![]() ![]() Today, the large Wilder Ranch State Park with its historic dairy ranch complex is a reminder of that era. At one time there were eight or nine active tanneries.įrom the 1880’s through the turn of the century, a wide variety of agricultural industries were established and took hold throughout the county. Salz Tannery, the oldest operating tannery in California, is the last survivor of what was once a major industry in the county. Its earliest quarry dates from the 1850’s. The largest limestone industry was operated by Henry Cowell on what is now the UCSC campus. The McCrary family, who came to Davenport in 1863, still operates Big Creek Lumber Company, one of only two mills left in Santa Cruz.īesides lumber, fine grade limestone was the source for critical building materials. The early industries of the area drew heavily on the seemingly unlimited natural resources. Lumber camps were established in the redwood forests of the Santa Cruz mountains, concentrating in the San Lorenzo Valley and Aptos areas. Adobes disappeared to make way for tall Protestant church spires and white picket fences. The Yankee invasion was completed with the Gold Rush of 1849 and statehood for California in 1850. The 35 adobe structures on Mission Hill, which had been the core of the mission settlement, became the nucleus of the early pueblo (town) of Santa Cruz and were gradually converted to commercial uses.Īn increasing number of foreigners (Americans) were attracted to the area in the late 1840’s. On September 25, 1791, the Mission Santa Cruz was completed as the 12th California Mission.īetween 18, following Mexican independence from Spain, the mission establishment was secularized. In 1769 the men of the Portola Expedition became the first non-natives to traverse the coast of Santa Cruz County, exploring the country and naming the streams and rivers they encountered.ĭuring 1791, after the discovery of the Monterey Bay, Father Lausen, who led the missionary system following Father Serra’s death, raised a cross where Mission Santa Cruz, or “Holy Cross,” was to be built. ![]() They settled along the coast from Marin to Monterey County and based their livelihood on the abundant marine resources: seals, shellfish, otter, salmon and birds. The Ohlones migrated to the area from the Sierra Nevadas roughly 8,000 years ago. Extensive archaeological research indicates that people lived here some 12,000 years ago, pre-dating the pyramids of Egypt! These early people lived in small groups, eating seeds and following migratory game. The oldest known settlement was in the Scotts Valley area. ![]() For further resources, you can explore the Santa Cruz Public Library. Come join us in The Grove next summer to see what the excitement is all about.An abundance of natural resources, combined with a mild climate, have provided a hospitable environment for activity in the Santa Cruz area since the time of its first inhabitants. It brings me great pleasure to announce that incoming artistic director Charles Pasternak and I will be playing the roles of Condell and Heminges, the men who collected Shakespeare’s texts, as we co-lead the company in my final season at the helm. 2023 will mark the 400 th anniversary of the printing of the First Folio, and this production will be part of a broader celebration of that achievement in conjunction with UCSC’s Shakespeare Workshop. A play that tells the funny and moving story the two actors who worked to preserve Shakespeare’s legacy with the creation of the First Folio, it is a love letter to the Bard of Avon and his plays. Rounding out the season is Lauren Gunderson’s The Book of Will. King Lear will mark Paul Whitworth’s debut at The Grove in the title role. King Lear charts a monarch’s disturbing descent into madness, explores how the craving for power can shatter both kingdoms and families, and paints a chilling picture of the plight of humanity in an indifferent universe. And while the results of these struggles provide some of the most hilarious moments in the canon, they also leave us with unsettling questions about the human cost of maintaining the status quo. In The Taming of the Shrew, characters struggle against the roles they have been prescribed, be they gender, class, or age. The two Shakespeare plays of our 2023 season plunge us deeply into the middle of the unsettling fragility of our present moment. What lurks just below the surface of a “civilized” society? Over the past nine years, during my tenure as Artistic Director, we have been confronted with the reality of just how tenuous our democracy is, how eager some factions of our own country are to strip away the rights of their fellow citizens, and how authority can be wielded as a weapon. ![]()
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