Ghost Towns of the Santa Cruz Mountains

by John V. Young

A fascinating human and cultural history of the Santa Cruz Mountains from 1850 to the middle of the 20th century. The lives of the early settlers and their descendants; a narrow-gauge railroad from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz in existence from 1880 to 1940; mining, logging, and grizzly bears. Tales of Patchen, Burrell, Austrian Gulch and Germantown, White Wash Alley, Lexington, Alma, Glenwood, New Almaden, and more.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool local history of places way out there. I like the author's writing style--the pieces were originally published in the Mercury. Reading this made me want to write similar essays as worldbuilding projects.

[Laurel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ghost Towns gave background to how local communities in the San Jose and Santa Cruz region came to be, and how they disappeared. Less focused on the haunting of places, Young lays out who the first settlers were to a specific region and the mark they left upon the area. Understandably most of the stories focus on men who found their way to California for various reasons and began to change the landscape by building sawmills, lumbermills, or starting ranches. I found some language in the book dated and opinionated. A good first read for learning about the Santa Cruz mountains, but I would want to continue research on my own to find out more. I did enjoy learning about how post offices were used to establish towns and could be named in whatever fashion the post master wanted. My favorite section was about Silent Charley, a stage coach driver through the hairpin turns of the dusty mountain trails.

[Rae · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great information FOR a book, but not good AS a book.

[Jessica Fulk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some fun tales about the characters that lived in the Santa Cruz mountains back in the 1800s.

[Michael McCue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most local histories are pretty dull, unless you actually know the people the author is writing describing. The parts of GHOST TOWNS OF THE SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS about who built what house where were just as dull as any other local history I have ever read. However in between those parts were some fascinating tales that made wading through the other parts worthwhile. If I had not grown up at the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains I would not have been likely to pick up this book. I spent a good part of my youth camping and hiking in the Santa Cruz Mountains, some of the places that the author mentioned are very familiar to me. I remember hearing that in the 19th Century there were more people living in the Santa Cruz Mountains than there were in the Santa Clara Valley below, now I know why.