The Beach Boardwalk & Resort Culture

The Beach Boardwalk & Resort Culture

California's Playground Since 1907 · Santa Cruz County

Santa Cruz reinvented itself from an industrial lumber town into California's premier beach resort destination starting in the 1860s. The Neptune Casino bath house opened in 1904, and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk followed in 1907 — it has operated every year since and today is a California Historical Landmark.

Timeline

1865

First Bathing Pavilion

Santa Cruz's first public bathhouse opens on the beach, capitalizing on the emerging resort trend. Train service from San Francisco makes it possible for city residents to reach the beach on a day trip.

1907

The Boardwalk Opens

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk opens on June 1, 1907, featuring a bathhouse, casino, and rides. It rapidly becomes the premier amusement destination on the West Coast. The Giant Dipper roller coaster, added in 1924, is today a National Historic Landmark and one of the top ten wooden coasters in the country.

1965

UC Santa Cruz Opens

The University of California establishes a campus in the redwoods above Santa Cruz in 1965, with classes beginning in 1966. The university brings intellectual life and countercultural energy that transforms Santa Cruz's character. By the late 1960s, Santa Cruz is a center of the anti-Vietnam War movement and environmental activism.

1989

Loma Prieta Earthquake

The magnitude 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake strikes on October 17, 1989 — during the World Series — killing 63 people across Northern California and collapsing the Santa Cruz downtown Pacific Garden Mall. Rebuilding takes years, and the earthquake reshapes the city's civic identity.

Then & Now

Archive photos paired with the same place today.

Then, c. 1907–1911: The original Casino and Plunge (saltwater natatorium) on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, seen from the pleasure pier.Then · c. 1907–1911

The original Casino and Plunge (saltwater natatorium) on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, seen from the pleasure pier.

Photo: California Historical Society (CHS-2826) / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Now, Today: The Boardwalk a century later — the Giant Dipper coaster (1924) and Looff Carousel (1911) are both still operating.Now · Today

The Boardwalk a century later — the Giant Dipper coaster (1924) and Looff Carousel (1911) are both still operating.

Photo: MontereyBay.app

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