ARTICLE
In 1908 the Board of Trade of Santa Cruz was renamed the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce, combining the Board of Trade and Santa Cruz Promotion and Entertainment Committee. A century later, your Chamber is rebranding our image to the Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce. Same organization and same mission — to promote the economic vitality of our entire county. A year earlier, in 1907 the Chamber urged the Southern Pacific Company to complete its rail line over the mountains to Santa Cruz County. The mountain line was completed in time for the summer business of 1909. The Chamber welcomed folks on the first train over the hill on June 2nd where it met at the County Bank Building in downtown Santa Cruz. The excitement for Santa Cruz County really took off after the ‘big earth quake’ of 1906. The decade of the 1910 - 1920 was a time for growth in the County with new tourist attractions being developed, movies being made throughout the area, and the county's dreams of a paved highway over the summit finally being realized. In 1910, the Chamber issued a telegram inviting Andrew Carnegie to visit the library and Big Trees on March 11. The Chamber arranged all the festivities for his visit. To beautify the area near the beach, the Chamber established the Chamber of Commerce Park in 1910 on the spot of the current home of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center in Santa Cruz. The Chamber installed sidewalks, trees and shrubbery, pergola, and a “public necessity.” The Chamber of Commerce raised the funds from the US Senate ($90,000) to build the Santa Cruz Post Office building on Front Street in 1912, where it is still in use today. To encourage day trip visitors to stay in Santa Cruz and visit the attractions, the Chamber of Commerce set up a visitors' information booth at the Casino in 1915, staffed by the Chamber Ladies' Auxiliary. The women dispensed free flowers daily to visitors who remarked, "We have seen lots of beautiful flowers since we came to your State, but they all had a sign 'hands off' tacked near them, except in Santa Cruz; here you give us all we can carry away; how lovely.” Santa Cruz County continues the tradition of an open relaxed atmosphere by sharing our region’s natural beauty with visitors, friends and family. Your Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce promotes dozens of cultural faire, wine and beer festivals, and other traditional annual events throughout the year. The next annual event being our first Annual Forks, Corks & Kegs Festival on Saturday, June 1st in downtown Santa Cruz. 2019 is no different from 1909 — our past is a reminder of the invaluable role local business leaders have to share about the future of Santa Cruz County.
In 1908 the Board of Trade of Santa Cruz was renamed the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce, combining the Board of Trade and Santa Cruz Promotion and Entertainment Committee. A century later, your Chamber is rebranding our image to the Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce. Same organization and same mission — to promote the economic vitality of our entire county.
A year earlier, in 1907 the Chamber urged the Southern Pacific Company to complete its rail line over the mountains to Santa Cruz County. The mountain line was completed in time for the summer business of 1909. The Chamber welcomed folks on the first train over the hill on June 2nd where it met at the County Bank Building in downtown Santa Cruz.
The excitement for Santa Cruz County really took off after the ‘big earth quake’ of 1906. The decade of the 1910 - 1920 was a time for growth in the County with new tourist attractions being developed, movies being made throughout the area, and the county's dreams of a paved highway over the summit finally being realized.
In 1910, the Chamber issued a telegram inviting Andrew Carnegie to visit the library and Big Trees on March 11. The Chamber arranged all the festivities for his visit.
To beautify the area near the beach, the Chamber established the Chamber of Commerce Park in 1910 on the spot of the current home of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center in Santa Cruz. The Chamber installed sidewalks, trees and shrubbery, pergola, and a “public necessity.”
The Chamber of Commerce raised the funds from the US Senate ($90,000) to build the Santa Cruz Post Office building on Front Street in 1912, where it is still in use today.
To encourage day trip visitors to stay in Santa Cruz and visit the attractions, the Chamber of Commerce set up a visitors' information booth at the Casino in 1915, staffed by the Chamber Ladies' Auxiliary. The women dispensed free flowers daily to visitors who remarked, "We have seen lots of beautiful flowers since we came to your State, but they all had a sign 'hands off' tacked near them, except in Santa Cruz; here you give us all we can carry away; how lovely.”
Santa Cruz County continues the tradition of an open relaxed atmosphere by sharing our region’s natural beauty with visitors, friends and family. Your Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce promotes dozens of cultural faire, wine and beer festivals, and other traditional annual events throughout the year. The next annual event being our first Annual Forks, Corks & Kegs Festival on Saturday, June 1st in downtown Santa Cruz. 2019 is no different from 1909 — our past is a reminder of the invaluable role local business leaders have to share about the future of Santa Cruz County.