Santa Cruz County, California
Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.
At a glance
SummaryThe National Register of Historic Places includes 46 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1971; 2 are also National Historic Landmarks. Most listings are in or near Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Capitola.
Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.
Newspapers
Library of CongressNewspaper directory data for California is not yet loaded on this site. Browse Santa Cruz titles at the Library of Congress.
National Register of Historic Places
NPS NRHP35 of 46 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.
46 listed properties
Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.
County formation
Newberry AHCBSanta Cruz was formed in 1850 (1850-02-18) from unknown / original county.
BRANCIFORTE (now SANTA CRUZ; renamed 5 Apr 1850) created from non-county area; northern boundary with SAN FRANCISCO was in dispute when the counties disagreed over the interpretation of the boundary description.
Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
Population by decade
CensusSanta Cruz County population from 1850 to 2020 (Census historical series).
| 1850 | 1860 | 1880 | 1900 | 1920 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 643 | 4,944 | 12,802 | 21,512 | 26,269 | 45,057 | 66,534 | 84,219 | 188,141 | 255,602 | 270,861 |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.
Cemeteries & historical places
USGS GNIS13 cemeteries and 13 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.
Cemeteries — 13 of 13 listed
| Name |
|---|
| Day Valley Cemetery |
| Evergreen Cemetery |
| Holy Cross Cemetery |
| Home of Peace Cemetery |
| Independent Order of Oddfellows Cemetery |
| Independent Order of Oddfellows Cemetery |
| Old Holy Cross Cemetery |
| Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cemetery |
| Pajaro Valley Memorial Park |
| Pioneer Cemetery |
| Saint Francis Cemetery |
| Santa Cruz Memorial Cemetery |
| Soquel Cemetery |
Historical populated places — 13 of 13
| Name |
|---|
| Alma |
| Clems |
| Farley |
| Highland |
| Leonard |
| Magnetic Spring |
| New Brighton |
| Nuga |
| Olive Springs |
| Petroleum |
| Port Watsonville |
| Pueblo de Figueroa |
| Rapetti |
Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.
Historical markers
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Search HMdb for Santa Cruz County, California
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