The Santa Cruz Wharf: A Hundred Years of History

The Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf has been helping people and businesses gain access to the ocean for ten decades! Lets take a quick peek at the past and possible future of the longest wooden pile wharf on the west coast of the U.S.

It’s the dawn of the 1910s, and the many tentacled arms of national rail lines have wreaked havoc on ocean shipping from Santa Cruz. City fathers, as a last ditch effort to preserve Santa Cruz as a viable shipping hub, authorized the construction of a really long wharf on the slim hope that accommodating deep water shipping would somehow turn back the tide of rail. It didn’t.

Opened in 1914, the wharf never met the dreams of reviving Santa Cruz as a seaport – rail was too strong. Instead, fisherman, many Italian-born, turned the wharf into the base for their fishing businesses. In its heyday, it was a hard-working, vibrant place with 75-100 boats unloading salmon, sea bass, rock cod, and sole every day. In 1964, longtime City dreams to build a harbor were finally realized. This had significant impact on the wharf as the fishing businesses moved their base of operations to the new harbor at Woods Lagoon. Old-timers say they took the wharf’s lifeblood with them and left only a parking lot for their family-owned restaurants.

Fast forward to the 21st century. Economic and business development has been tempered with an environmental imperative. Ecotourism is an important economic engine for Santa Cruz. Today, City mothers and fathers envision a new future for the wharf as a landmark destination that showcases the Monterey Bay’s natural riches. The Wharf Master Plan seeks to change the way people think about the 100 year old structure. It is a gateway into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, a special nexus of land and water resources, a platform for world-class marine research and education, and a beautiful place to stroll, eat and shop.