staff and did not sell tickets. However, the station did support a 297-foot-long spur, which ran beside the tracks to the south (between modern Glen Arbor Road and Oak Avenue). The spur had a short platform for loading goods and a shed was erected atop the platform, probably to hold supplies used in loading cargo. What purpose this spur served is unclear since this subdivision was seasonally residential, but it may have supported a small fruit industry or a cattle ranch in the hills above the subdivision.

Site of Glen Arbor's station, 2013. [Google Street View]

By the end of 1909, most of the subdivision was sold and the task of actually developing the properties began. People were slow to build, however, and, over time, parcels were merged into larger lots and permanent, year-round dwellings were erected, notably immediately before World War II. The railroad stop remained on timetables until the decommissioning of the branch in January 1934, although passenger service was terminated at the end of 1930. The station was repurposed as a private residence for a while, but was replaced in 1947 with a more modern dwelling. Soon after the abandonment of the railroad line, a bridge was installed over the San Lorenzo River, finally connecting the residents of Glen Arbor directly to the main highway artery of the valley.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
37.0744N, 122.0814W (8121 Fremont Avenue)

A home still occupies the site of Glen Arbor Station while the right-of-way itself is partially overgrown and partially Lorenzo Way, located between Hermosa Avenue and Fremont Avenue along Glen Arbor Road near the bridge over the San Lorenzo River. Nothing remains of the station itself and the even the fate of the station sign is unknown. The right-of-way to the south continues down the poorly-defined Schaaf Road, which is today interrupted by fences and two homes built atop the right-of-way. There is currently no way other than trespassing across private residences to connect to the undeveloped right-of-way north of Brackney. North from Glen Arbor, the right-of-way continues paralleling Lorenzo Way until crossing Arden Avenue. From this point, the railroad passed through the properties on the east side of Lorenzo Way as the road curves around the San Lorenzo River across from Highlands Park. Where Lorenzo Way ends, the route eventually takes a sharp turn east, passing through ill-defined properties, before meeting Glen Arbor Road just north of the Quail Hollow Road junction. It continues running on the west side of Glen Arbor Road until finally crossing the road just before Love Creek.

Citations & Credits:

Clark, Donald Thomas. Santa Cruz County Place Names: A Geographic Dictionary. Second edition. Scotts Valley, CA: Kestrel Press, 2008.
Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Santa Cruz, CA, 2015.

When Addison Newell established his homestead along a remote tributary of the San Lorenzo River in 1867, he likely did not anticipate how long his name would be remembered. Indeed, he did not stay long in the area. In 1875, he sold the property and moved away, leaving his name to the little tributary stream, Newell Creek. Soon afterwards, the San Lorenzo Valley Flume & Lumber Company erected its v-flume up the valley. At Newell Creek, it installed a feeder flume to keep the water flowing in the main flume on its way to Felton. The area around this junction became a gathering point for local residents when a school was established near here as Newell Creek School in 1876. By 1881, the area also supported a shingle and box mill operated by John Peter Houck, an operation that would at times lend the name "Shingle Springs" to Newell Creek.

The Felton & Pescadero Railroad changed the situation at and for Newell Creek. Demolishing the flume, the railroad erected a line to Boulder Creek that had to cross Newell Creek before reaching Pacific Mills (Ben Lomond). In fact, Newell Creek was its first major fluvial crossing. Because of the nearby school, the railroad established a siding at Newell Creek that was appropriately named the Newell Creek School House Siding. Whether the siding was actually used to shuttle in nearby school children or was used for freight is unknown. When the Southern Pacific Railroad took over in 1887, Newell Creek did not appear on its timetables and its very status during this period remains unclear.

The passenger shelter at Newell Junction, c. 1920. [The Valley Press]

In 1891, Newell Creek reappeared in Southern Pacific station books as a freight stop. By 1895, a platform and spur were also available at the stop. This likely reflected the future plans of the Santa Clara Valley Mill & Lumber Company, which increasingly owned the entirety of the Newell Creek valley, which included hundreds of acres of prime old-growth redwood. By 1902, Newell Creek was the only significant watershed in the San Lorenzo Valley that had not been harvested. But that soon changed.

The California Timber Company succeeded the Santa Clara Valley Mill & Lumber Company in 1903 and it shifted operations from above Boulder Creek to Newell Creek. To support this venture, the Southern Pacific Railroad constructed one of its shortest branch lines, the 1.5-mile-long Newell Creek Branch, which ran between Newell Creek and the Newell Mill. Because the Boulder Creek Branch was scheduled for broad-gauging, the Newell Creek Branch was built dual-gauge. This not only allowed for it to be upgraded immediately, but it made it easier for the California Timber Company's narrow-gauge trains to use the mill trackage efficiently.

Newell Creek station became Newell Junction in 1908, once standard-gauging was completed, and it retained this name for the remainder of its existence. Around this same time, a small shelter was installed beside the switch to allow passengers to flag passing trains. This shelter was identical to the one at Brackney. Whether a freight platform remained after standard-gauging is unknown, but it seems unlikely since the spur at Newell Junction was removed at this time.

As a functioning branch line, the Newell Creek Branch ceased all or most operations by 1913, although the tracks remained in place until 1920, when the branch was decommissioned. Nonetheless, Newell Junction retained its name as a junction, despite the branch having disappeared. A remnant of the branch remained as a spur until 1930, although the purpose of this spur is unknown. The station remained available as a flag-stop until the end of passenger service at the end of 1930, after which the entire line only serviced freight. The Boulder Creek Branch was abandoned on January 25, 1934, at which time Newell Junction ceased to exist. The fate of the station shelter and sign remains unknown.

The approximate location of Newell Junction today. [Google Street View]

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
Approx. 37.0838N, 122.0815W

The site of Newell Junction is at the bottom of Newell Creek Road at its junction with Glen Arbor Road, although it is unclear where precisely the shelter was located. The Boulder Creek Branch right-of-way parallels Glen Arbor Road to the south and west in this area, while Newell Creek Road closely matches or parallels the route of the former Newell Creek Branch. No remnant of Newell Junction survives, but Addison Newell's legacy continues through street names and Newell Creek.

Citations & Credits:

Clark, Donald Thomas. Santa Cruz County Place Names: A Geographic Dictionary. Second edition. Scotts Valley, CA: Kestrel Press, 2008.
Hamman, Rick. California Central Coast Railways. Second edition. Santa Cruz, CA: Otter B Books, 2002.
Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Santa Cruz, CA, 2015.

The Southern Pacific Railroad's Newell Creek Branch to the south of Ben Lomond had only one unique stop: Newell Mill. However, much like the Loma Prieta mill near Aptos, this mill on Newell Creek justified the railroad's costs in building the branch and its continued existence over the next decade.

In 1903, Timothy Hopkins, treasurer of Southern Pacific, joined forces with A. C. Bassett, president of the California Timber Company, which was formed via the consolidation of the Santa Clara Valley Mill & Lumber Company (once owned by James Dougherty) and the Big Basin Lumber Company (previously owned by Henry L. Middleton). Their goal: harvest the old growth redwood that still sat within the upper Newell Creek basin. Hopkins convinced the railroad to build the 1.5-mile-long branch line while the California Timber Company built the mill and all extra trackage and roads required to get the felled timber to the mill pond. Bassett brought most of his machinery from the now-abandoned Dougherty mill north of Boulder Creek in the summer of 1904. In May 1905, Hopkins delivered on his promise and the branch line to the mill was completed. Only one small bridge was required along the line to cross the creek. In anticipation of the future upgrade, the branch line was triple-railed to support both narrow- and standard-gauge rolling stock.

Newell Mill alongside Newell Creek, c. 1906. Note the creek to the left of the mill and the railroad tracks continuing beside the mill and up the creek. [Bruce MacGregor]

The mill opened on May 1, 1905, averaging an output of 60,000 board feet of lumber per day. The tiny Felton locomotive, nicknamed the Dinky, which originally ran on the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad line before being purchased by the Doughertys around 1887, was transferred to the Newell Mill where it operated in the Newell Basin on narrow-gauge tracks installed by lumber crews. Unlike the branch line to the mill, the miles of tracks installed north of the mill were privately-owned and undoubtedly crudely made, with several bridges built to cross the creek and various gullies and feeder streams. In October, a fire burned down the entire mill. Fortunately, most of the timber was still soaking in the mill pond at the time and very little actually was lost. Bassett rebuilt the mill the following February and resumed operations.

Lumbermen waiting on a narrow-gauge flatcar for a pickup by a locomotive. [Rick Hamman]

The April 18, 1906, earthquake should have catapulted Newell Creek into peak production to support the San Francisco rebuild, but several issues slowed down operations. The closure of the mountain route for three years meant that lumber either had to be shipped out along the coast via Pajaro or by ship at Santa Cruz. Southern Pacific also took the closure of the route as an opportunity to finally upgrade its trackage to standard-gauge, which occurred along the Boulder Creek Branch in 1908. Prior to this time, all of the San Lorenzo Valley's trackage had been narrow-gauge, but the upgrading meant that the tracks along Newell Creek were now the only narrow-gauge tracks in the valley. The California Timber Company rushed to convince Southern Pacific to send to its mill all remaining narrow-gauge rolling stock before pulling out the third rail. This allowed the mill to continue to optimise its harvesting operations in the hills.

Kitty sitting on a triple-railed track in the Newell Creek property, c. 1907. [Rick Hamman]

The Dinky was no longer as capable as it had once been and in 1910 the lumber company replaced it with the Kitty, a saddleback locomotive purchased from the Molino Timber Company. The Dinky returned to the narrow-gauge track north of Boulder Creek where it was used in subdivision promotions around Wildwood. With the Kitty, harvesting operations on Newell Creek were able to expand even faster than anticipated. By 1911, 3.5 miles of track meandered up to near the headwaters of the creek, crossing over the creek five times before reaching the end.

Lumbermen posing outside the Newell Mill, c. 1906. [UC Santa Cruz Digital Collections]

By the end of 1912, the basin was completely bereft of profitable old growth timber. The mill shut down early the next year and was subsequently dismantled, the machinery and Kitty shipped elsewhere. The tracks north of the Newell Mill were probably scrapped in the late 1910s for use by the military during World War I, while the main branch to Newell Junction languished until at least 1920.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
37.0987N, 122.0751W

Today, nearly all of the original California Timber Company grounds are submerged under the Santa Cruz City Water District reservoir known as Loch Lomond, which is accessible to the public seasonally via Lompico. The dam was built in 1960 and the valley flooded three years later. It currently provides much of the drinking water for the City of Santa Cruz. Little survives of the narrow-gauge right-of-way because of the inundation, although remnants do exist near the top of the lake. The railroad right-of-way to the Newell Mill mostly parallels Newell Creek Road just to the east, passing through what are now private homes. The site of the mill sits just below the earthen dam at the end of the road and is inaccessible to the public.

Citations:

Clark, Donald Thomas. Santa Cruz County Place Names: A Geographic Dictionary. Second edition. Scotts Valley, CA: Kestrel Press, 2008.
Hamman, Rick. California Central Coast Railways. Second edition. Santa Cruz, CA: Otter B Books, 2002.
Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Santa Cruz, CA, 2015.

The development of the settlement that became Ben Lomond took well over three decades to achieve and, compared to many other settlements in the San Lorenzo Valley, had surprisingly little to do with the coming of the railroad. The area is located north of the northern boundary of Rancho Zayante and, as such, it had virtually no development prior to the 1860s. A few rugged farmers established themselves in the area, but otherwise there were no formal roads or services offered north of Felton. The name Ben Lomond was actually given to the mountain to the west of the San Lorenzo Valley, upon which the Scotsman John Burns began the first commercial vineyard in Santa Cruz County. Throughout the 1860s, a number of small lumber enterprises moved into the area that would become the town of Ben Lomond, including Isaac Graham's daughter, Mary E. Marshall, after whom Marshall Creek was named, and Thomas B. Hubbard, the namesake of Hubbard Gulch. On the opposite side of the area, Captain Henry Love, famed for killing the outlaw Joaquín Murieta, owned another small logging operation along the creek that would later bear his name.

A view down Mill Street at Pacific Mills, c. 1885. [Preston Sawyer]

James Pieronnet Pierce purchased Love's property in 1868 and it is with him and his Pacific Manufacturing Company that the true history of Ben Lomond as a settlement begins. Pierce saw the lumber potential provided by the various wooden creeks that all met the San Lorenzo River around floodplain where the river turned abruptly eastward before continuing on its southward journey to the Monterey Bay. But Pierce was patient and harvest other lumber sources while he awaited better access to his land along the river. This opportunity came in 1877, after the San Lorenzo Valley Flume was completed and sufficiently stress-tested.

Pacific Manufacturing Company factory in Santa Clara, c. 1880s. [San José Public Libraries]

At the bend in the river, Pierce built Pacific Mills, a mid-sized lumber mill that ran for almost ten seasons. Pierce's priority was Love Creek, but Hubbard and other local firms also either leased their properties to Pierce or used his large facility at the floodplain to process their felled timber. In Santa Clara, Pierce built a massive planing mill that turned the crudely-cut wood into lumber, window sills, and coffins, among other items, for sale across the West.

Men and a carriage outside the first Ben Lomond depot, c. 1895. [Bruce MacGregor]

In mid-1884, the Felton & Pescadero Railroad first reached Pacific Mills, allowing Pierce to ramp up production of lumber exponentially. Spurs and sidings snaked throughout the mill property, as well as across the San Lorenzo River to the south, up Love Creek to the east, and up Hubbard Gulch to the west. The ultimate extent of his private railroad network is unclear, but remnants found along Love Creek suggest that Pierce built over seven miles of narrow-gauge track, although he probably used horses, oxen, or mules to actually transport felled trees.

Ben Lomond subdivisions as proposed by J.P. Pierce, 1887.

During the summer of 1886, the area around Pacific Mills was logged out and Pierce looked toward selling the acreage. Although Pierce wished to keep the Pacific Mills name, the United States post office disagreed and the name became Ben Lomond in May 1887. Pierce incorporated the Ben Lomond Land & Lumber Company that same year to manage property sales on the 4,000 acres he owned, land that stretched nearly two miles to the north and south and a mile east and west. A Southern Pacific-style combination passenger and freight depot was erected just north of the mill at around this same time, with track passing on either side of the depot. While south of the river, Pierce leased his land to Thomas Bell, who established the Hotel Rowardennan resort complex, within the settlement Pierce separated the land into two large subdivisions he called Sunnyside and Brookside, the former located on the floodplain, the latter along Love Creek.

A passenger train parked beside the new Ben Lomond depot, c. 1910. [Bruce MacGregor]

By the mid-1890s, the town of Ben Lomond was firmly established and the former mill grounds were evolving into downtown. The various spurs up the creeks and around the mill were removed leaving only a short stretch of double track behind the depot and a single run-around track in front of it. Following the San Francisco Earthquake, the track through Ben Lomond was upgraded to standard-gauge in 1908. The next year, the small depot at Ben Lomond was replaced with a structure nearly twice the size and significantly taller, identical to a new station also erected at Boulder Creek.

The San Lorenzo River near Hotel Rowardennan, c. 1908. [California State Library]

Following the end of logging along the Boulder Creek Branch around 1912, Ben Lomond became primarily a tourist destination, with visitors coming from throughout the Bay Area and beyond to visit Hotel Ben Lomond, Hotel Rowardennan, Hotel Dickinson, and other resorts dotting the hills around the town. Significant swimming holes could be found along the river south and west of town, while Hotel Rowardennan also maintained a swimming hole as a part of its resort. Boating and fishing were popular at this time, as were hunting and camping. Ben Lomond produced few freight goods except some fruits grown along Love Creek and north of town.

Postcard of a McKeen motor car parked outside Ben Lomond depot, 1913. [The Valley Press]

Increasing automobile traffic beginning in the late 1910s spelled the doom of the Boulder Creek Branch in general and the station at Ben Lomond in particular. Fewer people took the train to the town, favoring instead to drive there from the Bay Area. A lack of freight customers at Ben Lomond made this problem more acute. Southern Pacific attempted to limit their losses in the mid-1910s by trying McKeen Company motor cars on the line, but these steel tanks proved unable to navigate the turns and grades of the branch line and were quickly moved elsewhere. Traffic continued to fall throughout the 1920s until only a single mixed train ran daily. Passenger service was ultimately ended at the end of 1930, although the tracks remained an active freight line until January 1934.

Mill Street in downtown Ben Lomond soon after the abandonment of the railroad, c. 1940.

When the tracks were removed later that year, Santa Cruz County planners decided it was a good opportunity to redirect the county road through downtown Ben Lomond. Prior to 1934, through traffic bypassed the town by remaining on the west side of the San Lorenzo River, but a new road, supported with two new bridges built by the Works Progress Administration, was built along the northern edge of downtown, paralleling the old route of the railroad, although never overlapping it. Over the following years, businesses, homes, and the town's fire department were built atop the railroad grade, the remnants of which fell into obscurity.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
37.0899N, 122.0902W

The site of Ben Lomond depot is currently occupied by the Shell gas station at the corner of California State Route 9 and Main Street. The ultimate fates of both depots remains open for debate. The older depot may now serve as a heavily-modified private residence behind the gas station, but the second depot appears to have been demolished. The right-of-way to the east passes through the Scarborough Home Center parking lot, Henfling's Tavern, and the Ben Lomond Fire Department before crossing Love Creek Road and Love Creek on its way to Glen Arbor. To the west, the right-of-way runs through Spank's and three residences before passing behind the Tyrolean Inn and over the San Lorenzo River, where remnants of the former bridge there can still be discerned on either bank. Nothing else survives of the station at Ben Lomond.

Citations:

MacLean, Lucia. "The Founding of Ben Lomond, A Mountain Community: A History of Alba School and Its District." Accessed July 19, 2013.
Sawyer, Eugene T. "History of Santa Clara County, California." Historic Record Co., 1922. Accessed July 19th, 2013.
Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Santa Cruz, CA, 2015.

Ben Lomond's transition from a remote lumber mill to a resort community came rather suddenly in the late 1880s and early 1890s, yet surprisingly few resorts actually arose in and around the town. Part of the reason for this was that James Pieronnet Pierce of Pacific Mills still owned much of the land at the beginning. He, therefore, had some control of the town's evolution over the next two decades. Thus, while other towns were more wild in their development and entrepreneurs could experiment with new resorts, Ben Lomond was more like a planned town. The history of its resorts during the era of the railroad reflect this unique growth pattern.

Hotel Ben Lomond (1887-1911)
The first resort in Ben Lomond was the aptly named Hotel Ben Lomond. It was established in 1887 by Thomas L. and Weltha A. Bell, who were tasked by Pierce to found the Ben Lomond Land & Lumber Company and begin the commercial and residential development of the former mill properties. The hotel was situated on the northwest corner of town near where State Route 9 crosses the San Lorenzo River. Originally, it consisted of a two-story structure which hosted thirty-five guest rooms, a dining room, parlor, kitchen, and office. A wide veranda wrapped around the building. Around 1890, a separate club room was also built, which featured in it billiards tables and a small dancing area. Outside on the hotel grounds were four four-room cottages that could house families in the summer months. Below the hotel on the banks of the San Lorenzo River were several changing rooms (called "swimming baths") to allow people to enjoy the river. Fishing and hunting were advertised as key features, while the close connection to the railroad station meant that vacationers could also head to the Santa Cruz Main Beach to enjoy the Monterey Bay.

Colorized postcard of Hotel Ben Lomond at its peak, c. 1895. [CardCow]

The Bells owned the property for just under a decade, but their dreams of a mountain resort outgrew the size of their little hotel complex on the edge of town. In 1896, they started fresh on the south side of town and founded the Hotel Rowardennan. In any case, the couple rarely managed the property personally. From 1890 to 1896, it went through no fewer than six proprietors, including M. A. Farrar (1890), W. K. McCollim and Charles C. Douglas (1891), W. M. Ward (1892), G. L. A. Smith (1893-1894, 1899), and James J. C. Leonard (1895-1898). This was high turnaround for such a successful resort and, in at least two cases, part of the problem was dishonest managers. The Bells sold the resort to D. W. Johnston, who allowed Leonard to remain as proprietor.

The entrance to Hotel Ben Lomond, across the tracks from Ben Lomond Depot off Fairview Avenue, c. 1905.
[Derek R. Whaley]

With the establishment of Hotel Rowardennan, Hotel Ben Lomond had direct competition. In 1896, an arms race began with Rowardennan. Whatever happened at one, the other copied it. In that year, Leonard added sixteen rooms to the hotel, increasing its capacity substantially. The next year, the river was dammed to allow a pool for boating, the dining room was enlarged, and 150 electric lights were installed. Despite the resort only consisting of 24 acres, compared to Rowardennan's 300, it could support 150 guests at maximum capacity.

Colorized postcard of Hotel Ben Lomond, 1907. [eBay]

Despite the competition, Hotel Ben Lomond thrived throughout the 1890s and early 1900s. After two years of ownership under Joseph Ball, who also managed the property, the resort was taken over by Benjamin F. Dickinson, who had run Hotel Rowardennan on behalf of H. Francis Anderson for five years, during which time he founded separately Hotel Dickinson. He retained the latter even while taking over Hotel Ben Lomond. But this seemed too much for Dickinson and he sold the property in 1904 to F. A. Cory, who immediately began upgrading the hotel further with the addition of more guest rooms and a larger office, even going so far to incorporate the business as the Ben Lomond Hotel Company in February 1905. A few years later, though, Cody sold it to E. H. Scott, who in turn sold it to Lydia B. Sowell in 1910. A portion of the property was also parcelled off as a private residence at this time. Disputes arose in 1911 between the two new proprietors, leading to the sale of much of the furniture and other moveable goods at the hotel. It never recovered.

On March 5, 1914, the end finally came for the resort. A fire started by the hotel's proprietor, Walter W. Everton, supported by its owners, C. A. Cooper and Ellsworth Beeson, engulfed the main hotel complex, including the parlors, kitchen, dining room, and bedrooms. Only out buildings such as the cottages and club house survived. Everton was arrested for the crime and all three were implicated in arson fires, made for insurance reasons, across the state. The property sat abandoned for fourteen years before becoming the Fairview Manor in 1928. The home now hosts a bed and breakfast.

Kent House (1894)
Located directly to the north of Ben Lomond depot, the Kent House advertised its central locale as its primary feature when it entered the scene in April 1894. Run by Martin B. Matson, a former employee of Hotel Ben Lomond, the hotel did not survive for more than one season. In 1895, Matson was arrested in Los Gatos for trying to pass a forged check.

Hotel Rowardennan and Ben Lomond Lodge (1896-1935)
Not satisfied with the relatively small hotel west of downtown, Thomas and Weltha Bell reincorporated as the Ben Lomond Improvement Company in 1896 and constructed the massive 300-acre Hotel Rowardennan resort, which sprawled across the county road to the south of Ben Lomond and spanned the San Lorenzo River near its confluence with Newell Creek. Unlike Hotel Ben Lomond, at least initially, Rowardennan featured tennis courts, campgrounds, forest paths, and boating along the river. A dam installed in the river created a swimming hole and also powered the hotel's electric lighting.

Colorized postcard of the Hotel Rowardennan lodge, c. 1905. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries]

As happens so frequently with structures in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the original Hotel Rowardennan burned down in February 1897, only months after it opened, but the Bells rebuilt and the resort continued to grow. It was expanded to include a restaurant, billiards room, indoor dance hall, and a telegraph office. It had all the features any resort could wish for, but its year-round operations were bleeding it dry. In 1899, the Bells relocated to the confluence of Bean Creek and Zayante Creek to build the Arcadia resort (later Mount Hermon). They sold Hotel Rowardennan to H. Francis Anderson, the wealthy British owner of The Highlands (now Highlands County Park), who hired Benjamin and Gertrude Dickinson to manage the hotel operations.

Tennis players on the tennis court at Hotel Rowardennan, c. 1915. [eBay]

The Dickinsons were optimistic and eager to make Rowardennan profitable. Benjamin had been one of Pierce's lumbermen and had worked for Bell at the hotel previously. He also served as the assistant postmaster for Santa Cruz. Within a year of being hired as manager, the Dickinsons acquired the smaller tract of land between the Rowardennan property and the San Lorenzo River to the north, upon which they erected tent cabins and cottages for campers. The Dickinsons continued to manage Rowardennan off and on until 1910, after which the spun-off their adjacent property as Hotel Dickinson.

Main dining room at Hotel Rowardennan, c. 1910. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries]

The popularity of the picturesque resort began to decline in the 1910s. In June 1926, Anderson sold the property to Robert Barr and W. L. Morton, who renamed the resort Ben Lomond Lodge. By this point, Anderson had already sold off most of the property, leaving Barr and Morton with only twelve acres. It remained a popular dancing and music venue while vacationers continued to stay in the lodge and the surviving cottages scattered above the river. The partners also rebranded the resort an auto camp, designating an area along the river as campgrounds. The property was sold to G. L. James in 1928 and then Clara Warren in 1931. James had attempted to convert the hotel into a girls' school in 1929, but the venture never took off. Warren sold the property to Helene LaCraze in February 1932, but she would prove the final owner.

The San Lorenzo River behind Hotel Rowardennan, c. 1908. [California State Library]

Before the start of the 1932 summer season, the entire lodge and three cottages burned to the ground on April 9. Fourteen cottages survived, as well as several other amenities such as the dance pavilion. These allowed LaCraze to continue operating the resort at an extremely reduced capacity for the next two summers. But tragedy struck again in September 1933 when the club house, which housed a bowling alley, dance hall, and dinner tables, burned down. Only nine cottages survived and with these LaCraze hoped to rebuild the lodge as an entirely new establishment in 1934. But her dreams were shattered when, in February 1934, a third fire demolished the largest of the surviving cottages and damaged two others. The resort manager, C. Clementi, who ran a restaurant on the property, continued to advertise throughout 1935, suggesting something of the original property survived, but by 1937 the remaining buildings were up for sale again.

Final iteration of Rowardennan Lodge, 1952. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries]

Sal Christina purchased the abandoned property in April 1937 and demolished the structures, renaming the property Ben Lomond Lodge Park and subdividing it for sale as vacation rentals and permanent homes. Eight years later, Ben Lomond Lodge was registered as an official business again but little more is said of it in local media thereafter. The Rowardennan Lodge then appeared in 1947 but its relationship to the previous business is unclear and this new iteration disappeared in 1955. The site now hosts a swimming pool and private residences.

Hotel Dickinson and Town & Country Lodge (1910-1967)

In 1904, the Dickinsons purchased a large tract of land north of Hotel Rowardennan upon which they placed some tent cabins and cottages. In March 1910, they finally broke their arrangement with H. Francis Anderson and Hotel Rowardennan and founded Hotel Dickinson on their property. Initially, they simply built a small hotel structure, but in 1914 they erected a large lodge that served as the centerpiece of their resort. The Dickinsons never tried to compete with their neighbors by offering the same level of resort options. Theirs was a simple hotel meant to cater to an increasingly mobile population. In many ways, it was more a roadhouse than resort. Nonetheless, they did manage some amenities, such as the creation of their own swimming lake on the San Lorenzo above that of Hotel Rowardennan. Throughout the 1920s, the lodge served as a popular meeting place in the San Lorenzo Valley. Concerts and galas were held there, as well as the monthly meetings of the local Chamber of Commerce. In 1927, The Cuckoo Clock tea house was opened at the hotel. In fact, with the final destruction of the Ben Lomond Lodge in 1933, Hotel Dickinson briefly became the only high-capacity hotel in the Ben Lomond area.

Entrance to the Hotel Dickinson, c. 1910. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries]

During the Great Depression, the hotel suffered somewhat from the Works Progress Administration project to redirect State Route 9 through downtown Ben Lomond. The new route of the road passed directly beside the hotel and required the demolition of its tea house, part of the main hotel structure, and a number of aesthetic features. Dickinson and his parneters, Tyler Henshaw and Fred Tubbs, sued the government for damages, arguing the hotel was not adequately compensated. The hotel won the case and was awarded $5,000 in damages. In 1936, Dickinson demolished the cottages at his hotel and sold them for scrap.

The swimming pool behind the Town & Country Lodge, 1952. [Santa Cruz Public Librarires]

Benjamin Dickinson continued to run the hotel until his death on July 29, 1943. The property was then sold by his wife and heirs to Gordon O. Perry in September 1945. Perry ran Hotel Dickinson as a night club as well as hotel, eventually renaming it the Town & Country Lodge in March 1947. The hotel was sold to Gene Gundel in June 1967 and continued to run as a hotel and cocktail lounge, but when it passed to Bob and Beverly Dakan in 1968, it became a restaurant and night club famous as a home of acid rock. Fire code violations and complaints by the public forced the club to shut down in 1975, after which it was sold as a private home to Rick J. Thomas. It reopened as an antique store called American Heritage Antiques in 1977 under the ownership of Mike Love and Dann Hewit. It has remained an antique store ever since, now called Towne & Country Antiques and Uniques, although the La Placa Family Bakery now sits on a corner of the former lodge.

Lockwood's Grove (1926-1958)

Advertisement for Lockwood's Grove, May 20, 1935.
[Santa Cruz Evening News]

A late entry in the list of local resorts, Wilfred E. Lockwood's Grove only appeared on the scene in the mid-1920s as a rural auto camp. Local newspapers describe the resort as a "cottage colony" that probably sat in the vicinity of the St. Peter & St. Paul (Gold Dome) Orthodox Church. It was a popular convention venue for local mid-sized organizations and had at least ten cottages on the site, as well as a large camp bonfire pit and a swimming pool. Lockwood got a job for Strout Realty in 1941 and began subdividing his property the next year. The remaining resort property he sold in February 1951 to Lee Weatherwax, who sold the 80-acre resort in 1958. It probably became Redwoods on the River, a mobile home village at the end of Brown Gables Road.

Vernal Lodge (1920s-1940)
Vernal Lodge was little more than a four-acre property that its owner, the English immigrant Mary Theresa Dietz, wished to share with campers and vacationers in the summer months. She moved to Ben Lomond in 1897 and opened her tiny resort in the mid-1920s. All mention of the lodge ends in 1940. Dietz died on July 20, 1954.

Citations & Credits:

Brown, Randall. "The Magnificent Andersons." Press-Banner, 10/01/2015.
Brown, Randall. "The Anderson Case."Press-Banner, 10/22/2015.
Gibson, Ross Eric. "Vanish Resort's Glory Days Recalled."Santa Cruz Public Libraries—Local History Collection. 1993.
Santa Cruz Sentinel and Santa Cruz Evening News, assorted articles.

The 3.2-mile route between Riverside—the junction point for the Old Felton Spur and the Boulder Creek Branch after 1908—and Ben Lomond was a scenic but not especially difficult journey. It was graded initially as the narrow-gauge Felton & Pescadero Railroad between 1883 and 1885 and closely paralleled the route of the San Lorenzo Valley Flume & Lumber Company's v-flume. The line was upgraded to standard gauge in 1908, but this presented few construction challenges except in the area south of Brackney. The route was renamed the Felton Branch in 1887 and the Boulder Creek Branch in 1912.

Aerial view of downtown Felton with the railroad grade still visible on the hillside behind the town, 1946.
[Felton Homes and History]

Photographs of the town of Felton show that the railroad tracks sat in a shallow cut as it rounded the large meadow on the east bank of the San Lorenzo River just across from downtown Felton. From there, it progressed north, always remaining on the east side of the river throughout its entire passage to Ben Lomond. Just south of Bonny Brae, two short fills were required to bridge seasonal streams that pass through the meadow. The land then levelled off through Bonny Brae and the site of the Christmas tree lot before a short but deep cut was required through an especially difficult piece of terrain.

Railroad route between Riverside and Ben Lomond, 1885-1934. Structures and spur lengths not to scale.
[Derek R. Whaley]

From here, the route reached its most treacherous point, hugging the hillside above the San Lorenzo River as a steep, sandy cut continuously poured debris on the tracks throughout the line's fifty-year existence. The only reported construction casualties along this line occurred here when a landslide killed two Chinese workers. Upgrading of the line in 1908 undoubtedly presented further challenges since the cut had to be pushed back even further, but newspapers report no serious incidents.

A home with a concrete pool in the Glen Arbor subdivision, c. 1930s. [Zillow]

From Brackney, the line evened out for the next 1.5 miles, passing through Glen Arbor before turning to the east with the river as it passed around The Highlands (Highlands County Park). Near where Quail Hollow Road intersects with Glen Arbor Road, the railroad grade met the road grade and continued paralleling it to the east to Newell Creek. At Newell Creek, a short redwood truss bridge was installed, one of two bridges used in this section. Soon afterwards, the route passed Newell Junction.

County survey of the Newell Creek watershed, showing the Newell Creek Branch and private trackage, 1909.
[George Pepper]

The Newell Creek Branch was only a mile long and only crossed the creek once, just before the mill. From there, an ever-lengthening narrow-gauge line continued deep into the Newell Creek basin. Very few photographs of this operation survive, but a few maps show where the tracks crossed the creek several times—at least six. Other bridges were required to cross feeder creeks and gulches in the basin. No photographs survive of any of these structures, but they were probably crudely-built using felled redwood trunks and other available pieces of timber, much like bridges on private lines north of Boulder Creek and along Aptos and Valencia Creeks.

Bridge over the San Lorenzo River north of Ben Lomond, c. 1910.

Back on the Boulder Creek Branch, the final journey between Newell Junction and Ben Lomond Depot was interrupted only by a bridge over Love Creek, the design of which has been lost. When the railroad first reached the settlement, it was known as Pacific Mills and several railroad tracks could be found throughout the area. One line continued up Oak Avenue along Love Creek to an indeterminate location. Another split from the mainline before crossing Love Creek on its own bridge, from where it continued down Mill Street, past the mill and across the San Lorenzo River to the west, eventually rejoining with the branch line there. From this track, a spur broke off to head up Hubbard Gulch to an unknown point. One last spur turned down across the San Lorenzo River to the south along what would later become State Route 9. Again, its ultimate destination is unknown.

Railroad tracks crossing the former entrance to Hotel Ben Lomond, with the depot in the background, c. 1920.
[George Pepper]

At the depot itself, a single siding wrapped around the depot to the south while the main track continued north of the depot, after which it crossed Fremont Avenue and turned to cross the San Lorenzo River and continue to Boulder Creek.

Nancy and Sally Hinman standing watching a train pass in Ben Lomond, c. 1920s. [Tracy New]

The Boulder Creek Branch was abandoned in January 1934 and the tracks pulled soon afterwards. None of the track in this area remains today, but much of the right-of-way between Riverside and Glen Arbor remains intact if you know where to look. In contrast, most of it from Glen Arbor to Ben Lomond has been covered by private homes and remnants of both bridges have disappeared into the creeks. The Newell Creek Branch is now Newell Creek Road, while the Newell Creek basin has since been inundated to create Loch Lomond, although remnants of the former logging rights-of-way can be found near the top of the lake when water levels are low.

Citations & Credits:

Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Santa Cruz, CA, 2015.

Until the end of the nineteenth century, lumber was the primary industry in the upper San Lorenzo Valley. Between Ben Lomond and Boulder Creek, small shingle mills and larger milling operations pockmarked both sides of the San Lorenzo River. A mile north of Ben Lomond Station, the Boulder Creek Branch crossed the San Lorenzo River onto the east bank for a short length. It was here that a shingle mill under the management of Myron Young operated from about 1896 until 1908. Young took on several partners over the years, including a Mr. Hall from 1896 to 1900, and a Mr. Lawrence from 1901 to 1908. Despite the name "shingle" mill, Young's operations north of Ben Lomond cut large and small redwood trees for processing. Much of the wood was, indeed, cut into shingles, but other split stuff such as grape stakes and railroad ties were made, and some timber was shipped off to mills to be turned into lumber, suggesting the mill had at least some railroad access, even if none was ever recorded in official documents. By early 1913, the property had sat vacant for five years and the redwoods that once sat on either side of the railroad tracks were almost entirely gone, replaced by a rolling meadow.

The Phillipshurst flag-stop with waiting passengers, late 1910s.
[George Pepper]

Around 1901, Dr. William A. Phillips, a graduate from Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, settled in Santa Cruz County. Phillips had lived for twelve years in Reno practicing medicine and serving as the president of the Nevada State Medical Society. In 1909, Phillips became the first president of the Santa Cruz Board of Health. Around the same time, he served as the lead physician of the Woodmen of the World's Santa Cruz Branch. Little else is known about the physician except he was quite wealthy and well-respected within the county. Hoping the mountain air would help a chronic illness he had developed, Phillips purchased the 47.5-acre mill site, which spanned both sides of the river, in mid-1912 on which he built a single-story rural bungalow he named Phillipshurst. As early as March 1913, local newspapers were already gossiping about the mountain retreat.

By this same time, Phillips had managed to negotiate a private flag-stop for his property. Southern Pacific was not really in the business of creating new flag-stops along the Boulder Creek Branch at this time, so it is unclear what convinced them. Money, certainly, helped but the tracks already passed through Phillips' property so there is no other clear motivation for the railroad. In any case, the stop only featured a sign beside a mile-marker. Phillips built a short suspension bridge that spanned the river to access the stop and the lands across the river. There was no platform or additional track at the Phillipshurst stop and it was only ever listed in timetables as a flag-stop. It was the last new stop listed along the Boulder Creek Branch. Only a couple photographs of the stop exist and all depict the same outing.

The main building of the Riverwood Manor, 1982. [Roger Wilder]

Phillipshurst as a station would live on until the end of the Boulder Creek Branch in 1934. However, the adjacent property have passed through several hands since 1912. Phillips sold the property in 1923 to Dr. William Everett Musgrave, who renamed it Riverwood Manor. Musgrave remodelled the estate with the assistance of Albert Farr and turned it into Tudor Revival-style mansion. He also hired John McLaren, the landscaper of Golden Gate Park, to arrange the gardens on the estate. Upgrading of the estate was completed in the spring of 1925. The completed manor-house consisted of ten bedrooms, multiple kitchens, two private apartments, a music room, library, living room, and an elegantly-covered porched collectively covering 10,000 square feet of real-estate. Unfortunately, Musgrave did not get to enjoy his improved mansion for long. He died in 1927, leaving the estate to his widow, Florence Blythe Moore, who continued to reside on the property until 1936. Whether or not Musgrave and Blythe used the railroad stop during this time is unknown.

View of some of the gardens beside the Riverwood Manor, 1980. Photo by Peter Amos. [Santa Cruz Sentinel]

Riverwood was sold to Theodore Hammond Smith who founded a school for people with mental disabilities. The estate was renamed the Blake Hammond School and the main building the Blake Hammond Manor. Blake was a reference to Smith's mother, Elizabeth Ellen Blake. Similar to the previous men who owned the property, Smith had medical training, having served as a Naval medic during World War I, and he wanted to use the mansion as a place where he could educate mentally disabled students using techniques pioneered by his mother. During his tenure on the estate, several buildings arose on either side of the river for housing, classrooms, and other amenities. Many of these structures, as well as the original Phillipshurst bridge that crossed the river, were destroyed in the 1955 flood. Smith rebuilt the bridge, which still exists today, but most of the outbuildings were abandoned.

View of the library inside the Riverwood Manor, 1980. Photo by Peter Amos. [Santa Cruz Sentinel]

Smith closed the school in October 1968 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He died in February 1969. He and his family continued to live on the estate during this period, but the costs of maintaining it forced the Smiths to leave. After sitting several years on the market, realtors and the Smith family decided to break up the property to make it easier to sell, subdividing the forty acres on the east bank of the river while leaving the 7.5 acres on the west bank intact.

Pat Wilder giving a tour of the Riverwood Manor's living room to visitors, 1980. Photo by Pater Amos.
[Santa Cruz Sentinel]

Roger and Patricia Sambuck Wilder purchased the mansion in 1977 and immediately began the process of restoring the structure to its former glory. The estate was added to the National Register of Historic Places (#3004369) in August 1983. Despite plans to reopen the mansion as a medical center or rehabilitation facility, it has remained a private estate ever since the Wilders acquired the property.
Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
37.1012N, 122.0996W

The site of both the Phillipshurst stop and the Blake Hammond Manor are unaccessible to the public. The stop is located near the southern end of River Road, which has since become a gated community. Nothing remains of the stop in any case, although River Road follows the railroad right-of-way in this section. The manor is still owned by the Wilder family as a private residence and tours of the structures are no longer available to the public. The manor can be partially viewed from State Route 9 just across from Pike Road—the highway wraps around a two-story structure that forms a part of the property, with the old gatehouse located directly across from this building.

Citations & Credits:

Clark, Donald Thomas, Santa Cruz County Place Names: A Geographic Dictionary. Second edition. Scotts Valley, CA: Kestrel Press, 2008.
Official Registry and Directory of Physicians and Surgeons in the State of California. San Francisco: Medical Society of the State of California, 1914.
Santa Cruz Evening News and Santa Cruz Sentinel, 1896-1983.
Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Santa Cruz, CA, 2015.

The mile-long section of track that ran along the east bank of the San Lorenzo River between Ben Lomond and Brookdale hosted two stations that both catered to private residences and appeared around the same time. At the northern end of this stretch, just before the Southern Pacific Railroad's Boulder Creek Branch crossed back over to the west bank of the river, Siesta Station was established beside the property of Fred Wilder Swanton. Siesta was an appropriate name that both described the purpose of the location—it was a "rest" stop for Swanton in the Santa Cruz Mountains—and matched the Spanish Revival atmosphere that was gripping California at the time. Indeed, Swanton named his massive new hotel on the Santa Cruz Main Beach the Casa del Rey and built it in just such a style.

The Swanton Cottage outside Brookdale, c. 1915. [San Lorenzo Valley Museum]

The Swanton Cottage, though, which sat between the tracks and the river, was no adobé-style mansion. Instead, it was a very simple redwood lumber and log bungalow that matched a slightly older, rugged aesthetic. Swanton had purchased the property in 1908 on land that had originally been John W. Ellsworth's lumber mill decades earlier. It had been logged out early so most of the nearby redwood trees were second growth, leaving plenty of room to build a cabin. Despite its rural location and simple style, it was designed by none other than William Henry Weeks, a famed architect who had built several impressive structures across California including the Boardwalk's Casino and Plunge and the hotel across from them. Weeks and his crew finished the building by the summer of 1910 and Swanton named it "La Siesta."

The swimming hole below Siesta, probably taken from atop the railroad bridge, c. 1915.
[Surf's Edge]

La Siesta was a short-lived thriving private resort. It included a dance pavilion beside the river, electrical lighting, an expansive garden with fountains, and indoor plumbing. Down at the river, Swanton installed a seasonal dam to allow swimming and boating beneath the railroad bridge there. He also experimented with an aerial tramway to transport goods across the river from the county road (State Route 9), aided in the construction of this by W. D. Dalton, his son-in-law. Near the end of 1910, Swanton also brought in a dozen excess cottages that had to be removed in Santa Cruz to make way for the Casa del Rey Hotel. These became the core component of his summer resort. Friends from across the country came to visit and stay the summer south of Brookdale, using the train to get there.

Subdivision survey map, 1909.
[San Lorenzo Valley Museum]

Swanton had always had a close relationship with the Southern Pacific Railroad. When he began operating the Bay Shore Limited Railway at the Boardwalk in 1907, he gave special tickets to Southern Pacific staff and was granted, in exchange, free rides on their network. Almost as soon as Swanton began construction of La Siesta, the railroad allowed for a stop to be established there. At first, it was probably to transport construction material and cottages since Swanton had no road access initially. But in later years, it was certainly for passenger use. A 1,076-foot siding was built on the east side of the tracks upon which excursion trains could park. To support this stop, Swanton built an ornate station shelter with stained-glass windows that sat between the branch line and the spur.

Swanton's financial investments suffered in the mid- to late-1910s and he was forced to sell his home in 1920. The cottage passed to several owners over subsequent years, but remains largely unchanged in its style. The area across from the Swanton Cottage was subdivided at the same time that Swanton purchased his property and it remains a thriving subdivision today. At some point, probably in the late 1910s, a bridge was built across the river along Larkspur Street to provide direct automobile access. Siesta remained on railroad timetables until the closure of the line in January 1934, but it is unclear if passengers continued to use the stop. Presumably the owners of the cottage and neighbors to the south periodically called passing trains until passenger service ended in 1930.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
37.1033N, 122.1030W

The site of Siesta is now a private driveway just beyond the end of Riverside Road in Brookdale. The right-of-way is entirely intact here with a concrete bridge pier visible to the north and a fence to the south. The Swanton Cottage remains only partially changed across from the stop. The old station shelter was converted into an ornate treehouse and sits behind the cottage atop a large stump. It still retains original stained-glass windows and the look of a 1910s-era building. Trespassing on any of this property, including the right-of-way, is not permitted. However, the home has been up for sale for several months now and may potentially be viewed via Micki Dahl at Century 21. The building has been given a Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History blue plaque award in recognition of its age, architectural style, and history.

The right-of-way at Swanton, looking north, clearly showing enough width for the mainline and a spur, 2013.
[Derek R. Whaley]

Citations & Credits:

Clark, Donald Thomas, Santa Cruz County Place Names: A Geographic Dictionary (Scotts Valley, CA: Kestrel Press, 2008).
Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Santa Cruz, CA, 2015.

Historically, the San Lorenzo River has always been known for its fish. Although the industry has drastically declined in recent decades due to pollution from septic runoff that has almost entirely destroyed the viability of fish along the river, trout fishing once was a significant industry along the river, practiced by Zayante tribespeople, Spanish and Mexican settlers, and American pioneers.

Colorized postcard of the Brookdale Fish Hatchery, c. 1910, showing the railroad tracks in the foreground and three people sitting out front, possibly awaiting a train. [Derek R. Whaley]

Survey map of the area around Steen's Spur and the fish pond,
with depth readings, 1905. [San Lorenzo Valley Museum]

As the Felton & Pescadero Railroad first passed through the area that would become Brookdale, it cut down hundreds of redwood trees that sat within the right-of-way. While the trees could be harvested and cut by the nearby Boulder Mill, the stumps remained a problem. Jacob Steen, a local Jewish storeowner, ran a side-business as a stumper. For years he had worked with Frederick A. Hihn and George Treat to remove old stumps from around downtown Felton. He was likely hired around 1884 to remove stumps along the right-of-way as well. During this time, he likely purchased the small property along Larkspur Street that would later host an entirely different enterprise. When the general store that he ran in Felton burned down in 1896, Steen relocated to this property to the north, upon which he built a fish pond with the intention of breeding trout. A short 150-foot-long narrow-gauge spur was installed on the east side of the branch line directly beside the pond, from which Stein could presumably dump fish into the pond from boxcars. Little information is actually known for certain about operations at Steen's Spur. The station first appeared in railroad station books in 1899 with no facilities other than the spur, and it subsequently disappeared from the same in 1907, presumably because it was removed during the standard-gauging of the Boulder Creek Branch. Steen moved out of the San Lorenzo Valley but later was instrumental in founding the Santa Cruz Lumber Company with George Ley in 1923. The fish pond at Steen's Spur continued to exist until at least 1905, after which a much larger and more organized effort was begun to breed steelhead trout in Brookdale.

Interior of the Fish Hatchery showing the incubating troughs, 1911. [Derek R. Whaley]

Map of the are around the Fish Hatchery and the fish pond, c. 1908.
The fish pond was likely falling into disuse by the point and all evidence
of the spur has disappeared. Cattle guards along the right-of-way mark
either side of the fish pond. [San Lorenzo Valley Museum]

Judge John H. Logan, who purchased the Grover Mill (previous Boulder Mill) properties at the turn of the century in order to create a resort, turned to the fish pond south of town in 1905 with an interesting idea: what if the settlement ran the fishing grounds? In 1905, the local community allies with the Southern Pacific Railroad and the California Fish & Games Commission to purchase a large property along the Boulder Creek Branch just north of the old fish pond. A staff cottage and breeding house was soon erected, although it took a year for the breeding ponds outside the be completed. During this time, the fish pond was used for breeding and over a million trout were raised, although they had to be released into the river early due to insufficient space. Due to the size of the facility, the Brookdale Fish Hatchery served more as an experimental facility than a fully-fledged hatchery. Fish & Games staff tested various foods on the fish in an attempt to make them grow faster and larger. Nonetheless, an average of two million fish were grown annually at the hatchery using eggs collected at the Scott Creek nursery north of Davenport. Fish & Games took over operations completely in 1912.

The fish hatchery with the warden's house above it, 1909. [Derek R. Whaley]

Like Steen's Spur before it, Fish Hatchery served as a railroad station from 1909, with the main building serving as the station shelter and waiting area. Unlike its predecessor, Fish Hatchery did not have a spur or platform, so shipments must have been loaded directly along the branch line track, although these would have been relatively rare. Incoming shipments with eggs would arrive only once per year, for the most part, while fish cars would be sent out to San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Monterey Counties and places within Santa Cruz County when the fish were large enough to be introduced to regional waterways. At all other times of the year, the station serviced staff and visitors.

The main Fish Hatchery building, with the exhaust vents on the roof removed, probably late 1940s.
[California Department of Fish & Game]

As with the rest of the Boulder Creek Branch, passenger service ended at the end of 1930, although seasonal freight likely continued through 1933. The line was abandoned and the tracks removed in early 1934. The hatchery continued to run until 1953 when increasing costs made it no longer tenable. The tanks and machinery were removed or destroyed and the property reverted to Logan's heirs.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
37.1074N, 122.1049W

The fish hatchery now serves as a private home off Larkspur Street along the private Old River Lane, which marks the old railroad right-of-way. A private cottage on the property, which housed the facility warden, was later moved to become a vacation home. Larkspur, meanwhile, parallels the right-of-way briefly to the south of the Fish Hatchery until it turns to cross the river.

Citations & Credits:

Clark, Donald Thomas. Santa Cruz County Place Names: A Geographic Dictionary. Second edition. Scotts Valley, CA: Kestrel Press, 2008.
Leitritz, Earl. A History of California's Fish Hatcheries, 1870 – 1960. Sacramento, CA: Department of Fish & Game, 1970.
Robinson, Lisa. Images of America: San Lorenzo Valley. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2012.
Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Santa Cruz, CA, 2015.

For the last three decades of the nineteenth century, the San Lorenzo Valley had three substantial settlements that were conveniently spaced three miles apart from one another. One mile south of Boulder Creek, the area on either side of Clear Creek was little more than a Grover & Company lumber mill, a few scattered homesteads, and Robert C. Reed's hotel. It was less of a settlement and more of a waypoint. Grover was largely responsible for the removal of old growth redwoods in the vicinity of Clear Creek until 1883. At that point, other firms took over to finish cutting the less valuable timber and clearing most of the stumps.

Postcard showing Brookdale station with the post office in the background, 1910s. [Derek R. Whaley]

These early logging operations required adequate transport since hauling lumber or uncut logs down the county road two miles to Felton was inefficient. When the San Lorenzo Valley flume was erected in 1875, Clear Creek was damed to provide water for the flume and lumber from Grover's mill was sent down the line to Felton, where it could be loaded onto Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad trains bound for the Railroad Wharf in Santa Cruz. Grover worked within the constraints of this arrangement throughout its time operating in the area. McKoy & Duffy leased the mill in 1883 and was fortunate to be able to utilize the Felton & Pescadero Railroad from late 1884.

A view looking up Reed's Spur from the southeast, c. 1905, with the station at left and the post office in the distance.
[Grant Carrell]

A station may have appeared at the location as early as 1884, although one did not enter official railroad documentation until 1892, five years after the Southern Pacific Railroad took control of the line. The station was named Reed's Spur, a reference to the nearby hotel owner upon whose land the tracks and station were probably built. The spur was originally a long track that paralleled the main branch line from Clear Creek before turning up Pacific Street briefly. It measured 239-feet and was supported by a wooden freight platform.

County survey map showing Reed's Spur (misspelled) along the Felton & Pescadero Railroad line, 1894.
[San Lorenzo Valley Museum]

McKoy & Duffy gave up on the mill around 1893 and the platform is no longer listed in records after that date. Irving T. Bloom ran the last formal lumber operation in the area, wrapping up in 1900. The end of the spur, although it remained in place, was probably abandoned at this time although it remained in place and the lower section was used to park passenger trains. The station became known as Reed from 1901 onward. No further freight operations were reported after this time. At some point, the parallel portion of the spur was turned into a 150-foot-long siding. When the line was standard-gauged in 1908, the original siding and spur were removed and replaced with a new spur that ended at the bottom of Pacific Street just before the right-of-way turned onto the bridge over the river.

Aerial view of Brookdale in 1911, with the station visible at left and the Brookdale Trestle at right.
Photo by Ravnos.

Stephen F. Grover, one of the owners of the mill property, had envisioned for many years a vacation community in the Clear Creek area. After McKoy & Duffy left, he converted a few old mill structures into vacation cottages. The venture was a success. In 1898, he joined with local landowner, Judge John H. Logan, to erect a permanent resort facility in the vicinity. They renamed the settlement Clear Creek to better market the area, although the railroad retained the old name, Reed. Within four years, the resort gave promising returns, with a former mill building expanding to become Hotel Minehaha, the nucleus of the nascent vacation retreat. Grover never got to see returns on his investment, though. In 1903, he backed out due to financial problems and Logan bought the entirety of the Grover & Company property. Soon afterwards, he petitioned the federal government for a post office under the name Clear Creek. The government declined stating the name was too common. Logan immediately tried again, this time succeeding in his efforts with the fanciful English name Brookdale.

Brookdale station on a busy day, late 1910s.

One of Logan's early additions to the area was a railroad station shelter. He installed this on the south side of the tracks beside the Reed's Spur switch stand. This station likely opened in 1905, when the name of the stop was changed to Brookdale. The station shelter was small and always seasonal, hosting only a ticket and telegraph office that was staffed during the summer months. A broad covered porch wrapped around three sides of the shelter, with benches provided for waiting passengers.

Property survey of the Brookdale area showing the railroad right-of-way, 1909.
[San Lorenzo Valley Museum]

Brookdale as a summer resort was quite successful over its first two decades. Logan subdivided his property heavily and a substantial portion was sold to John DuBois in 1911, who installed seasonal cottages throughout his land to serve as vacation rentals. Hotel Minehaha became the Brookdale Hotel in 1907, followed by the Brookdale Lodge in 1915. In 1922, Logan sold his remaining property to F. K. Camp, who invited Hollywood celebrities to stay and perform at the hotel. He hired Horace Cotton to oversee the expansion of the lodge buildings, and it was Cotton who constructed the Brook Room restaurant, through which flowed Clear Creek. Most of the rustic nature of the lodge dates to this period. Railroad service to Brookdale ended in late 1930 and the town, like most seasonal resorts in the Santa Cruz Mountains, suffered during the Great Depression, although the hotel survived the worst years and even managed to bring in high-quality entertainers regularly.

Colorized postcard of the Brookdale Lodge Brook Room, mid-1920s.

After the end of World War II, Barney Marrow, who owned the Brookdale Inn across the road, purchased the lodge. He allowed the resort to decline in quality. After several more changes in ownership, the hotel had fallen so far that part of the lodge burned in 2007, prompting its closure. It finally reopened under the management of Pravin and Naina Patel in late 2018 as the Brookdale Lodge Inn & Spa. Most of the original Logan and Camp structures survive, although the Brookdale Inn has since closed and been demolished.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:

The site of Brookdale station today, looking southeast down
the right-of-way. [Derek R. Whaley]

37.1099N, 122.1096W

The site of Brookdale Station can be found at the bottom of Pacific Street to the south just before the road turns over the bridge to Huckleberry Island. A modern private home now occupies the property and all evidence of the station structure has disappeared. A number of historical buildings dating to the time of the station survive in the surrounding area, including the original post office situated on the west side of Pacific Street, one home down from the end. The ballast fill for the railroad can still be seen at the end of Pacific Street while the right-of-way itself continues to the southeast, through two properties before crossing Clear Creek and continuing on. Trespassing on any of the properties in this area is not advised.

Citations & Credits:

Clark, Donald Thomas. Santa Cruz County Place Names: A Geographic Dictionary. Second edition. Scotts Valley, CA: Kestrel Press, 2008.
Hammon, Rick. California Central Coast Railroads. Second edition. Santa Cruz, CA: Otter B Books, 2002.
Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Santa Cruz, CA, 2015.

Brookdale may be famous for its lodge, but the settlement hosted several resorts and subdivisions over the years. The area around Siesta became East Brookdale, the area to the north of town—beyond the bend in the river—was North Brookdale, and the area from the railroad station westward was just plain old Brookdale. But there were still two other important areas that cannot be overlooked.

The proto-Brookdale Club holding an event under the San Lorenzo River bridge at Brookdale, c. 1905.

Huckleberry Island
In the July 14, 1968 issue of the Santa Cruz Sentinel, local historian and staff writer Margaret Koch provided a thorough history of this location that requires little elaboration (though some updating):

An Island That's Not...
"Huckleberry Island, up at Brookdale, is not a true island. It is surrounded by water only on three sides. But huckleberries grow there in the green and gold light under a canopy of trees. Grandfather-size redwoods lift their arms to the sky. There are deer and birds, beauty and peace and the soothing sound of water. Above all, Huckleberry Island is a state of mind.

"And to be absolutely accurate, there is one time of year, winter, when a certain spring is flowing, that Huckleberry Island becomes a true island. This information comes from Herman Irwin who came to Brookdale from San Francisco in 1903. His property bounds the island on its north side where the peripatetic spring ebbs and flows. 'No one knows who named the island,' he said. Mr. Irwin may not know that, but he has gathered other information over the years, because the island is the sort of place that excites curiosities. Its story also is woven inextricably into that of Brookdale, where it is located."

In the Early Days

"The island was owned by the pioneer Grover Mill interests in the 1870s, then by Santa Clara Valley [Mill &] Lumber Company, the McKoy and Duffey Company, and finally was cut over by [Irving Thomas] Bloom Mill. Most of the virgin redwoods around Brookdale were logged out. The lumber mill stood just back of the present Brookdale Lodge dining room. And in those days, Brookdale was known as Reed's Spur.

"Those early-day loggers looked at the island redwoods with dollar signs in both eyes. But they had to leave them standing: it was impossible to get logs of that size across the San Lorenzo River. And so, by the grace of God and inadequate early-day logging equipment, the patriarch trees were saved.

"The great natural beauty of the Brookdale and Huckleberry Island was recognized by Judge John H. Logan of loganberry fame. What was the judge doing up there? Who knows...perhaps investigating the huckleberry crop. He had a green thumb and a lifelong interest in berries. The judge later bought out Grover's interests and established a small hotel and furniture factory at Brookdale...."

They Swam

"'On June 1, the train would roll into Brookdale loaded with kids and dogs. There were 700 families down here all summer—they came from the San Francisco and Oakland bay areas,' [Irwin] recalled. These early vacationers weren't long in discovering the island with its secluded river beauty. It was purchased by a Dr. Hunkin from San Francisco who built a summer home there. First house on the island, it is still owned [as of 1968] by his daughter, Meva Hunkin, according to Irwin.

Dr. Schnoor riding his 1923 Ford Model T across the Huckleberry Island bridge. [Santa Cruz Sentinel]

"Senator Arthur Breed came to the island about the same time and bought a large hunk of it in order to get the famed redwood grove. He also built a large summer home—some believe it was built before Dr. Hunkin's home. Today the Breed home is owned and cherished by Dr. and Mrs. Thomas G. Schnoor...."

They Built Homes

"Senator Breed's enthusiasm for the mountain retreat attracted prominent friends such as the H. C. Capwells of Oakland, the Bancrofts of UC Bancroft Library fame, and Dr. Warren Wakefield, first physician to use scopalimine or 'twilight sleep' for women in childbirth. These people all came to visit, then returned to buy summer home sites on Huckleberry Island. 'The Island' became a whole new way of summer life for those city dwellers. Eventually, 14 homes were built. With the passing of the years, the turning of auto wheels, and changes in family vacation patterns, many of the senior settlers sold out.

A Magic Place

"The second wave of island settlers is now in command. Many live there all year 'round. They join forces occasionally for projects like replacing the worn-out bridge after a power company truck fell through it in 1965. (The bridge has been replaced three times since 1903.) But mostly they just enjoy island living...its privacy, beauty, and the charm of old houses."

1909 county subdivision map for Huckleberry Island. [San Lorenzo Valley Museum]

The relationship between Huckleberry Island and the railroad is somewhat complex. The original San Lorenzo Valley Flume must have passed directly over the island, putting into question Irwin's claims that it was not logged over. Yes, at least one substantial old growth grove survives, but there are no other virgin redwoods on the island, suggesting they were cut prior to settlement. When the Felton & Pescadero Railroad was installed around late 1884, ultimately replacing the flume, it cut through the northeastern strip of land that binds the "island" to the "mainland." Irwin's statements about a spring may be true, but it was actually the railroad that provided the fourth side of Huckleberry Island during these years. It is unclear whether any trains stopped on what was initially called "Island Park." The strip of land is short and bookended by bridges over the San Lorenzo River, but it seems likely. There was no official stop for the railroad there, but the wealthy families that lived on the island may have prompted the railroad to occasionally send special excursion trains there, which may also explain why there is still a road to this day that terminates at the railroad right-of-way.

Arthur Breed was the person who purchased 38 acres of the island in 1902, and he filed subdivision papers on April 23, 1903, outlining the seventeen plots that would comprise the subdivision (a number of these parcels were almost immediately merged together). By 1909, a subdivision map for the island note as residents Luella Hesseman, Sarah E. Bancroft, Arthur Breed, H. C. Capwell, Mary G. Adams, Dr. Warren F. B. Wakefield, Dr. S. J. Hunkin, and Josephine Capwell, with the Breed and Bancroft families owning the old growth redwood grove at the center of the island. These parcels also extended across the river in many cases in order to maximize swimming and fishing access. The steepness of the land between the river and the county road to the southwest made the actual land across the river largely unusable. Breed added a dance pavilion and gazebo to the northeast of the redwood grove, and in 1926 a club house was added using funds gathered by island residents.

As Koch stated in 1968, most of the original families have long since sold their properties, but a few original families do still own properties on Huckleberry Island and access to the island remains restricted to residents and their guests. The 1965 bridge still crosses the river from the end of Pacific Street and a sign flanks it on either side notifying the island's private status. About half of the buildings on the island are still original, albeit in many cases highly upgraded and modified. Thirty years after the removal of the railroad line in 1934, an additional home was built upon former railroad land at the northeast corner of the island.

The Brookdale Club
Like Huckleberry Island, the area north of the railroad tracks at Brookdale Station to the San Lorenzo River remained undeveloped for the first three decades that the railroad operated through the area. There was logic to this: it was a very narrow strip of land, much of which was actually within the Felton & Pescadero Railroad's right-of-way. That being said, it was prime waterfront property and hosted a significant beach along a broad stretch of the river, where the water slowed as it curved on its southward journey. Vacationers to Brookdale almost immediately flocked to this beach and the area beneath the railroad bridge to wade into the water to swim and fish from small rowboats.

The Brookdale Club came into unofficial existence nearly twenty years before it was incorporated. Indeed, as early as 1905, H. C. Capwell used his home on Huckleberry Island to host events and galas in the manner of a social club for local Brookdale residents. The merger of social engagements with summer vacationing was a natural fit and plans were put forward around 1916 to formally incorporate an organization with this goal. On August 5, 1920—after the end of World War I—the society was formed, although it was not incorporated for another two years. The original directors were Josephine Edwards Capwell, Lulu Dubbs Badt, Vivienne N. Phillips, Harriet L. Cowell, and Hallie Hyde Irwin, all female Brookdale residents or property owners with an interest in keeping Brookdale a high-class settlement.

Property survey map showing the Brookdale Club straddling the river beside Brookdale station. [George Pepper]

Gathering funds from local residents around the entire area, the club purchased the tract of land along the river in 1921. For the first half of the decade, the club leased the Judkins Memorial Hall for use as their clubhouse, ultimately buying it outright in 1926. The organization also leased some of the right-of-way from the Southern Pacific Railroad, which they later purchased once the land reverted to the Logan family in the mid-1930s.

The club catered almost exclusively to Brookdale residents, although an annual membership was still required to use facilities on the waterfront. Membership never exceeded 100 members per year, a technique that limited the amount of people using its facilities at any one time. In addition to seasonal beach access, the club put on dances, musical events, parties, and monthly social gatherings. Occasional events that allowed guests—basically a requirement once more people began moving to Brookdale—expanded awareness of the club. Unfortunately, as repair and upkeep costs increased in the later half of the twentieth century, interest in the social club declined. The clubhouse was sold in September 1995 as a private home and the Brookdale Club was disbanded. The clubhouse has since been demolished.

Citations & Credits:

"Guide to the Brookdale Club Collection (1920-1995)." Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History.
Santa Cruz Sentinel and Santa Cruz Evening News, 1900-2010.
Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Santa Cruz, CA, 2015.

It should come as no surprise that the mile between Brookdale and Boulder Creek used to host a thriving lumber industry. Both the village of Brookdale and town of Boulder Creek began life as lumber settlements, and the stretch between the two locations was not immune from this industry. Midway between these two settlements, a succession of shingle mills operated on the east bank of the San Lorenzo River.

The earliest reference for a mill at this location is in late 1884, when Felton general store owner and local magnate James F. Cunningham relocated his lumber operations from Felton. Daily operations at the mill were overseen by the firm of Dabadie & Morgan, and the mill was capable of producing 60,000 shingles and shakes per day. The timing of the relocation suggests that Cunningham waited until the Felton & Pescadero Railroad was built before investing in operations this far north. The flume, which was dismantled around this time, was not able to transport anything smaller than cut lumber, so split stuff needed to be hauled to Felton by wagon. The fact that the mill sat on the relatively inaccessible east bank of the San Lorenzo River undoubtedly made this option unfeasible. As soon as the railroad line was completed, a location called "Cunningham's" appeared in agency books. The stop included a pair of spurs that together measured 668 feet long. Cunningham's mill and all of its contents, as well as a piece of rolling stock, burned on November 20, 1890. From this point forward, Cunningham focused all of his attentions thereafter on his much larger lumber mill north of Boulder Creek along the newly-constructed Dougherty Extension Railroad.

Sanborn Fire Insurance map of the Boulder Mill Company mill south of Boulder Creek, 1892.
[UC Santa Cruz Digital Collections]

In early 1891, the Boulder Mill & Lumber Company took over operations and the railroad renamed the stop "Boulder Mill." Unlike Cunningham's operations, the Boulder Mill Company sought to actually cut lumber for shipment out of its new mill. A Sanborn Fire Insurance map of the property shows two railroad spurs passing through stacks of lumber, with one stopping on the edge of the river and the other at the entrance of the mill. The San Lorenzo River behind the mill was dammed so as to act as a mill pond. A bridge was erected over the mill pond to allow wagons and other vehicles to enter the property from Boulder Creek. beside the central track and along the road that passed through the property, a small freight office shack was built. When running at maximum efficiency, the mill could produce 20,000 board feet of lumber per day. The Boulder Mill Company became delinquent on some of its taxes in 1893 and, as a result, the mill was sold to a local lawyer, J. M. Green, on June 17, 1895.

Grover & Company Mill as depicted on a Sanborn Fire Insurance map, 1897.
[UC Santa Cruz Digitial Collections]

Within a few months, Grover & Company took control of the abandoned Boulder mill south of Boulder Creek. The company was well-established in Santa Cruz County by this time, although they had very little presence within the San Lorenzo Valley. The brothers J. Lyman, Stephen F., and Whitney had all been in the lumber industry since the 1860s and had their main base of operations north of Soquel in what would later be named Grover Gulch (now Glen Haven). Throughout the 1890s, they leased timberland in Scott's Valley, Santa Cruz, the North Coast, and in the Clear Creek area. The Grovers only operated their mill near Clear Creek for a few years and soon became involved in the development of the area into a resort alongside Judge John H. Logan. The mill itself changed very little in the time that it was under Grovers' management. Indeed, the railroad never bothered to change the name and it continued to be referenced as the Boulder Mill throughout this period. By 1900, the mill was abandoned and the buildings were demolished or moved to other locations.

The abandoned Grover & Company property according to a Sanborn Fire Insurance map, 1901.
[UC Santa Cruz Digital Collections]

By 1901, only the basic layout of the old mill remained. The two railroad spurs, the office, and the mill pond were still left intact, but nothing else survived the demolition. Standard-gauging of the line in 1908 appears to have removed the spurs, but the office remained behind. In 1902, part of the Grover property was leased to G. Ellingwood Joy, who founded a retreat for the Sacramento Boys' Brotherhood here. Camp Joy, as it became known, was an outdoor camping area that catered to primary- and secondary-aged boys. It included all manner of sports and hosted a national park guide and culinary chef. Besides outdoor activities, the camp supported academic pursuits such as study and research. It was in 1910 that the location finally appeared on railroad timetables as an additional stop called "Joy Camp," clearly implying that some railroad traffic stopped there during the summer months.

Original mill owned by the Grovers in Glen Haven. No known photograph exists of the Boulder Creek mill.
[Santa Cruz Public Libraries]

Only a year later, Joy Camp was renamed "Harris," although both the reason for this change and the name itself remain a mystery. Newspapers at the time make no reference to it and even Donald Clark, the famed local etymologist, could not guess at the origin or reason. The best guess is that it was named after a former Southern Pacific railroad detective named Leonard Harris, who was killed in a shootout in Boulder Creek in 1894. Perhaps some of the more studious campers at Camp Joy did some research and rediscovered this felled hero and recommended the name change. In any case, Harris appeared on employee timetables as a flag-stop in 1910 and remained through the rest of the branch line's existence.

Regularly-scheduled passenger service along the Boulder Creek Branch ended at the end of 1930, but it is unclear when service to Camp Joy ended. It may have terminated earlier, or it could have continued even after passenger service ended via special excursion trains. All service ended in January 1934 and the tracks were pulled soon afterwards. The only part of the old railroad presence there to remain was the office shack, which continued to sit on the old mill property just to the south of Camp Joy.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
37.1143N, 122.1172W

The site of the mill is located on private property and trespassing is prohibited. The right-of-way to from the southeast off Irwin Way remains intact as a long driveway while a single concrete pier over the San Lorenzo River is still standing to the north of the site. According to the owner, the old mill office shack was incorporated into the current private residence, which dates to 1911. To the east, Camp Joy has been subdivided several times, but a portion remains as Camp Joy Gardens, which was established in 1971.

Citations & Credits:

Camp Joy Gardens.
Santa Cruz Sentinel and Santa Cruz Evening News, 1884-1934.
Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Santa Cruz, CA, 2015.

Cottrell's general store, Lorenzo, c. 1878.
Photo by R. E. Wood. [Chico State University]

The town of Boulder Creek eight miles north of Santa Cruz along the San Lorenzo River doesn't really feel like a homogenous place. In the hills around it are small communities of people who visit the town to buy groceries or refuel but otherwise just commute on through—places like Wildwood, Bracken Brae, Forest Park, Little Basin, Riverside Grove, and San Lorenzo Park, among others. In the town itself, there is a rather obvious geographic division between those who live south of Scarborough Lumber and those who live north, differentiated by a slight curve in State Route 9 and a low hill. For certain, all of these places are a part of Boulder Creek, but the town was not always a single unit. In the beginning, there were two towns: Boulder and Lorenzo.

In January 1875, just months before the San Lorenzo Valley Flume & Lumber Company constructed its v-flume through the area of the Turkey Foot—the confluence of Bear and Boulder creeks into the San Lorenzo River—Joseph Wilburn Peery set to work incorporating a town he named Lorenzo. He bought a lumber mill owned by Frank L. Pitt that ran off water from the intermittent Harmon Gulch creek and used it to attract lumbermen and others who could support a town. The settlement included precisely what one would expect to find in such a rugged environment: saloons, places of ill-repute, a few hostelries, and a growing number of private homes.

Stereograph of the Lorenzo Hotel, built by J. W. Peery, c. 1878. Photo by R. E. Wood. [Bancroft Library]

Peery's mill had come to him via Pitt, but Pitt wasn't its first owner either. It began life as the Sylvar mill and was little more than a shingle mill and tannery. Peery upgraded some of its facilities but continued using it for its original purpose. Some lumber was produced there and used in the construction of homes in the area, but the mill primarily focused on the more valuable split stuff. Excess lumber was loaded onto the flume and shipped to Felton from 1875 to 1885.

Lumber floating down the San Lorenzo Valley flume, c. 1878. Photo by R. E. Wood. [California State Library]

Although the flume helped Peery's lumber operation, it did little to help his town. The flume company had purchased a large lot half a mile north of Lorenzo so that flume traffic could be sorted and loaded efficiently. For a brief time, Lorenzo served as the primary settlement catering to the flume's operations and even managed to convince the local post master to relocate to the back of a saloon in Lorenzo. But the residents of the smaller settlement of Boulder one mile to the north revolted, arguing that one should not have to go into a saloon to send mail. Boulder at this time was a dry town. In 1877, the post office returned to Boulder and Lorenzo's decline soon followed.

L.S. & P. Mill & Tannery, located on J.W. Peery's property in Lorenzo, c. 1880s.
[UC Santa Cruz Digital Collections]

In 1883, Lorenzo petitioned the newly-formed Felton & Pescadero Railroad to establish Lorenzo as its northern terminus. The railroad declined due to the fact that it owned the large flat that had previously served as the flume sorting area. The residents of Lorenzo certainly did not help matters—they demanded such high prices for property that the railroad took a circuitous route around the town, almost entirely avoiding it. Peery's mill received a station called Lorenzo which initially served as the terminus while construction was finished further to the north, but then the new station of Boulder Creek located closer to Boulder became the line's new terminus.

Lorenzo declined sharply over the next decade. Peery convinced the railroad to build a 556-foot-long siding at his mill so that he could continue to ship out lumber, split stuff, and tanned hides. Nonetheless, service to the station was so low that Southern Pacific demoted it to a flag-stop when they took over in 1887. Then in 1897, a kitchen fire spread throughout the town, destroying the two major hotels, the town hall, and other buildings along the county road. Peery briefly attempted to rebuild, but gave up within a year, selling his mill to Joseph Lane. Lorenzo was soon afterwards incorporated into Boulder Creek.

People awaiting for a train at Filbert, the successor to Lorenzo, c. 1900. [The Valley Press]

In addition to demoting the stop, Southern Pacific also renamed the station Filbert in 1887. This was probably to avoid confusion with another station named Lorenzo, or perhaps San Lorenzo, but it was an odd choice for a name. It was probably a reference to the California Hazel Tree, which is also named the filbert—although this tree is native to the Boulder Creek area, the nickname is not local and was probably provided by non-local railroad employee. After standard-gauging of the tracks in 1908, Filbert became strictly a passenger flag-stop, suggesting the Lane mill was no longer in use. A passenger shelter was built at this time, probably for visitors to the nearby Redwood Rest resort. In 1916, locals negotiated a new fare for travel between Filbert and Santa Cruz and also were granted permission to pay their fares directly to the conductor, saving them the trouble of traveling to Boulder Creek station to pay for tickets.

Regular passenger service along the Boulder Creek Branch ended in late 1930, although special excursion trains may have operated after this date. All service ended in January 1934, after which the tracks were pulled and the land sold. Redwood Rest Resort continued to operate their resort beside the former right-of-way and probably purchased a portion of it after Southern Pacific left the area.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
37.1165N, 122.1172W

The site of Filbert was located near the end of Grove Street on the south side of town. It was located to the northeast of Redwood Resort RV Park, which marks the former location of the Redwood Rest Resort. While portions of the right-of-way survive in this area and can be observed on Google Maps, the majority of the land has been developed for private use and trespassing upon any of it is not advised.

Citations & Credits:

Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Santa Cruz, CA, 2015.

Boulder Creek began life as simply Boulder, which was a reference to nearby Boulder Creek, which flows down the eastern side of Ben Lomond. Confused? Blame early settlers. Boulder Creek—the stream—is a descriptive name given by early trappers and lumbermen to a feeder creek of the San Lorenzo River. Directly across from its confluence with the river, Bear Creek flows into the river as well creating a strange topographical feature nicknamed the Turkey Foot by these same early settlers. The Turkey Foot unsurprisingly creates a bit of a flood plain, especially on the western side of the river where the mountainside is less steep. From the late 1850s, early settlers and lumbermen used this floodplain as a gathering point for their mule and oxen teams before their long journey to Felton and Santa Cruz. It is here were the story of Boulder Creek—the town—begins.

The Commercial Hotel on Main Street in Boulder Creek, 1901. Photo by Andrew Hill. [History San José]

Joseph Wilbur Peery, who later founded the short-lived town of Lorenzo a mile to the south, inadvertently established the settlement of Boulder when he erected a small sawmill across from Bear Creek in the early 1860s. Lumbermen and their families moved into scattered cottages and homes around the periphery of the mill, while a general store, livery stable, blacksmith shop, and the Boulder Creek Hotel arose nearby to support the mill and its visitors. By 1872, a post office named Boulder Creek was established inside the general store and the Crediford family was quickly improving structures within the settlement. The area was still sparsely settled and only a few lumber mills were operating in the surrounding hills, but enough people were around to keep the town alive.

A wagon on the bridge over Boulder Creek, 1875. Photo by R. E. Wood. [CSU Chico]

The arrival in 1875 of the San Lorenzo Valley Flume & Lumber Company's v-flume began the process of turning Boulder into the much more substantial Boulder Creek. The flume passed directly to the east of town, cutting through the forested, marshy floodplain to the south of the Turkey Foot and then sending feeder flumes up Boulder and Bear creeks in search of additional water supplies. John H. Alcorn owned the floodplain, the hotel, a saloon, and a few other properties on either side of Boulder Creek, and sold all of them to the flume company in 1874 so that the flume could use the flat area for loading lumber onto the flume. For all intents and purposes, Boulder had become a company town. For the next ten years, lumbermen and their families, merchants, and other entrepreneurial minds began moving to Boulder, anticipating its future wealth and importance to the local economy. Peery in Lorenzo, the Credifords in Boulder, and the flume company south of Boulder Creek subdivided their lands for private homes and businesses. The flume land became the third distinct area of settlement, located midway between the older two, and it is to here where most of the new residents moved in the late 1870s and throughout the 1880s. The county road through the townships became Center Street in Lorenzo, Main Street in the flume lands, and San Lorenzo Road in Boulder and beyond.

Winfield Scott Rodger's map of Boulder Creek, 1905, showing a simplified survey of the station grounds and surrounding features. [UC Santa Cruz Digital Collections]

The Felton & Pescadero Railroad made certain that the flume property would become the unifying core of these three settlements. Surveyors bypassed Lorenzo on their way north, noting the lack of land for a staging area and resistance from the settled population. Meanwhile, the old settlement of Boulder had even less land and the presence of the river and two creeks meant increased costs of installation and maintenance. Inevitably, the railroad chose the flume company's marshland as its northern terminus. It made perfect sense: there was plenty of land here that could be flattened and raised to reduce the chance of flooding. It was also already owned by the railroad's parent company, the South Pacific Coast Railroad, which had purchased the flume in 1879. And the lands to the west were ideal for settlement, being already subdivided and the empty lots owned by the flume company. Thus, the area to the east of Main Street all the way to the banks of the river were earmarked for the railroad, and the Felton & Pescadero wasted no time in using that space to its utmost. The first train rolled into town in April 1885 and the prosperity of Boulder Creek truly began.

View of Boulder Creek Freight Yard from opposite hillside, c. 1890. [The Valley Press]

By 1887, the flume had been truncated to a terminus in the Boulder Creek rail yard and narrow-gauge railroad tracks had begun snaking in ever-expanding lines throughout the area. The first permanent depot was set up behind and below the Dougherty-Middleton general store, one block east of Main Street. The main railroad terminus was just beside the station on the east, while another spur ran to the west of the depot. A freight spur ran along either side of the flume, as well, with the easternmost splitting into at least three branches that all terminated beside lumber stacks.

A long lumber train entering Boulder Creek (engine house visible behind train), c. 1890s. [The Valley Press]

South of the depot and flume terminus, a tall water tower was erected beside a railroad turntable and two-locomotive engine house that could store the Boulder Creek switch engine overnight. Additional spurs and sidings arose over subsequent decades, especially once the flume was removed in 1888. To replace it, the Santa Clara Valley Mill & Lumber Company extended a railroad line up the San Lorenzo River, leading to the installation of several more freight spurs and sidings on the easternmost side of the yard. Just above the banks of the San Lorenzo River, two planing and shingle mills were erected to cut and process wood brought to town by various lumber concerns in the vicinity. Meanwhile, two tracks reached across Main Street to a planing mill owned by the Southern Lumber Company.

The town of Boulder Creek after a small snowfall with the rail yard at back right, c. 1905. [The Valley Press]

With the opening of the extension railroad, Boulder Creek boomed into life. Hundreds of lumbermen moved to the town, many living year-round, and a total of more than 800 people came to support the local industries in various capacities. A grammar and high school opened up on the hillside to the west of town, while churches, stores, more hotels, restaurants, and various other businesses setup shop along Main Street. In the hills, farmers, ranchers, and vintners moved onto tracts that had recently been logged. Wealthy Bay Area elite moved into other areas, protecting their lands from the axe through their desire for a peaceful seasonal retreat. Some of these people helped form the Sempervirens Fund, that, in 1902, helped create the second state park: California Redwood Park (now Big Basin Redwoods State Park).

A special party car advertising Fourth Liberty Loans on the tracks beside the second Boulder Creek depot, c. 1915.
[The Valley Press]

Boulder Creek thrived as one of the largest exporters of lumber in the United States from 1885 to 1915 and the chief source of lumber within California for much of this time. And all of it shipped out via the railroad. The 1906 earthquake did little damage to the Boulder Creek Branch and much of the lumber used to rebuild San Francisco and downtown Santa Cruz came from the upper San Lorenzo Valley. The earthquake also prompted Southern Pacific to finally standard-gauge the tracks to Boulder Creek, in effect turning the freight yard into a dual-gauge operation since the track north of town remained narrow-gauge. The depot itself was replaced with a much larger structure in 1910, implying that the future for the branch was still bright.

Men standing outside the engine house, c. 1890s. [The Valley Press]

Extensive logging for decades, however, led to an inevitable decline in available timber. The shingle and planing mills in the yard were the first to go in the early 1900s. The space left by the Smith mill was gifted to the city to become Junction Park. Meanwhile, mills across the upper San Lorenzo Valley began to close, leading to the abandonment of the extension railroad around 1917 and the end of regularly-scheduled evening freight service in 1921. The town transitioned begrudgingly from a lumber town to a tourist town. Capitalizing on interest in Big Basin, Castle Rock, local resorts, and other nearby sights, the town struggled on, even as the Great Depression descended painfully upon the San Lorenzo Valley in late 1929. In March 1931, Southern Pacific replaced the two regular passenger trains with Pacific Greyhound service. Three years later, even the occasional freight service was deemed superfluous. The few companies left could haul out cut timber via trucks, rendering the Boulder Creek Branch a needless expense. In January 1934, the last freight train left Boulder Creek with what rolling stock remained.

Grace and Florence Mosher and "Uncle Charlie" in front of a locomotive at the Boulder Creek yard, 1913.
[Santa Cruz Public Libraries]

Over the next year, the track along the route was pulled, the freight yard was cleaned and subdivided, and the depot demolished due to lack of a buyer. Boulder Creek trudged on and continued to grow, despite the loss of its most significant industry, and today it is once again surrounded by redwood forests that have long since retaken the land that the lumbermen of the nineteenth century so wantonly cleared.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
37.1257N, 122.1214W

The site of Boulder Creek Station is just behind the Boulder Creek Fire Department and beside the Boulder Creek Recreation & Parks District building near the corner of Railroad Avenue and Middleton Avenue. There is nothing at the location today except a playground and a parking lot. The adjacent road mostly follows the main track of the railroad right-of-way while the entire area from Railroad Avenue to the east once formed the Boulder Creek freight yard. Clues to the railroad's presence here can be found in the names: Railroad Avenue, Junction Avenue, and Middleton Avenue (named after one of the owners of the California Timber Company, the Dougherty Extension Railroad, and several businesses in town). The only evidence of the actual right-of-way is far to the south of town along East Lomond Street behind a private home. Trespassing is not advised.

Citations:

Hamman, Rick. California Central Coast Railways. Second edition. Scotts Valley, CA: Otter B Books, 2002.
MacGregor, Bruce, and Richard Truesdale, South Pacific Coast: A Centennial. Boulder, CO: Pruett Publishing, 1982.
Robinson, Lisa A. Images of America: The San Lorenzo Valley. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2012.
Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads the Santa Cruz Mountains. Santa Cruz, CA, 2015.

The San Lorenzo River is not a tame body of water. On its southern end, the vast floodplain created by its confluence with Branciforte Creek inundated the city of Santa Cruz several times over the past 250 years, even prompting the first Mission Santa Cruz to relocate atop the hill to avoid the near-annual deluges. North of the city, the river carved a tight path through a granite and limestone gorge, meandering wildly on its path toward the Monterey Bay. In Felton, the river slowed down and spread out again, aided by its confluence with Zayante Creek. Yet the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad was able to handle the river by largely avoiding it, while the South Pacific Coast Railroad crossed it only once, just south of Big Trees, over a bridge that ensured the river could not seriously damage railroad operations along the line.

One of the narrow-gauge combination truss-trestle bridges across the San Lorenzo on the Felton & Pescadero Railroad route, c. 1890. [San Lorenzo Valley Museum]

North of Felton, however, the Felton & Pescadero Railroad (a South Pacific Coast subsidiary)—later the Boulder Creek Branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad—had no choice but to finally confront the seasonally affective river. As it constructed its route to Boulder Creek in 1884 and 1885, the company was able, through geographic luck more than anything, to avoid the river for the first three miles. Fills and cuts along the east bank of the San Lorenzo River ensured that the railroad tracks had no need to cross the river. The most significant fills along this stretch were just out of Felton near Bonny Brae. Meanwhile, the most drastic cuts were just to the north, near Brackney. From there, a relatively flat area with an occasional short fill ran within the Glen Arbor area for nearly a mile until reaching the first substantial bridge along the branch at Newell Creek.

Newell Creek did not require a substantial span to cross, but the creek was rather far below the grade level, so a trestle was not feasible nor did trestles appear at any place along the Boulder Creek Branch bar one. Instead, a short, wooden, double-intersecting Warren truss bridge was installed along two redwood abutments installed on either side of the creek. No pier was required, although the abutments may have been upgraded to concrete when the line was standard-gauged around 1908. Unlike the other bridges along the branch, the bridge over Newell Creek was probably not replaced in 1908 since it was so short and of a sturdy design that was capable of supporting the larger standard-gauge trains. As a general rule, the South Pacific Coast Railroad installed standard-gauge equipment whenever possible in anticipation of upgrading the line at some point in the future. The Newell Creek bridge was probably one such example of this. In this area, the railroad grade runs just to the southwest of Glen Arbor Road, so the bridge was located beside the road crossing over Newell Creek. No obvious remnants of the bridge survive today.

To the east of Ben Lomond, Love Creek provided the second significant obstacle to trains heading north. The creek, named after former Texas Ranger Captain Harry Love, who helped killed the legendary outlaw Joaquín Murrieta Carrillo in 1853 and lived upstream for some years, was generally mild and posed no real problem for grading crews. While the specifics of the bridge are not known, it is likely that this location hosted the only trestle bridge along the line, since the creek was too near grade level to justify a truss bridge. As such, it almost certainly was replaced in 1908, since narrow-gauge trestle bridges are generally not strong enough to support standard-gauge trains and, in any case, require additional width to do so. No remnant pilings or other material related to the bridge survive, and the locations of the abutments on either end have been lost by subsequent property developments.

Rare colorized postcards of the bridge near Hotel Ben Lomond, c. 1900. [Alamy]

Train crossing over the bridge near Hotel Ben Lomond, c. 1905.
Note the panel siding on the truss section.
[Derek R. Whaley]

As the railroad route curved out of Ben Lomond, the track finally crossed the San Lorenzo River for the first time. The river is especially wide at this point with a gently-sloping embankment on the east and a sheer rock wall to the west. This crossing, therefore, required substantial bridgework to cross. Several photographs of the first bridge were produced as part of the marketing campaign by Hotel Ben Lomond, and these photographs showcase the bridge's unique style. From the east bank, a trestle bridge lifted the tracks from the railroad grade to a redwood-built pier on the river's edge. From here, an uncovered Howe truss bridge was installed over the river, which took the tracks to the west bank. Around 1895, Hotel Ben Lomond dammed the river to create a swimming hole, but passing trains had a habit of kicking rocks down on top of swimmers. Thus, the railroad installed wooden panels along the truss section of the bridge to minimize injury from rocks and, possibly, to make it more difficult for people to climb onto the bridge and use it as a diving platform. The bridge was upgraded for standard-gauge trains in 1908, which probably meant replacing the trestlework. The truss bridge was replaced in 1919, probably with a prefabricated open-deck plate girder bridge, much like those used further north on the line. No photographs of the second bridge survive, but it was the last bridge installed along the route before its closure. Numerous pilings from the trestlework still survive on the east bank of the river behind the Tyrolean Inn, while the stone and concrete abutment on the west end can be seen across the river on private property.

The later standard-gauge bridge over the San Lorenzo River near Phillipshurst, c. 1910.
[San Lorenzo Valley Museum]

The piers of the bridge near Phillipshurst as
they stand today on the east bank of the
San Lorenzo River. [Derek R. Whaley]

Further to the north, the San Lorenzo River turns sharply to the east creating a broad floodplain that the railroad had to cross near Phillipshurst. The bridge installed across the river here proved to be one of the most substantial railroad bridges built in Santa Cruz County. Measuring a total length of over 300 feet, the original narrow-gauge structure required three redwood double-intersecting Warren truss bridges, as well as a short trestle bridge, to cross. Redwood piers supported the structure at the truss joints while wooden abutments were located on either end. At one point, wood panels like those on the bridge beside Hotel Ben Lomond were installed on the sides of the truss spans, suggesting the area below was used as a swimming hole or for some other purpose. The trestle portion was replaced and the trusses upgraded in 1908 to support standard-gauge trains, but the increased weight prompted Southern Pacific to install tall concrete piers at the truss joints as well as midway along each truss span. Eventually, probably around 1913, the trusses were removed and replaced with a long prefabricated open-deck plate girder bridge set atop the concrete piers. A wood railing ran along the west side of the bridge. After the line was abandoned and the deck removed, the free-standing piers were repurposed to hoist a water pipe above the river to support the residents living along River Road. All six piers and the concrete abutment on the south side still remain intact, although access to the site is difficult.

Standard-gauge bridge over the San Lorenzo River between Siesta and the Fish Hatchery, c. 1915.
[Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History]

Crossing back to the west bank just before reaching the Fish Hatchery, the third bridge over the San Lorenzo River is widely known due to the several postcards that were made of it in promoting the railroad, Siesta, and Brookdale. The first bridge here consisted of a long trestle bridge from the southern embankment to the edge of the river itself. Here, a small, redwood double-intersecting Warren truss sat beneath the railroad tracks and over the deepest part of the river, flanked on either side by short wood piers. Another trestle bridge continued to the northern embankment. Around 1907, the trestlework was replaced to support standard-gauge tracks and the truss was removed and replaced with a prefabricated open-deck plate girder bridge mounted atop two hexagonal piers. It was this bridge that appeared heavily in marketing in the 1910s, when Fred Swanton maintained a swimming hole just north of the bridge. The two free-standing bridge piers can be seen today by driving along Larkspur Street and looking downriver.

The freestanding piers of the bridge north of Siesta. [Derek R. Whaley]

The last of the substantial non-river bridges along the Boulder Creek Branch was located over Clear Creek, between the Fish Hatchery and Brookdale. This creek is famous for passing through the Brook Room of the Brookdale Lodge. Very little is actually known about either bridge except that the narrow-gauge structure was the first to be replaced along the branch line in 1903. The original structure was likely a short trestle bridge over the creek. Clear Creek may have begun to damage the bridge over time, however, since a concrete culvert was installed at some point before 1903. The second bridge was capable of supporting standard-gauge trains and was composed of a short redwood deck installed atop two concrete abutments, the northernmost of which still survives. Railings and wooden walkways were built on both sides of the bridge for tourists and locals to more easily walk to Brookdale station. Access to the bridge site is not advised as it sits on private property.

The narrow-gauge bridge over the swimming hole at Brookdale with tents on the shore, c. 1895.
[Derek R. Whaley]

The final four bridges over the San Lorenzo River all sat within a short stretch of track between Brookdale and Filbert. The primary reason for this was that the river curved sharply three times around Huckleberry Island, the North Brookdale subdivision, and Camp Joy. Photographs of the bridge just to the north of Brookdale are by far the most common of these four. The original structure consisted of a short trestle bridge that ended at a wooden pier on the river's edge, at which point a now-standard double-intersecting Warren truss bridge crossed the deepest part of the river. The Brookdale swimming hole was located directly under the bridge here, but unlike Ben Lomond, no side panels were installed to stop trains from kicking rocks or to stop divers. No concrete piers ever replaced the redwood piers, but the truss was nonetheless replaced around 1913 with an open-deck plate girder bridge. Remnants of the northern pier survive, albeit in pieces, while pilings for both ends can be seen on either bank of the river.

One of the narrow-gauge bridges across the San Lorenzo River between Brookdale and Boulder Creek, c. 1895.
[Bruce MacGregor]

Only one photograph of each of the two bridges between Huckleberry Island and Irwin Way survives and it is not entirely clear which photograph depicts which bridge. The first iterations of both, however, were composed primarily of redwood, double-intersecting Warren truss bridges perched atop wooden piers that sat on either side of the river. From the piers, short trestle bridges linked the truss to both banks of the river. The truss section of the bridge north of Huckleberry Island was unusually replaced with a Phoenix Bridge Company truss span of unknown design around 1904. The other bridge was replaced a little later with a more standard prefabricated open-deck plate girder bridge perched atop concrete piers. The trestlework leading to these new bridges was replaced around the same time. Today, three piers and several truncated pilings attest to these two bridges. The bridge piers on the north side of Huckleberry Island cannot be viewed at all without trespassing. Meanwhile, those south of Camp Joy are visible to the north of Irwin Way as it crosses the river.

The lonely concrete pier of the bridge south of Filbert. [Derek R. Whaley]

The final bridge before reaching Boulder Creek was situated in a sharp bend in the river just north of Camp Joy. The track curved slightly across this bridge and continued to the north for an extended distance due to the presence of Malosky Creek, which crossed under the redwood pilings of the trestle as it approached solid ground near Filbert. Like all of the other bridges across the San Lorenzo River on the Boulder Creek Branch, this one was originally composed of a truss bridge of some design situated atop two redwood piers, with trestle bridges extending to either bank of the river. The bridge was upgraded and the truss replaced in late 1903, the latter with a prefabricated open-deck plate girder bridge, although the specifics are unclear since no photographs of this bridge are known. The southern pier is no longer extant, making it difficult to determine whether it was redwood or concrete. Considering its location, the pier, regardless of its composition, may have been destroyed during an especially bad flood, such as those in 1955 and 1982. The surviving pier can be viewed from Lorenzo Avenue off State Route 9.

All of the bridges were dismantled in early 1934 after the closure of the Boulder Creek Branch. Traces of nearly all of the bridges survive in the form of concrete piers and abutments and sawed off pilings on the banks of the river.

Citations & Credits:

Pepper, George, personal correspondence.
San Lorenzo Valley Museum, archival photographs.
Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Santa Cruz, CA, 2015.

Stations: Old Felton

Curiosities: San Lorenzo Valley Flume & Transportation Company

Stations: Riverside

Stations: Bonny Brae

Stations: Brackney

Stations: Glen Arbor

Stations: Newell Junction

Stations: Newell Mill

Stations: Ben Lomond

Curiosities: Ben Lomond-Area Resorts

Maps: Riverside to Ben Lomond

Stations: Phillipshurst

Stations: Siesta

Stations: Fish Hatchery

Stations: Brookdale

Curiosities: Huckleberry Island and the Brookdale Club

Stations: Harris

Stations: Filbert

Stations: Boulder Creek

Bridges: Boulder Creek Branch