Swanton, California

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Swanton, California, is a small community in an unincorporated area of Santa Cruz County on the Pacific Ocean, situated about 5 miles north of the town of Davenport, on Swanton Rd.

The US Geographical survey designates Swanton as a populated place, located at latitude: 37.06417 and longitude: -122.22639 with an elevation of 135 ft.

Ranched with dairy cattle since the California Gold Rush, Swanton was named after Fred Swanton, builder of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Swanton had its own post office from 1897 to 1930 and its own elementary, Seaside School, until 1960. It was the northern terminus of the southern branch of the Ocean Shore Railroad until it closed in 1922.

Currently it is home to the Swanton Pacific Railroad, a one-third scale small gauge railroad that runs on 1.5 miles of track through the Scott Creek Valley using locomotives and cars from the San Francisco Panama Pacific Exposition of 1915.

[edit] Further information

• Davenport oral history, (videorecording, series), Community Action Board, (Santa Cruz: Community Television of Santa Cruz County, 1998).

[edit] References

• Clark, Donald T. (1986). Santa Cruz County Place Names. Santa Cruz Historical Society. ISBN 0-940283-01-8. 

[edit] External links

• Oral History of Swanton Pacific Ranch
• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 37.06417° -122.22639°
  • Street map from Google Maps or MapQuest
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth, or WikiMapia
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA