Capitola Historical Museum

Lithographed postcard of Capitola mailed April 1, 1909.

Happy Valentines Day! This unusual ivy leaf was found beside the museum.

Work on repairing the Capitola Flume began this week. The flume was built in 1941 (completed Aug. 14) at a cost of $4,000. It withstood countless storms and was beginning to show its age. The original contractor, Leo Cardwell, also built the Stockton Avenue Bridge. Next summer the flume will once again drain the overflow from the lagoon into the bay.

Back in the 1940s, Capitola was pretty quiet in the winter time as it is sometimes today. This photo shows the Venetian Court and Edgewater Club in the foreground, the six sisters on the left, and the old circular bandstand (by then a hotdog stand) on the right. In the distance is the Capitola Beach Club where Esplanade Park is today.

Season's Greetings to all our Facebook friends. Hope you enjoy this five-inch tall cookie house modeled after the historic Hotel Capitola. It is made out of sugar cookie with food coloring for the windows and noodles for the porch posts. Took about a day to make.

The museum has almost no historical photographs of Capitola at Christmas time. So here are some from Monday afternoon and evening. There was a low tide, and lots of families were enjoying the beach.

Visitors to the museum often ask about Capitola's historic Rispin Mansion. To help answer these questions, the museum has created a website devoted to the story of the mansion, the Rispin family, and 1920s Capitola. It includes a slide show, videos, quiz, timeline, trivia questions, and other features. This year marks the centennial of the mansion's completion. https://rispincapitola.weebly.com/

History in the making! Workers are re-stacking the jetty boulders on Capitola beach this week, despite the big waves. The jetty was constructed in 1970 to trap sand and improve the beach. Following this week's work, it should be ready for another fifty years.

Before the Venetian. This unusual view of the Soquel Creek lagoon was taken in the 1920s from the west bank of the creek looking east toward the old hotel. It was taken after the fishing village was demolished in early 1922 but before the Venetian Court was built in 1924.

Some 65 years ago, in December of 1955, the terrible "Christmas Flood" struck Santa Cruz County and much of central California. Recently, historian Dan Model produced this documentary on the effects of the flood locally, primarily on downtown Santa Cruz. While Capitola and Soquel are mentioned only briefly, this gathering of film footage, historic photographs, and interviews wonderfully chronicles the magnitude of this event. The documentary is in two parts: Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWXELjCK_Aw Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_rS4lo1fSs&t=1s

Rispin Park Plan-Community Workshop | City of Capitola California The City of Capitola Department of Public Works invites you to attend a community workshop to discuss plans for the Rispin Mansion Park. The focus of the workshop will be to review the developed conceptual uses for the park site adjacent to the historic Rispin Mansion. https://www.cityofcapitola.org//rispin-park-plan-community

Happy Veterans Day! Arthur Pettit of Live Oak was home on leave when this photo was taken in 1943. He served as an Army cook in Europe during WWII. He and his sister (at the wheel) attended the Episcopal Church in Capitola in the 1920s and 1930s. Note the "V" on the license plate. The "V" stood for "victory" and was issued to those who renewed their vehicle license in 1943. The "V" was red.

Radio Alert! Museum Curator Frank Perry will be the guest on KSQD's "Exploring Santa Cruz" Monday, November 9, from 3:30 to 4:00 p.m. Host Mathilde Rand and Frank will be covering several thousand years of Capitola's past in just one half hour. Amazing! KSQD (ie. K-Squid) is at 90.7 F.M. The interview will be posted on the show's webpage after airing. https://ksqd.org/exploring-santa-cruz

100 years ago today. It was on this day, October 29, 1920, shortly before 4:00 p.m., that Capitola witnessed the worst railroad accident in its history. A passenger train derailed near where Jade Street Park is today. Incredibly, few of the passengers were seriously hurt. The only fatality was 20-year-old fireman Albert Rask of Santa Cruz, who was scalded to death by escaping steam while pinned in the cab of the locomotive. The tragic incident sent chills through Capitolans who regularly traveled by train to the Bay Area. The photo shows the Capitola depot in the 1920s.

Halloween will soon be here. These photos are from Capitola Village, except for the sign in Santa Cruz pointing to the Rispin Mansion.

Does your house have a name? Earlier this year one of our museum volunteers was wondering if there was a list of named houses in Capitola. We did not know of one, but now would be a good time to make one. The practice of naming houses was particularly popular in the 1920s and 1930s. In the early 1930s, when the Smith family owned the Rispin Mansion, they called it "Capitola Place." In the 1920s a woman named Priscilla Hooper called her house "White Rose Cottage." Frank Buck and his daughter, Marie, called their summer home on Capitola Avenue "Seldom Inn." Capitola's first mayor, Harlan Kessler and his wife, Marjorie, called their house "Wander Inn." We'd love to know of some others.

Looking for something different to do this Saturday? Check out this short play, performed live online. Local historian Dana Bagshaw wrote it to honor the centennial of the 19th ammendment. One of the characters is Lulu Hall, who also helped establish Camp Capitola. The play is hosted by our friends at the San Lorenzo Valley Museum.

UCSC has now put their historical photographs collection online. Just search "Capitola" so see some of our town. http://ow.ly/Ymzh50BDJL7

In the 1920s many visitors to Capitola enjoyed renting canoes for paddling around the lagoon and up Soquel Creek. In this photo, crowds of onlookers sit on the newly-constructed concrete seawall along the Esplanade while the old Hotel Capitola looms in the distance.

Three new books on Santa Cruz County history have been released, some of which include sections relating to Capitola. Bookshop Santa Cruz is hosting an online event with the three authors this Thursday evening. It is free, but be sure to register in advance. https://www.bookshopsantacruz.com/taking-care-of-history

This Labor Day weekend marks three years since the last Begonia Festival. This unusual aerial view shows the 2017 nautical parade in Soquel Creek Lagoon. Thanks to photographer Dave Sievert for letting us share this picture.

Many of you probably know prominent local historian Sandy Lydon. Back in about 1994 he gave a lecture at the Capitola Theater. Photographer Karen Nevis captured this interesting juxtaposition. Anyone catch his talks on "Bad Girls"?

We are so saddened to hear that the historic buildings at Big Basin were destroyed by the fire. Capitola has an important Big Basin connection. After Frank Reanier (on the right in photo) managed Capitola in the 1890s and early 1900s, he and his wife, Ida, ran the concessions at Big Basin. This included the Redwood Inn, later called Big Basin Inn. This ad is from 1924. The old inn building was partly destroyed when a huge redwood fell on it a number of years ago. What was left is apparently now gone as well. Frank Reanier later served on the Board of Supervisors and died in 1931.

A strange day in Capitola. Not many people. The ground is covered in ash from the fires. The sky is filled with smoke, giving everything an orangy color. And this ditch-digger parked in the museum volunteer spot.

Work in front of the Museum continues today. Good thing we moved that trolley photo-op sign out of the way!

A new electrical box and power pole are being installed near the museum entrance. Our trolley photo-op sign has temporarily been removed to prevent accidental damage. Fear not! It will return soon.