Author Archives: Bruce

SANTA CRUZ BEACH FRONTAGE 1960. Lots for sale, and it’s hard to believe that development hadn’t hit harder along West Cliff Drive by 1960. This is long before The Dream Inn and the Sea and Sand Inn and what seems … Continue reading →

SEA BEACH HOTEL. This gorgeous hotel was built in the 1870’s and had 170 rooms. Rumor has it that Presidents Benjamin Harrison and Teddy Roosevelt stayed there. It burned down and up on June 12, 1912. photo credit: Covello & … Continue reading →

ABUILDING THE DREAM INN. This architectural disaster happened before local environmental groups were organized. It was 1962. That’s the Lynch House standing alone on the right, built in 1877. This was also before the beach was polluted. photo credit: Covello … Continue reading →

Santa Cruz Beach and Wharves circa 1888. This shows two of our very early wharves. It’s near where the Sea Beach Hotel was built later. photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection. DATELINE April 28, 2014 SANTA CRUZ BUSINESS … Continue reading →

OUR HISTORICAL SANTA CRUZ FISHERMAN’S WHARF. Taken in 1961, this photo clearly shows the unique bend in the ocean end. That bend that faces almost exactly into the oncoming wave action is what has saved our wharf over all these … Continue reading →

THE SANTA CRUZ RAILROAD WHARF & THE FISHERMAN’S WHARF. This dates about 1914 the WW1 year. photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection. FOUNTAINS OF CHAIN. I found this science mystery in the N.Y. Times. GREAT AD. Wait for … Continue reading →

THE ORIGINAL FISHERMAN’S WHARF. Once we had a fisherman’s Wharf and a Railroad Wharf right next to each other. The Sea Beach Hotel is on the right, it opened in 1888, and burned up (or down) in 1912. (Covello & … Continue reading →

THE ORIGINAL SANTA CRUZ FISHERMAN’S WHARF circa 1910. You can see the Sea Beach Hotel in the upper right hand corner. The fish were for local consumption and according to Sheila O’Hare and Irene Berry most of the fish were … Continue reading →

PACIFIC AND CHURCH STREETS. January 1952, 11:10 am. Good old Leask’s Department store, which they sold just before the 1989 earthquake. It’s now Urban Outfitters and Regal’s Cinema 9. And of course, it was before Pacific Avenue was beautified into … Continue reading →

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY BUILDING BEING BUILT. Proof that real people built this mess not demons. The photo was taken June 30, 1965. Then look across the mighty San Lorenzo River, which appears totally dry and see Pacific Avenue, the old … Continue reading →