Looks left, looks right: Sheee What the hell happened? Once upon a time in a land far away . . . the Pacific Coast sported a string of boardwalks and seaside amusement facilities. Then, one by one, the Pike in Long Beach, Play land in San Francisco and parks in Venice and Portland all disappeared. Some became housing developments or fell prey to the ravages of time and wear. The laughter of excited children, the smell of popcorn and cotton candy became. Memories. The Boardwalk is now the only major seaside amusement park on the entire West Coast. A California Historic Landmark, the park is an example of true perseverance and dedication to a tradition of combining nostalgia with high tech fun. Santa Cruz became a tourist attraction in 1865, when John Liebrandt built a public bathhouse near the mouth of the San Lorenzo River. Several more followed, and soon concessions sprang up nearby including restaurants, curio shops and photograph. All to great success What Happened? 1. Civil War 1861 2. Turmoil of recovery from conflict 3. World War #1 4. Great depression of 1929 onward 5. World War #2 6. Victory in Europe and Japan 7. Loss of Rail Capacity passenger traffic to beach 8. The Building of the Highway Systems. 9. The roads to Santa Cruz in Northern California prior to interstate highway system after WW2 were awful. The rail system had early on perceived the Santa Cruz area as a profit making center. Every day in the summer and weekends in the winter trains would make the trip from all the Northern California Cities. The train would deliver the passengers right to the entrance of the Boardwalk and the Hotel Casa Del Ray. Get off the train\, walk 100 feet and your shown your room. Top entertainment. Lodging that was affordable for the common man or woman. Great weather . I don’t want to make a book out of this. Changes in the Highway System, The unforeseen ability to travel the Highway system afforded the average person. The increasing wealth of the average man and woman and the choices it afforded. The loss of the Rail System all combined to sound the death knell to a great number of the attractions. The Hotel Casa Del Ray in its day was a luxury Hotel. During World War II, the Casa Del Rey Hotel (across the street from the Boardwalk) served as a Navy hospital. The Plunge (indoor pool once located in Neptunes Kingdom) was used as a therapy pool for the injured and as a training facility for the Coast Guard. It is now a parking lot. It lives in my memory as the Domed Theaters, Frontier Village, The Water Slide at Alum Rock Park, and Marks Hot Dogs 7th and Santa Clara Street and Crystal Creamery and so many other do! I am sorry to take up the space for this. In it’s day Santa Cruz had it all going on. I am grateful for the parts that have survived. But we have lost So much that did not.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 03:12:00 +0000
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