While sorting the photo archives yesterday I found some really interesting material. There were horse cart races near West Cliff and a motorcycle race near Ocean Street. The horse cart races happened around the turn of the century. It's hard to tell when the motorcycle races happened. Possibly during the 1930's.

I also found photos of a buffalo and a bear. These animals were part of a zoo that was kept at the De Laveaga Park. It seems that the zoo only lasted until the 1920s.

I've also been finding some awesome beauty pageant photos. These photos go up to the 1930s. It was amazing to find that these women looked very "average" by today's standards.

I've been working with the Santa Cruz Historical Photographs at McHenry Library at UCSC. It's incredible to see how the city has evolved. The batch I am currently working on is hotels, motels and cottages in Santa Cruz County. Some of the hotels I've sifted through are the Riverside, Hageman, Wilkins and Germania Hotels. There are quite a few pictures of hotels, lodges in the regions of Felton, Zayante, Ben Lomand, Brookdale (Brookdale Lodge) and Boulder Creek. I've also found a few pictures of the Bayview Hotel in Aptos. There are many great photos of Hotel Capitala. I also stumbled upon quite a few Sea Beach Hotel photos from West Cliff area next to Cowell's Beach. That hotel burned to the ground around

The Sea Beach Hotel apparently had a red roof. Here is a link to it http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/history/santa-cruz-beach-old/ . It is the 5th or 6th photo down from the top.
There are also photos of Cottage City and Tent City. A postcard image of Cottage City can be found at the same link posted. An image of the Santa Cruz Tent City can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalpast/2438637295/ Lots of great pictures can also be found through the Santa Cruz History Museum and the Santa Cruz Public Library: http://www2.santacruzpl.org/gallery2/main.php . The information found here describes the tent city in this way: The tourist accommodations known as 'Tent City' on Beach Street, across from the Boardwalk. The tents had wooden floors, canvas sides, lights, and water. In the background is the first Casino, built in 1904. The casino and the tent city were destroyed by fire in 1906.

It seems that "everything" was destroyed by fire. There were so many hotels in the Santa Cruz region that were eventually burned to the ground.

There are secret beaches all along the Santa Cruz coastline. One of the more beautiful spaces is next to Moran lake and Twin Lakes Beach. I've gone for full moon walks with friends on these beaches. Moran Lake and adjacent beach has a small parking lot with bathrooms. It's a nice spot to sit and in the evening you can have a campfire.

A fun place to watch the surfers is at the end of 41st Ave. There is a parking lot with bathrooms. You can walk across the street and there you will find a few picnic tables and a very nice view of Monterey Bay. It's always interesting to watch the surfers because it is a notable surf spot.