Santa Cruz Wharf at Dusk

by Chris Thomas

Title

Santa Cruz Wharf at Dusk

Artist

Chris Thomas

Medium

Photograph - Photograph

Description

The Municipal Wharf is only the most recent of the six wharves that have graced the "harbor," a term long used to describe the area between Lighthouse Point and the San Lorenzo River mouth. With the town's wealth of agriculture, lumber, leather, lime and gunpowder, early Santa Cruz developed as the second major port city in Northern California. The waterfront was expected to become the city's downtown, with Main Street laid out on Beach Hill. But circumstance did not oblige.

Prior to the wharves, lumber was floated through the surf to ships, and goods were ferried out on rowboats. This didn't always keep things dry, and splashed sacks of potatoes and produce could start to rot on the way to market. Female passengers were brought ashore by rowboats, then carried through the surf in the arms of sailors.

In 1849, town founder Elihu Anthony built an inclined wharf at the end of Bay Street, which acted as a chute for loading potatoes onto ships. At the same time, he built the first bridge in the county to give access to his wharf, on West Cliff Drive. It's today the site of the last "Howe strut" bridge in Northern California. The wharf was bought in 1853 by the Jordan and Davis Limeworks, which became Henry Cowell Limeworks in 1867.

Uploaded

June 10th, 2013

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