Scotts Valley, California

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scotts Valley is a city located in central Santa Cruz County, California. Located about 25 miles south of San Jose, CA and six miles north of the beach in the upland slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Scotts Valley is a picturesque city with redwood forests. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 11,385.

Scotts Valley Civic Center, City Hall and Police are in one building.

1 History
2 Economy
3 Geography
4 Demographics
5 External links

[edit] History

Scotts Valley was named after Hiram Scott who purchased Rancho San Augustin, including the valley, in 1850 from Joseph Ladd Majors.

Before Majors, the property was owned by José Bolcoff. Bolcoff was the original settler and first European to claim title and live in what was to be Scotts Valley. He was born Osip Volkov around 1794 in Petropavlosk-Kanchatsky, a village on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Siberia. Working as a fur trader around 1815, Bolcoff jumped ship on the Monterey Bay shoreline, quickly assimilated into the Spanish culture, and was well received by the Spanish authorities. Volkov had his Russian Orthodox Baptism validated in Mission Soledad in 1817, and was given the Spanish name José Antonio Bolcoff. Bolcoff lived with and traveled with California's Governor Sota, acting as an interpreter. Becoming a Mexican citizen in 1833, Bolcoff moved his family to his 4,400-acre land grant building, an adobe casa historians speculate was located near present-day Kings Village Shopping Center. Bolcoff relinquished his interest in the Rancho San Augustin, selling and accepting $400 from Joseph Ladd Majors, also known as Don Juan José Mechacas.

July 7, 1846 marked the shift of power in the region from Mexico to the United States.

Hiram Scott built Scott House in 1853 in Greek revival style. Sitting on the green lawn behind City Hall, it is a Santa Cruz County Historical Trust Landmark, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The house originally stood on Scotts Valley Drive, about where a Bank of America branch is now located.

The Scott House in Scotts Valley.

In 1966 the City of Scotts Valley was incorporated, using the Scott family name.

Scotts Valley's most famous resident was legendary film director Alfred Hitchcock. The Master of Suspense and his family lived in a mountaintop estate above the Vine Hill area for 32 years, from 1940 to 1972.

[edit] Economy

[edit] Tourism

From its early years as a stop on the stage route across the mountains, the community of Scotts Valley has provided services to travelers. With the growing popularity of the family automobile in the early twentieth century, the area became commercialized and tourism developed as a local industry.

In the early 1920s, Edward Evers established Camp Evers at the junction of the State Highway and Mt. Hermon Road. Camp Evers consisted of a small store, gas pumps, dance hall and tents, becoming a resort and rest stop for travelers.

The Beverly Gardens were established in the 1930s and featured a collection of exotic birds and animals, a restaurant, and cabins.

The Tree Circus was opened in 1947 featuring trees grafted and trained in strange and unusual shapes. Bright "life size" painted dinosaurs overlooking Highway 17 were added to the Tree Circus in 1964 when it changed its name to The Lost World.

One of the Circus Trees. Now located at Bonfonte Gardens near Gilroy, California.

Santa's Village was established in 1956. It was the most popular of the many attractions, attracting millions of visitors to Scotts Valley for over twenty years, and it was the last of Scotts Valley's theme parks to close its doors, in 1978. On June 13, 1956 legal documents were drawn up for the sale of Lawridge Farm, which was a portion of the former Rancho San Augustin. From the Lawridge Farm estate came the leasing of the 25 acres which housed Santa's Village theme park, one of three locations in America's first theme park chain. The lease was to H. Glenn Holland, who had already developed a Santa's Village in 1955. He would go on to develop a third Santa's Village near Chicago in Dundee, Illinois (which is still in operation today). The park maintained a historically correct team of Mexican burros who lived on the back 20-acre field. Four reindeer from Unalakleet, Alaska, pulled Santa's sleigh. All the buildings were designed to look like log chalet-type structures, replete with snowy roofs and gingerbread trim. One chalet housed a legendary fresh gingerbread bakery that filled the town of Scotts Valley with the smell of gingerbread during the Summer months. Theme-appropriate music flowed from speakers hidden in towering redwood trees. The pristinely clean Santa's Village of Scotts Valley was an inviting theme park for all. In 1977 the Santa's Village Corporation had filed for bankruptcy, and in 1979 the park's gates were finally closed. The site is currently a playing field at Borland's headquarters.

All these attractions were supported by numerous curio shops, fruit juice stands, cactus shops and motels.

Scotts Valley is also near Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, and Roaring Camp Railroads. The town is surrounded by redwood forests. The city of Santa Cruz lies to the south.

Tim Brauch Memorial Skateboard Park is in Scotts Valley, where one death has occurred [1].

[edit] High technology

Many high technology businesses are located in Scotts Valley, including the headquarters of Seagate Technology (the world's largest producer of computer hard drives); and E-mu Systems.

[edit] Educational institutions

Scotts Valley is home to Bethany University, Scotts Valley High School, Scotts Valley Middle School, Vine Hill School, and Brook Knoll.

[edit] Other

Sessions, the skate company is headquartered in Scotts Valley.

[edit] Geography

Scotts Valley is located at 37°3′5″N, 122°0′48″W (37.051381, -122.013236)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.9 km² (4.6 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 11,385 people, 4,273 households, and 2,969 families residing in the city. The population density was 955.6/km² (2,473.7/mi²). There were 4,423 housing units at an average density of 371.2/km² (961.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 88.63% White, 0.48% African American, 0.40% Native American, 4.62% Asian, 0.18% Pacific Islander, 2.15% from other races, and 3.53% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.40% of the population.

There were 4,273 households out of which 36.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.3% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.5% were non-families. 23.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.8% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 23.2% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 94.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $72,449, and the median income for a family was $88,573. Males had a median income of $74,183 versus $40,492 for females. The per capita income for the city was $35,684. About 0.9% of families and 2.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.2% of those under age 18 and 4.0% of those age 65 or over.