The Lumber Era & Early Santa Cruz
Redwood Forests Power a New State (1850s–1900s) · Santa Cruz County
The gold rush created insatiable demand for lumber, and the redwood forests above Santa Cruz were among the richest timber sources in California. Dozens of mills operated in the Santa Cruz Mountains through the 1850s–1880s, making Santa Cruz County one of the wealthiest in the state. The railroad — and later the automobile — transformed what was a rugged industrial coast into a resort destination.
Timeline
County Founded
Santa Cruz County is one of California's original 27 counties, created when California achieved statehood. The county seat is the city of Santa Cruz, which incorporates in 1866.[4]
Redwood Logging Boom
Dozens of lumber mills operate in the Santa Cruz Mountains, supplying San Francisco and the growing state with redwood for buildings, wharves, and railroads. The forests above Felton, Scotts Valley, and Boulder Creek are heavily logged. Some old-growth groves survive in what is now Henry Cowell and Big Basin Redwoods State Parks.[1],[2],[4]
Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad
The Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad begins hauling logs from the mountains to the coast. The narrow-gauge line through the redwoods eventually becomes Roaring Camp Railroads — still operating today as one of the last narrow-gauge steam railroads in the U.S.[2],[3]
Visit these historical sites
Real places in our directory connected to The Lumber Era & Early Santa Cruz.
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Sources
Citations behind the dates, names, and numbers on this page.
- 1California State Parks — Big Basin Redwoods Cultural History
Native, logging, conservation, and redwood-forest history in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
- 2California State Parks — Big Basin Redwoods State Park History
State Parks history of logging, transportation, and preservation in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
- 3Roaring Camp Railroads — History
History of the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad and its transition to the present-day redwood railway.
- 4Visit Santa Cruz County — Santa Cruz History
Local historical overview of the county's lumber economy and railroad development.