(updated Jan. 8, 2015)
The long-standing confusion over the Gharky and
railroad wharfs was cleared up in an article titled Notes on the History of Wharves at Santa Cruz, California, by Frank Perry, Barry Brown, Rick Hyman and Stanley D. Stevens. The article was published about a month before my original post, but I didn't find it until later. The requisite corrections have been administered to the article below.
The Lynch house gets mention here because it overlooked all the wharfs and was built in 1877. The lighthouse (1869-1941) really deserves its own article, but for now I'll leave the short description here. For more on that subject, read:
* Perry, F. (2002). Lighthouse Point: Illuminating Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz, Calif: Otter B Books.
For more on the 1906 aerial photograph, see Peter Nurkse's article on the SCPL website.
When Santa Cruz Had Four Wharfs (July 19, 2012)
One of the essential stops on a tour of Santa Cruz is the
Municipal Wharf. Few realize, however, that
the current wharf, completed in 1914, is only the latest in a series of wharfs
(or wharves, if you prefer) that have reached out from our section of coast
into Monterey Bay over the past 150+ years. Railroads and, later, motor
vehicles eventually ended most seaborne transport to and from Santa Cruz, but
in the late 1870s the waterfront was a bustling hub of shipping and commerce,
sporting as many as four wharfs.
This blog has previously mentioned two of the earlier wharfs. The Anthony-Penfield wharf, first constructed in 1849, was later acquired, lengthened and rebuilt several times by the lime manufacturing company that built its warehouse on the cliff at the end of today’s Bay Street. First the company was Davis & Jordan, then Davis & Cowell, and after 1887 owned solely by Henry Cowell.
This blog has previously mentioned two of the earlier wharfs. The Anthony-Penfield wharf, first constructed in 1849, was later acquired, lengthened and rebuilt several times by the lime manufacturing company that built its warehouse on the cliff at the end of today’s Bay Street. First the company was Davis & Jordan, then Davis & Cowell, and after 1887 owned solely by Henry Cowell.
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A remarkable aerial panoramic photograph, taken in 1906, shows the Cowell wharf at its greatest extent, just a year
before it was destroyed by winter storms.
The same aerial photo also shows the
“railroad wharf”, built along with the
railroad tracks in 1875. The railroad wharf, third in the chronological
sequence, was just west (toward Cowell wharf) of today’s Municipal Wharf, and
was demolished in 1922.
The second wharf, built by David Gharky (spelled Gharkey on street signs, with several other spellings elsewhere) in 1855, was later known as the “powder wharf”, because Gharky sold it to the California Powder Works (CPW) in 1865. Leon Rowland states that Gharky had lengthened the wharf in 1863. The Gharky/powder wharf stood on tall pilings that extended it well up the hill from beach level, to a point near today’s corner of Main and 1st Streets. The wharf was demolished in 1882.
By that time, the Powder Works had its own rail connection at the plant up the San Lorenzo River, so there was no longer a need for the wharf and warehouse facilities on Beach Hill. That removal aided the shift in development of the area from commercial to residential and tourist uses. Out-of-town visitors and residents would not look upon rumbling wagons full of blasting powder as a desirable neighborhood feature.
The fourth and final wharf you would have seen in the late 1870s never touched the shore at all. It was the “cross wharf”, built in 1877 to connect the powder wharf to the railroad wharf at a point just beyond the surf line. It carried the tracks over to the powder wharf, allowing the CPW to dispense with powder storage on its wharf.
The second wharf, built by David Gharky (spelled Gharkey on street signs, with several other spellings elsewhere) in 1855, was later known as the “powder wharf”, because Gharky sold it to the California Powder Works (CPW) in 1865. Leon Rowland states that Gharky had lengthened the wharf in 1863. The Gharky/powder wharf stood on tall pilings that extended it well up the hill from beach level, to a point near today’s corner of Main and 1st Streets. The wharf was demolished in 1882.
By that time, the Powder Works had its own rail connection at the plant up the San Lorenzo River, so there was no longer a need for the wharf and warehouse facilities on Beach Hill. That removal aided the shift in development of the area from commercial to residential and tourist uses. Out-of-town visitors and residents would not look upon rumbling wagons full of blasting powder as a desirable neighborhood feature.
The fourth and final wharf you would have seen in the late 1870s never touched the shore at all. It was the “cross wharf”, built in 1877 to connect the powder wharf to the railroad wharf at a point just beyond the surf line. It carried the tracks over to the powder wharf, allowing the CPW to dispense with powder storage on its wharf.
The photo at top shows the resulting construction, with the
railroad wharf nearest the camera. The curve of the connecting wharf is hard to see from this
angle. The photo appears to have been taken from the top of the Davis & Cowell wharf. Soon
enough, the CPW stopped moving powder by ship (from Santa Cruz) altogether. The
cross wharf only lasted for five years, until 1882, when both it and the
“powder” wharf were torn down.
As a building contractor, Lynch must have enjoyed
watching the hustle and bustle of commerce, for he built his home where it
commanded a view of the entire waterfront area. It still does today, as you can
see from the attached modern photo. His choice of location did not, however,
immediately set off a West Cliff Drive building boom. You can see the house in
the 1906 aerial photo, still standing in splendid isolation between the Cowell
warehouse/wharf and the railroad wharf.
Santa Cruz wharf chronology:
1849-1856: Anthony-Penfield wharf
1855-1865: Gharky wharf
1856-1907: Davis and Jordan / Davis and Cowell / Cowell wharf (replaced Anthony-Penfield)
1865-1882: California Powder Works wharf (from Gharky)
1875-1922: railroad wharf
1877-1882: connecting (or "cross") wharf
1904-1962: Pleasure Pier (built along with the first Casino and "plunge" - subject of a future post)
1914-today: Municipal Wharf
