Scotts Valley Marks 60 Years as a City of Its Own
Reporting and recollections by Jay Topping
Coming up this weekend! On Sunday, August 2nd, Scotts Valley will have a celebration of being an official city of its own.
Until 1966, Scotts Valley was just a part of Santa Cruz, even though most people going back to the 1800s called it Scotts Valley after one-time owner and settler Hiram Scott, whose family resided here. For many years — the 1920s to the ’60s — it was mostly referred to as Camp Evers, because of a little shopping center, bus stop, post office and gas station that were just about the only businesses in the valley. Then in the 1940s an airport came, and Santa Cruz city leaders named it Santa Cruz Skypark Municipal Airport.
Camp Evers (Vern Hart Photo Collection) and Sky Park Airport (Santa Cruz Public Libraries)
More folks enjoyed the climate and wide-open spaces, and so they started moving in. A real community was taking shape, and folks were starting to celebrate it. Events like the Scotts Valley Days parades and games of the 1970s were very fun, and the “Cavalcade” was a whole celebration put on for four years (1976–’79) in which most of the town got to be part of.
But before that, in the 1960s, something important took place. Santa Cruz was eyeing a possibility to take a huge section of Scotts Valley and make a giant cemetery down through the middle of it. Well, residents didn’t like that idea at all! The thought of turning Scotts Valley into a cemetery city like Colma in the Bay Area did not sit well. So what to do?
That’s when a very powerful and enterprising lady, Agnes Lewis, decided to spearhead the campaign for incorporating Scotts Valley. She was able to get enough signatures so that it could be put on the ballot, and in 1966, we actually became our own city.
Voters said yes to cityhood back in April 1964, but lawsuits tied the matter up in court for close to two years. Incorporation finally became official on August 2, 1966.
Now 60 years later, the city is throwing a party worthy of that history. The centerpiece is a free birthday celebration at Skypark on August 2nd, running from 10:30 am to 3 pm and opening with “Share Your Story,” a chance for residents to share three-to-five-minute memories of growing up here — of Santa’s Village, The Barn, the airport and more. The afternoon brings live music from Vintage Point, history displays, crafts, food trucks, vintage vehicles, a stagecoach honoring the old Cavalcade, and a pop-up skating rink on the basketball court in memory of The Rink. Family fun for all ages!
The fun keeps rolling all week: “Coffee with Legends,” at the Senior Center on August 3rd; National Night Out at MacDorsa Park on the 4th; guided hikes through Lodato Park and Glenwood Preserve on the 5th, an “I Love My School” theme as classes begin on the 6th, and a citywide Business Scavenger Hunt August 7–9.
Help make history by celebrating 60 years with Scotts Valley.
Jay Topping is the lead historian with the Scotts Valley Historical Society. He is also an artist and sign maker.
Featured photo at top of page: Scotts Valley in 1966. (Covello & Covello via Santa Cruz Public Libraries)
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