Monday, September 6, 2010

title pic norma jeans coffee in the heart of aptos with an aptos historical timeline

Posted by admin on 25/11/2009

free doggie treats + free wi-fi access

free doggie treats + free wi-fi access

Palo Alto concrete ship, historical photo - Santa Cruz - Rio Del Mar Beach - Monterey Bay California

A Brief History of Aptos California
1578 Sir Francis Drake sailed by our coast.
1821 Mexican Independence
1848 California annexed to United States as a territory.
1849 Jose Arano builds first General Store
1850 California gains statehood. Chinese begin to immigrate
1850’s Castro builds Aptos Wharf (Aptos Wharf Road)
1860 Judge Ben Nichols builds a lumber mill in Aptos. Bridge built over Aptos Creek.
1865 Santa Cruz Earthquake
1868 Aptos Bridge destroyed to stop Cholera epidemic from Watsonville
1871 First school built. Aptos Mineral Spring becomes famous
1882 The Loma Prieta saw mill was built in Aptos Canyon, including post office, express office, stores, cabins and a hotel. The town grows to 185 residents and the mill is expanded to produce 140,000 board feet per day at full production
1883 Southern Pacific and 225 Chinese laborers complete laying standard gauge track and build spur line into Aptos Canyon
1883-1923 The logging era produces 140 million board feet of lumber. Aptos expands to three hotels, 13 saloons, a deep sea pier, two railroad stations and five railroad spur lines. Aptos Creek was dammed to float lumber. Valencia Creek was tapped for the town’s water supply
1889 Aptos pier destroyed by storm
1906 San Francisco earthquake
1920’s Rio del Mar Beach becomes notorious unloading point for bootleg liquor
1924 First telephone service
1925 Monroe-Lyon-Miller of Los Altos took over the Spreckels estate at $400 per acre. Seacliff Company begins development. Over $100,000 in lots are sold. Seacliff is unable to persuade Paul Woodside to sell his cliff-side property. Ultimately the Sheriff is called to the property. Woodside, Sheriff Trafton and Under Sheriff Rountree wind up killing each other
1930 The concrete ship “Palo Alto” was towed to Seacliff and beached. It was developed as a nightclub. The ship was built in 1919 for use as a tanker in the war, but was not completed in time. The ship was stripped, then rebuilt to include a 54 by 154 foot ballroom that featured big bands like Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, and Tommy Dorsey, plus a 54 square foot swimming pool and an 84 foot by 54 foot dining area. After two seasons the owners went broke and the following winter a storm cracked the ship amid-ships
1936-1940 Rio Del Mar Airport is opened. It was located on the bluff between Cliff Drive and Bayview Drive. This private strip was operated by Durward M. Davis. Elevation, 70 feet. There were two hangers, three runways, wind cone, gasoline and water pumps
1945 About this time the last two remaining Aptos Native American had a heated argument and one slew the other. The winner of the fight to the death, a Native American known as Jimmie, worked on the Hihn Ranch for the remainder of his life. He died about 1951
1948 Highway 1 constructed
1962 Cabrillo College Aptos Campus opens. Nisene Marks Park dedicated. Resurrection Church built. Rancho Del Mar Shopping Center built
1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake hit on Oct. 17, measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale

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