San Lorenzo Valley Museum tells history of the area’s resorts in latest exhibit

In 1880, the South Pacific Coast Railroad connected Alameda to Santa Cruz, allowing tourists from the San Francisco Bay Area to flock to the San Lorenzo Valley and the shade of its redwood trees. 

“When they brought the train over, they were expecting the train to be for transportation of material,” said Lisa Robinson, president of the San Lorenzo Valley Museum. “It kind of took them by surprise that so many people wanted to come here to vacation.”

On display now until April 5 at the museum’s Faye G. Belardi Memorial Gallery in Felton is an exhibit called “Resorts!” Inside an 1893 Gothic Revival-style church that previously served as the Felton Public Library, the exhibit tells the story of vacationing in the valley, highlighting some of the early resorts in the area – and some that still remain, such as the Brookdale Lodge.

Early railroad visitors started tent camps and would spend their summers in the valley, Robinson told Lookout during a Feb. 12 tour of the exhibit. The exhibit highlights an 1886 article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel about the summer getaways, such as Camp Shady. 

When cars became common, many of the camps became auto camps, such as Big Trees Auto Camp, which is today Smithwoods RV Park.

“The one you see here, Camp Felton, it started out as a camping grove,” Robinson said. “In 1881, we’ve got 25 families camping there. And then it becomes an auto camp as the automobiles come. Today, it’s a residential area.”

She said camps had amenities such as a dance hall, service station, grocery store, horse shoes, boating, swimming, “all the usual things.”

In 1885, when the railroad moved north to Boulder Creek and most of the timber in the area had been harvested, landowners laid out town sites and built resorts. 

“Then you see the cabins being built around a hotel,” Robinson said. 

“And the difference with some of the hotels was they wanted to keep you at the resort all day long. They didn’t want you to go off to Santa Cruz and spend your money,” she said. “So they had boating, they had tennis, badminton, croquet, swimming, hiking, horse riding, all sorts of different activities. So they were much more than just a hotel.”

The museum displays pictures of the historic resorts, as well as brochures, postcards and souvenirs from them, such as a silver spoon engraved with the Hotel Rowardennan, which was built in 1896 in Ben Lomond.

“The souvenirs were a big deal,” Robinson said. 

Visitors can also see a china cup and saucer from the Brookdale Lodge, with a design of Clear Creek running through the dining room. Also on display is a redwood bar stool from the Alpine Inn and a large wooden sign that pointed tourists to the Ben Lomond Hotel (the sign was found in an attic in Ben Lomond and recently donated to the museum).

Robinson said many of the subdivisions in the valley started out as summer cottages and, over time, those summer cottages have become homes. 

“I think for the community, if you have a question, come take a look and come ask, and we will bring out anything that we have on a particular resort or subdivision that you might be interested in,” she said. 

Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.