ARTICLE
As the Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce continues our 130th year as the voice of the business community, we will periodically share stories about our past through this column. There is a long history that links the Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce to Santa Cruz County. To understand our present, we must remind ourselves how we got here. Over the course of the next few months leading up to the Chamber’s annual Gala Award Dinner on October 17, 2019, we will share short stories of our past. Let’s start where the Chamber last celebrated a major birthday. In 2014, the Chamber ran a four part series in celebration of 125 years of service to Santa Cruz County. You can see that series by watching this YouTube video! The video sets the stage for this journey. In our early days, much of what is known about Santa Cruz was the definition of our businesses — the tannery, lumber milling, fishing and farming. It is not lost on today’s Santa Cruz that we yearn for our past by protecting the natural environment and our Monterey Bay. Along the way, the Chamber played a significant role in creating the bridge between our natural beauties and the business community through necessary construction projects that define us. Let’s take a look at the Santa Cruz Wharf which is celebrating its 105th year. In 1910 the Chamber established a committee to construct a municipal wharf for shipping. The Chamber issued $165K in bonds to be guaranteed by the city to build the new wharf in 1913. The Santa Cruz Wharf opened on December 5, 1914. The original purpose of building the wharf was for shipping potatoes to San Francisco for mining camps in the Sierra Nevada during the Gold Rush. After the innovation of motor vehicles and improved land routes, the Wharf's primary focus changed to be the base of the north Monterey Bay fishing industry. By the 1950s as Monterey Bay's sardine and other fish populations dwindled, nearly every family owned a vehicle and had money to spend on recreation. As a result, the Santa Cruz Wharf became predominately a recreational destination. Today, the wharf is still a popular tourist attraction, nestled adjacent to the city's leading attraction, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Visitors flock to the wharf for a variety of restaurants, gift shops, wine tasting, candy stores, and just to stroll and peer down at the sea lions below. Annually, an estimated 1.5 million visitors come to the Santa Cruz Wharf to fish, shop, dine, and sightsee. On October 4, 2014, the community celebrated 100 years of the Santa Cruz Wharf with a festival including a pop-up museum exhibit, historic photo stand, bocce courts, face painting and surfboard displays, photo booths, Economic Development's Wharf Master Plan model, and the Surfing Preservation Society's surf shack! The festivities ended with a beautiful fireworks display. Every summer the Wharf comes alive as an entertainment hub at the beach. Woodies on the Wharf and the annual Wharf to Wharf Race reflects on our history — renewed each summer with fanfare and fun. Of course, when you are a 105 year old structure, you need some care-taking. The Chamber and our members will roll up our sleeves to work with the City to ensure the Wharf is a part of our next 100 years. The Chamber’s 130 years of history will be told in short stories and sound bites to remind us all of our past throughout the summer and into the fall this year. But what is a birthday without a celebration? On June 1, 2019 the Chamber is kicking off the summer with a brand new annual community event! Forks, Corks and Kegs will bring together local food and beverage vendors in celebration of community with local music and entertainment. You can learn more about this event and get your tickets by clicking here! Come join us as we celebrate our past, embrace the present and promote our future!
As the Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce continues our 130th year as the voice of the business community, we will periodically share stories about our past through this column. There is a long history that links the Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce to Santa Cruz County. To understand our present, we must remind ourselves how we got here. Over the course of the next few months leading up to the Chamber’s annual Gala Award Dinner on October 17, 2019, we will share short stories of our past. Let’s start where the Chamber last celebrated a major birthday. In 2014, the Chamber ran a four part series in celebration of 125 years of service to Santa Cruz County. You can see that series by watching this YouTube video! The video sets the stage for this journey.
In our early days, much of what is known about Santa Cruz was the definition of our businesses — the tannery, lumber milling, fishing and farming. It is not lost on today’s Santa Cruz that we yearn for our past by protecting the natural environment and our Monterey Bay.
Along the way, the Chamber played a significant role in creating the bridge between our natural beauties and the business community through necessary construction projects that define us. Let’s take a look at the Santa Cruz Wharf which is celebrating its 105th year. In 1910 the Chamber established a committee to construct a municipal wharf for shipping. The Chamber issued $165K in bonds to be guaranteed by the city to build the new wharf in 1913. The Santa Cruz Wharf opened on December 5, 1914.
The original purpose of building the wharf was for shipping potatoes to San Francisco for mining camps in the Sierra Nevada during the Gold Rush. After the innovation of motor vehicles and improved land routes, the Wharf's primary focus changed to be the base of the north Monterey Bay fishing industry. By the 1950s as Monterey Bay's sardine and other fish populations dwindled, nearly every family owned a vehicle and had money to spend on recreation. As a result, the Santa Cruz Wharf became predominately a recreational destination.
Today, the wharf is still a popular tourist attraction, nestled adjacent to the city's leading attraction, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Visitors flock to the wharf for a variety of restaurants, gift shops, wine tasting, candy stores, and just to stroll and peer down at the sea lions below. Annually, an estimated 1.5 million visitors come to the Santa Cruz Wharf to fish, shop, dine, and sightsee.
On October 4, 2014, the community celebrated 100 years of the Santa Cruz Wharf with a festival including a pop-up museum exhibit, historic photo stand, bocce courts, face painting and surfboard displays, photo booths, Economic Development's Wharf Master Plan model, and the Surfing Preservation Society's surf shack! The festivities ended with a beautiful fireworks display.
Every summer the Wharf comes alive as an entertainment hub at the beach. Woodies on the Wharf and the annual Wharf to Wharf Race reflects on our history — renewed each summer with fanfare and fun. Of course, when you are a 105 year old structure, you need some care-taking. The Chamber and our members will roll up our sleeves to work with the City to ensure the Wharf is a part of our next 100 years.
The Chamber’s 130 years of history will be told in short stories and sound bites to remind us all of our past throughout the summer and into the fall this year.
But what is a birthday without a celebration? On June 1, 2019 the Chamber is kicking off the summer with a brand new annual community event! Forks, Corks and Kegs will bring together local food and beverage vendors in celebration of community with local music and entertainment. You can learn more about this event and get your tickets by clicking here!
Come join us as we celebrate our past, embrace the present and promote our future!