Yet More Very Local History

Christ, more little-known stories of Santa Cruz

For the Christmas of 1911, Santa Cruz resident eight-year-old Mary Perkins finally received the hamster she’d longed for. Unfortunately the animal was of indifferent temper and when refused the freedom to leave the building, took matters into its own hands. It was never seen again.

The Miramar Grand Hotel, Santa Cruz. This photograph has a handwritten date on the back suggesting it was taken on April 25, 1907. Despite years of dedicated research by local historians, no other mention of the hotel has ever been found, and it has been regretfully concluded that it didn’t exist.

Known as “the guardians of the San Lorenzo”, these creatures were sighted by pioneering residents and early visitors to the area over a period of over a hundred and fifty years, until they took to the ocean on a raft. Every year a short ten-minute festival is still held in their honor. They are not cats.

This photograph of 1909 shows Joshua Edwins. A man of strict and implacable moral views, he was attempting to intervene in a local romance. The relationship flourished despite this and the houses eventually married, producing an entire street of dwellings that exists to this day.

Snow is uncommon in the Santa Cruz area, and the last time it fell on the town itself was 1957. This earlier photograph of 1925 shows Edward Schnafel pausing to enjoy the view while on the way to murder his brother.

The Pet Cemetery of Santa Cruz has existed since at least 1873, when mentioned in Angus Dyke's "Mortuary Byways of the Bay". Unlike most examples, this memorial was built by pets, for their owners. By the early 1920s the plot had become over-crowded, and the facility moved to a new and currently unknown location.

A hand-written date on the back of this picture suggests it was taken just north of Santa Cruz in 1915. No explanation for it has ever been offered.

Previous notes on the Very Local History of Santa Cruz can be found here and here.