History Archives

Clampers Support the SLV Museum

June 20, 2024June 26, 2024 slvpost.com0 comment

By Julie Horner San Lorenzo Valley Museum Collections and Exhibitions Curator Lisa A. Robinson and SLV Museum Executive Director Laura DeAngelis accepted a generous donation from members of E Clampus Vitus Branciforte Chapter 1797 in a ceremony at the museum on Wednesday afternoon, June 19, 2024. The donation came from the Clampers Association of Roisterous Peddlers (C.A.R.P.), a branch of… Read More

Columns History Local History

Ben Lomond’s Senator Harry Hamden

April 14, 2024December 26, 2024 slvpost.comben lomond, history0 comment

By Ronnie Trubek Turn of the 20th century Ben Lomond didn’t offer much in the way of live entertainment so when the 400+ residents learned a minstrel show was to be held in the recently opened Park Hall Theater, anticipation ran high. Locals arrived to “witness the performance given by Senator Harry Hamden and his troupe of amateur minstrels, who… Read More

History Local News Valley People

Inside a Hippie Commune

April 11, 2024July 15, 2025 Mary Andersen0 comment

Holly Harman’s Tale of 1960s Life at Ben Lomond’s Holidays Cabins By Mary Andersen During the tumultuous 1960s, in rural forested settings up and down the West Coast, radical experiments in communal living took root with utopian ideals and countercultural fervor that, for many, still resonate today. Writer Holly Harman was a young teen living with her family in Ben… Read More

Books Boulder Creek Columns History

Remembering the White Cockade Scottish Pub: Recipes, Photos, and Recollections

December 5, 2023February 12, 2024 Julie Hornerboulder creek, history, san lorenzo valley, Santa Cruz Mountains, The White Cockade0 comment

One Hundred Thousand Welcomes! A Legendary Boulder Creek Watering Hole Remembered. By Julie Horner In days past, anyone traveling deep in the forest along Upper Highway 9 in Boulder Creek might spot The White Cockade Scottish Pub biding beside the roadway with its front door painted bright blue and emblazoned with a white X, the Saltire, representing the St. Andrews… Read More

History Local News

Waterman Gap Lumber Mill Turns 100

November 24, 2023September 24, 2024 Julie Hornerhistory, Logging, Santa Cruz Mountains

By Julie Horner with Scott Tucker and Derek Whaley On Sunday, November 5, 2023, local tree professional Bruce Baker took a group of local history buffs, backcountry trail hands, and the generally curious to the ruins of the Santa Cruz Lumber Mill near Big Basin Redwoods State Park. The Santa Cruz Lumber Company was formed by Santa Cruz native George… Read More

Chinese Pioneers Power and Politics in Exclusion Era Photographs

Columns History

Chinese Pioneers: Exhibit at Belardi Gallery in Felton

November 2, 2023November 27, 2023 slvpost.comexhibits, history0 comment

Contributed by the San Lorenzo Valley Museum Now through November 12, visitors can view a temporary exhibit titled Chinese Pioneers: Power and Politics in Exclusion Era Photographs at the Faye G. Belardi Memorial Gallery in Felton. This exhibition explores the social, political, and judicial disenfranchisement of Chinese Californians — as well as moments of Chinese agency and resilience — in… Read More

History Local News

A History of the Founding of Felton Covered Bridge Park

October 8, 2023October 21, 2023 slvpost.comfelton, history0 comment

By Lisa Robinson Imagine driving into Felton across the covered bridge. Before 1938, that was the county road. Signs, attached to the bridge, cautioned drivers of vehicles over 10 tons. “Every time a heavily loaded truck crosses the covered bridge it gets spooky. It creaks, and groans and acts like it was about to pass all in.” But that all… Read More

Books History Local History Local News

All Aboard the Laurel and Glenwood Line

October 3, 2023December 26, 2024 slvpost.comglenwood line, laurel line0 comment

Historian Derek Whaley Celebrates New Book By Julie Horner Sidetracked: Laurel and Glenwood, by Derek R. Whaley, PhD is the third in the Santa Cruz Trains series of authoritative books about the history of Santa Cruz area trains, tracks, tunnels, stations and stops. Released in March 2023, the 127-page softbound volume brings the colorful lore of the ridgetop railways of… Read More

History Local News

Historic Steam Donkey Installation Ceremony

September 1, 2023June 19, 2024 Julie Horner0 comment

Tree Faller Bruce Baker and San Lorenzo Valley Museum Director Lisa Robinson celebrate receipt of a steam donkey logging era artifact at the museum in Boulder Creek, California. By Julie Horner On Friday, September 1, 2023, the San Lorenzo Valley Museum officially celebrated the receipt of a steam-powered timber industry winch called a “steam donkey.” The late 1800s/early 1900s logging… Read More

History Local History Local News

Journey Through Time: Historic “Steam Donkey” Logging Artifact Finds New Home

June 24, 2023October 11, 2024 slvpost.com0 comment

By Julie Horner A historic steam-powered logging winch, or “steam donkey,” has been moved from deep in the Santa Cruz Mountains to the San Lorenzo Valley Museum in Boulder Creek. SLV Museum President Lisa Robinson took receipt of this logging industry artifact on Friday, June 23, 2023, from tree professional Bruce Baker and a team of expert movers and heavy… Read More