San Lorenzo River history Columns History 

Portolà Expedition: The 1769 Naming of the San Lorenzo River

On a chilly, fog-draped evening in October 1769, a group of Spanish explorers set up camp along the west bank of a river near towering redwoods. Led by Captain Gaspar de Portolà, this adventurous group — California’s first European overland expedition — had found a waterway so impressive they named it “Río de San Lorenzo” on October 17, after their… Read More
Facetime at SLV Museum Boulder Creek History Local News 

FaceTime: Portraits from the Past at SLV Museum

A portrait exhibition titled FaceTime opened in June at the San Lorenzo Valley Museum’s Grace Episcopal Gallery in Boulder Creek. The exhibition features artwork and photographs of local residents spanning one hundred years from the 1870s to the 1970s. Alice Hesse, featured on the exhibition flyer above, graduated from Boulder Creek High School in 1921 and from UC Berkeley in… Read More
Boulder Creek Fire gets a new rig Columns History 

Boulder Creek Fire | Local History

In March 1982, the Boulder Creek Fire Department took delivery of a “new rescue truck.” Pictured above, l to r: Bud Tomlin, Jack Kunz, and Jay Baker.  (Santa Cruz Public Library Special Collections) The Boulder Creek Volunteer Fire Department, established in 1892, emerged in response to two devastating fires in 1891 that nearly destroyed downtown Boulder Creek and the nearby… Read More
Western States Automic Vault Columns History Local History 

A Mid-Century “Atomic” Vault in the Santa Cruz Mountains

By Ronnie Trubek In 1953, the Zayante Southern Pacific Railroad tunnel was purchased by the Western States Atomic Vault Corporation, touted for use as a storage place for vital documents and other priceless valuables in case of nuclear attacks. The Southern Pacific train route that ran through the tunnel had been abandoned since November 1940. But, the Zayante tunnel remained… Read More
Stribling mine Columns History Local History 

Gold Fever: Untold stories of the Califonia and Santa Cruz Gold Rushes

by Lisa Robison In 1853, Dr. John Boardman Trask, California’s state mineralogist, embarked on his second geological survey of the state, this time with a focus on the coastal counties and parts of the Sierra Nevada “embracing their resources in agriculture and mining.” He surveyed Santa Cruz County sometime between June 23 and October that year.  He noted that four… Read More