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A group of ballplayers including Mike "Turkey" Donlin were strolling through downtown Santa Cruz in May 1899 when the Odd Fellows Building caught fire.
"President Teddy Roosevelt visited Santa Cruz in 1903, so the town was dressed up to disguise some of the eye sores detracting from its beauty, such as barn-like bath houses and unattractive utilitarian-looking stores," writes Local History columnist Ross Eric Gibson. "As a result, Fred Swanton began the 'New Santa Cruz Movement' to finance festivals, public events and picturesque buildings like his Neptune Casino, to improve the promotional appeal of Santa Cruz."
"Lee Nelson was 13 when the Golden State Theater chain opened the New Santa Cruz movie palace in 1920," writes columnist Ross Eric Gibson. "The preceding war years had been gloomy times, as women did men's work so the men could go to war, with battles and casualties darkening the headlines."
Gary Griggs’ recent column (12/3) describing the many accomplishments of Fred Swanton was informative and entertaining. I was particularly amused to learn that around 1900 Swanton organized the Santa Cruz Electric Railway that provided service from Santa Cruz to Capitola. Yet now, more than a century later with enormous advances in technology, a veritable army […]
Fred Wilder Swanton probably had more influence on the early development of Santa Cruz, including Main Beach, and was involved in more enterprises than any other individual in the city’s early history - so much influence that some early residents referred to the town as "Swanta Cruz."