| A Brief History of Aptos California |
| 1578 |
Sir Francis Drake sailed by our coast. |
| 1821 |
Mexican Independence |
| 1848 |
California annexed to United States as a territory. |
| 1849 |
Jose Arano builds first General Store |
| 1850 |
California gains statehood. Chinese begin to immigrate |
| 1850's |
Castro builds Aptos Wharf (Aptos Wharf Road) |
| 1860 |
Judge Ben Nichols builds a lumber mill in Aptos. Bridge built over Aptos Creek. |
| 1865 |
Santa Cruz Earthquake |
| 1868 |
Aptos Bridge destroyed to stop Cholera epidemic from Watsonville |
| 1871 |
First school built. Aptos Mineral Spring becomes famous |
| 1882 |
The Loma Prieta saw mill was built in Aptos Canyon, including post office, express office, stores, cabins and a hotel. The town grows to 185 residents and the mill is expanded to produce 140,000 board feet per day at full production |
| 1883 |
Southern Pacific and 225 Chinese laborers complete laying standard gauge track and build spur line into Aptos Canyon |
| 1883-1923
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The logging era produces 140 million board feet of lumber. Aptos expands to three hotels, 13 saloons, a deep sea pier, two railroad stations and five railroad spur lines. Aptos Creek was dammed to float lumber. Valencia Creek was tapped for the town's water supply |
| 1889 |
Aptos pier destroyed by storm |
| 1906 |
San Francisco earthquake |
| 1920's |
Rio del Mar Beach becomes notorious unloading point for bootleg liquor |
| 1924 |
First telephone service |
| 1925 |
Monroe-Lyon-Miller of Los Altos took over the
Spreckels estate
at $400 per acre. Seacliff Company begins development. Over $100,000 in lots are sold. Seacliff is unable to persuade Paul Woodside to sell his cliff-side property. Ultimately the Sheriff is called to the property. Woodside, Sheriff Trafton and Under Sheriff Rountree wind up killing each other |
| 1930 |
The concrete ship "Palo Alto" was towed to Seacliff and beached. It was developed as a nightclub. The ship was built in 1919 for use as a tanker in the war, but was not completed in time. The ship was stripped, then rebuilt to include a 54 by 154 foot ballroom that featured big bands like Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, and Tommy Dorsey, plus a 54 square foot swimming pool and an 84 foot by 54 foot dining area. After two seasons the owners went broke and the following winter a storm cracked the ship amid-ships |
| 1936-1940 |
Rio Del Mar Airport is opened. It was located on the bluff between Cliff Drive and Bayview Drive. This private strip was operated by Durward M. Davis. Elevation, 70 feet. There were two hangers, three runways, wind cone, gasoline and water pumps |
| 1945 |
About this time the last two remaining Aptos Native American had a heated argument and one slew the other. The winner of the fight to the death, a Native American known as Jimmie, worked on the Hihn Ranch for the remainder of his life. He died about 1951 |
| 1948 |
Highway 1 constructed |
| 1962 |
Cabrillo College Aptos Campus opens. Nisene Marks Park dedicated. Resurrection Church built. Rancho Del Mar Shopping Center built |
| 1989 |
Loma Prieta Earthquake hit on Oct. 17, measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale |
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