The History of Dairy in Santa Cruz
The Grasses that Feed the Cows In the late 1700s Spanish missionaries caused significant changes to the California lands...
December 15, 2016
The Hidden “Collateral Damage” in Santa Cruz
I think it is fair to say that when we see a historical memorial, we expect a fairly simple, direct statement about the...
December 08, 2016
How Santa Cruz’s Bank of Italy Turned a New Leaf
Ever wonder why the New Leaf Market says “Bank of Italy” over the front door? The downtown New Leaf Market has found its...
December 01, 2016
Santa Cruz’s Many Wharves: From Lime and Lumber to Ecotourism
When it was a bustling port city of the mid-18th century, Santa Cruz exported many goods: agricultural products, lumber,...
November 17, 2016
Elkhorn Slough: From Salt Ponds to Bird Sanctuary
The mouth of the Elkhorn Slough has long been known for its natural salt ponds. In the late 1800s these areas were developed...
November 02, 2016
Monterey Bay’s Long-Running Red Tide of 2016
Since early September of this year, the Monterey Bay has been experiencing greater and lesser degrees of a red tide. A report...
October 27, 2016
Santa Cruz Marine Protected Areas Beaches Tour
This self guided mobile tour features five different beaches along the Santa Cruz, California coast. Each beach is part...
September 23, 2016
West Cliff Drive Tour
No visit to Santa Cruz is complete without a walk along West Cliff Drive. It's home to several of Santa Cruz's iconic landmarks...
September 22, 2016
The Highway 17 Tour
Read the stories that make for a richer drive over Highway 17. A drive along Highway 17 will take the traveler from ocean views to...
September 21, 2016
Bulls, Harems, and Pups at Año Nuevo
South of San Francisco, about 20 miles north of Santa Cruz along Highway 1, lies a beach hidden behind sand dunes covered in...
March 21, 2016
Moffett Field’s Hangar One Goes from Navy’s Dirigibles to Google’s Robots
Looking out over Silicon Valley, the airstrips of Moffett Field and its three gigantic hangars are a defining feature. The...
February 25, 2016
Henrietta Shore and the Santa Cruz Post Office Murals
The next time you are standing in line to mail a package or renew a passport in the downtown Santa Cruz, California post...
February 18, 2016
California’s Migrant Mother: An Unwilling Icon
It was March of 1936, in the farms of southwest California. The woman pictured above had just sold her tires as a last resort...
July 27, 2015
The Pulgas Water Temple and the Hetch Hetchy Water System
The Pulgas Water Temple sits in striking contrast to the coastal oak woodland that surrounds it in Redwood City, California...
April 19, 2015
The Cool Staircase-Shaped Hills North of Santa Cruz
Have you ever wondered why much of the Westside of Santa Cruz and all the agricultural fields just north of it are so flat and...
December 30, 2014
Altamont Pass: What’s the Story With Those Windmills?
I’m sure many Californians have marveled at the thousands of wind turbines spinning atop the golden hillsides along Highway 17...
November 19, 2014
The Waddell Bluffs: The Wall Keeps Tumbling Down
Along Highway 1, sandwiched between the elephant seals at Año Nuevo State Park and the colorful kite surfers at Waddell...
November 17, 2014
Patricia M. Scully: Her Memorial Road Sign Matters
As a college student in the late 1980s I frequently drove from my mom’s house just north of San Francisco to college in...
November 18, 2013