The redwood forest interpretive graphic, part of A Field Guide to the Communities of Pogonip, by Kylie Smith.

The Pogonip is a beautiful city greenbelt located in Santa Cruz, California, on the eastern edge of the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) campus. It contains a variety of plant and animal communities, or habitats, that have been shaped greatly by human impact over the years. Up until the purchase of the land in 1988 by the City of Santa Cruz, the Pogonip had been used for many different things, including a golf club, a polo club, residential estates, and a campground.

Golf players flock to the beautiful golf club at Pogonip, circa 1900. Photo: Courtesy of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History

Find this guide at the Golf Club Drive and Spring Street entrances into Pogonip. Photo: Kylie Smith

There are many natural wonders to be discovered within the Pogonip: Tiny animals, flowers and fungi to look at closely, and predators and vistas to admire from afar. The Pogonip is well worth a visit and, if you go, there is a new publication titled A Field Guide to the Communities of Pogonip. I created this guide as part of my senior project requirement to graduate from UCSC as an Environmental Studies major.

Shortly after moving to Santa Cruz to be a student, I found the Pogonip and immediately loved exploring its trails and learning about the plant and animals that live there. The field guide is the combination of my love for natural history, illustration, and the Pogonip. My hope is that the science and art will inform, inspire, and help you make a personal connection to the natural inhabitants and ecosystems in this diverse greenbelt. The guide represents many months of planning, researching, grant proposal writing, illustrating, and a huge amount of help from the Ken Norris Center for Natural History.

What’s in the Guide

The guide contains mural-style illustrations of the plant and animal species within each of the four main habitats of the Pogonip: Redwood Forest, Meadows, Mixed Evergreen Forest, and the Riparian communities.

The meadow interpretive graphic, part of A Field Guide to the Communities of Pogonip, by Kylie Smith.

Written stories and information within each mural encourage interaction with the surrounding ecosystem. You will discover the life story of the common Buckeye butterfly, a friendly meadow dweller, such as this example of the text from the Meadows community section:

“The life of a Buckeye begins as a tiny egg laid on a leaf of its host plant. Can you find it’s caterpillar in this drawing? (Hint: Look in a corner.) As a caterpillar, it eats and sheds its outer cuticle when it outgrows its skin. Eventually, it finds a spot to hang and form a chrysalis (see upper right). Within the chrysalis, the Buckeye transforms from a pea soup-like liquid into an adult butterfly. Once emerged, the adult pumps liquid into its wings. They harden in the sun and are flight ready! The common Buckeye is often seen fluttering low to the ground. Watch the adults suck up nectar from flowers with their proboscis.”

Similar illustrated entries cover the brown creeper, a secretive bird that lives among the redwoods; the Douglas iris, which grows within the Riparian community; and the slender salamander that lives in the Mixed Evergreen Forest.

This juvenile Ensatina is a type of salamander. Look for them nestled under logs in the moist soil along the Rincon Trail in the Redwood Forest community. Be cautious when rolling logs to look for hidden creatures and remember to always roll the log toward yourself so you have that barrier for protection and any potential dangerous animals can escape away from you. Photo: Kylie Smith

The guide also includes a map that shows the locations of hiking trails and each habitat within the Pogonip. In case you get confused about exactly which habitat you are in, there is also a learning guide that helps you locate yourself within a specific habitat.

Liverwort along the creek bed of the Fern Trail. Bryophytes, along with mosses, typically grow fairly flat on rocks by water. Photo: Kylie Smith

A Field Guide to the Communities of Pogonip, is available as a pamphlet that contains illustrations with written details and stories that can inform both children and adults. It’s available at both the Golf Club Drive and Spring Street entrances to Pogonip. You can also view the field guide online and download a pdf version.

A slightly camouflaged Red Admiral butterfly rests and soaks in the sun upon a fallen branch found along the Fern Trail in the Mixed Evergreen Forest community. This insect has a lifecycle that is very similar to the common Buckeye butterfly. Photo: Kylie Smith

The Thimann greenhouse facilities. Many of these plants are used in local land restoration. Photo: Courtesy of Jim Velzy

The tops of UCSC’s science buildings have three high-tech greenhouses that make them a botanist’s paradise in the sky. All three facilities are computer-controlled to enable staff to fine-tune the internal climate.

In just one of the facilities, there are currently 700 species of plants. A portion of them is housed indoors within three different microclimates, and the rest are outside, surrounding the two outdoor classrooms. Faculty and graduate students use the research facilities to study plant pathology, genetic modification, the effects of climate change on ecosystem restoration, and more. Consequently, the UCSC greenhouses play a big role in restoration efforts here in Santa Cruz, California.

Outdoor local flora waiting to be transplanted to their respective restoration sites. Photo: Courtesy of Jim Velzy

There are usually between 20 and 30 different experiments being conducted at any time. They investigate questions such as how quickly invasive weeds such as periwinkle and fennel can crowd out native grasses and flowers. Some of the plants grown in the facilities are endangered and are used in a coastal prairie restoration project near the Seymour Marine Center. They germinate native grass seedlings and transplant them to Younger Lagoon Reserve to restore the native ecosystem.

Students and faculty from the greenhouse facilities also manage protected lands through the UC Natural Reserve System. Together with other UC branches, they maintain more than 30 different protected areas throughout California. They perform a variety of vital services for the state’s native flora, such as removing invasive weeds like periwinkle, ice plant, scotch broom, and poison hemlock.

The work and research done in the greenhouse facilities help ensure that the native flora of Santa Cruz remain as pristine and undisturbed as possible for everyone to enjoy.

This post was written by Antonio Lamb, a Mobile Ranger intern at the time of writing, and Julia Gaudinski.

The original Hay Barn as it looked in 2005. Photo courtesy of the Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District.

This giant barn served several different purposes through the years. Originally, it probably held some of the 30-plus oxen kept on the ranch as draft animals. In the 1950s it stored hay for cattle that were being fattened up in an attached corral.

Interior of the original Hay Barn as it looked in 2005. Photo courtesy of the Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District

The original barn dated from the 1860s or 1870s and was constructed with a heavy frame of large fir timbers held together by mortise-and-tenon joints and wooden pegs. The redwood siding was attached with square-cut nails typical of the late 1800s. In 2014-2015 the original barn was dismantled and rebuilt using the same timber frame construction technique.

Reconstruction was well under way in March, 2015. The darker-colored timbers are ones salvaged from the original barn. Photo courtesy of the Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District.

Although much of the original wood had badly deteriorated, some of the original timbers and siding were reused. These are darker in color and clearly visible from inside the barn. The reconstructed Hay Barn is used by the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems or CASFS (aka “The Farm”).To learn more about the raising of the hay barn click here.

The new and improved Hay Barn.

Come To The Event!

Come join us in the newly constructed Hay Barn for campus’s 50th anniversary History Fair on October 24th from noon to 4:00pm. Admission is free and open to the public however, any donation is much appreciated. You can’t beat free parking, refreshments, and learning about local history before UC Santa Cruz was established. To learn more about the event including the list of speakers and informational topics, click here.

Take the Self-Guided Mobile Tour

This piece is part of UCSC Lime Kilns Tour by Frank Perry on behalf of The Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District. Download the free app with many tours of the Santa Cruz area and beyond.

The content for this blogpost and the AppTour was prepared by The Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District, University of California, Santa Cruz, and is © 2015 by The Friends. Much of the information is from the book, Lime Kiln Legacies: The History of the Lime Industry in Santa Cruz County. The book can be purchased at the Museum of Art and History in person or on-line. It’s also available through Amazon.com.

If you take the AppTour tour you will see that some of the historic buildings have been put to modern uses by the University. Others remain unused but are gradually being restored with private gifts of funding and materials. For more information on how to help, contact the Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District. This UCSC friends group is dedicated to researching, preserving, and teaching about the history of this historic site.

The Granary is made of wood, but with a limerock foundation. Photo courtesy of Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District.

At the base of the University of California, Santa Cruz lies the Cowell Lime Works Historic District. Along High Street, right before the main campus entrance are the granary and stonehouse, that were part of Cowell Ranch. These small buildings beside harken back to the days of ranch self-sufficiency. Grain grown on the ranch was stored in sacks in the Granary. The Stonehouse was where the workers were paid and where there was a commissary.

Only Paid Once a Year!

Amazingly, back in the 1870s Henry Cowell only paid his men once a year (on January 1). The gold coins were brought down from the company headquarters in San Francisco. Pay was a dollar a day (equivalent to $13.66 today), with deductions for days missed. By the early 1900s, the workers were paid by check once a month, and earned considerably more.

Both of Henry Cowell’s sons, Ernest and S.H., valued worker loyalty. In the early 1900s, although pay was low, the company covered the cost for treatment of any injuries received during work. S.H. Cowell also aided worker families facing unexpected expenses due to the sickness or death of a family member, though this was not written into any contract. During the Great Depression, when millions of Americans lost their jobs, S.H. Cowell never laid off a regular employee.

The Stonehouse is made of local limerock. Photo courtesy of Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District.

In the 1950s the Stonehouse had an office with a desk and safe. On the south side was a scale for trucks. After the University took over, the building housed the campus newspaper, City On A Hill, until the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake made the building unsafe. For many years, the University used the Granary as a child care center.

History Fair at the Lime Works

On October 24th from noon to 4:00pm, Friends of the Cowell Lime Works is hosting a history fair at the newly constructed Hay Barn at UCSC. Titled “A History Fair: Cowell Ranch and the land before UCSC” will feature six short talks that focus on the pre-UCSC use of campus lands. A number of local organizations (including Mobile Ranger) will also present displays and activities that focus on local history, especially the effects of past human activity on the land. To learn more about the event including the list of speakers and informational topics, click here.

Take the Self-Guided Mobile Tour

This piece is part of UCSC Lime Kilns Tour by Frank Perry on behalf of The Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District. Download the free app with many tours of the Santa Cruz area and beyond.

The content for this blogpost and the AppTour was prepared by The Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District, University of California, Santa Cruz, and is © 2015 by The Friends. Much of the information is from the book, Lime Kiln Legacies: The History of the Lime Industry in Santa Cruz County. The book can be purchased at the Museum of Art and History in person or on-line. It’s also available through Amazon.com.

If you take the AppTour tour you will see that some of the historic buildings have been put to modern uses by the University. Others remain unused but are gradually being restored with private gifts of funding and materials. For more information on how to help, contact the Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District. This UCSC friends group is dedicated to researching, preserving, and teaching about the history of this historic site.

Built over 150 years ago for the A. P. Jordan family, this historic ranch house has seen many residents through the years. Courtesy Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District.

The House of Lime

Today’s Cardiff House has had many occupants over its 151 year history. Except for the University, they all have had one thing in common – they were running or managing the surrounding lands for lime production. Early on, it housed the families of the most important players in local lime: Albion Jordan and Henry Cowell. Later, it housed the managers for the Cowell’s lime operations. It’s in fact the name of the last family that lived there for many years (Cardiff) that is used for the house today.

A Farmhouse

In the 1860s, this modest farmhouse was out in the country. Lime-maker Albion Paris Jordan had the house built for him, his wife, and family in 1864. Jordan was a native of Maine who had come to California during the Gold Rush. He and his business partner, Issac Elphinstone Davis, made lime in the San Francisco Bay area before moving their operations to Santa Cruz in 1853. Jordan supervised the manufacturing process in Santa Cruz, while Davis ran the warehouse and sales department in San Francisco.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel, May 14, 1865, described the construction of the house: “Mr. A. P. Jordan is building a new residence in that most delightful situation overlooking the town and the Bay of Monterey, long since selected as a sight [sic] for the building, near the lime-works of Davis and Jordan.”

The house was most likely constructed by John B. Perry, Jordan’s father-in-law. Based on tree-ring analysis, the large cypress trees along the driveway leading down to High Street were planted around the same time the house was built.

Sadly, Jordan contracted tuberculosis and lived in the house only about a year before selling and returning to Maine. He subsequently recovered, commissioned the construction of a three-masted schooner—named the A.P. Jordan— and then died on its inaugural voyage to San Francisco. He is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Santa Cruz.

Henry Cowell took over Jordan’s half of the business around July 1, 1865, and soon settled in the house with his family. The Cowells lived in Santa Cruz for about 15 years, and their children attended nearby Bay View School. The Cowells returned to San Francisco in 1879, but stayed here on visits to Santa Cruz, sometimes for extended periods.

Later this was home to Frank and Evelyn George and then George and Violet Cardiff. Both men worked as ranch managers. Mrs. Cardiff was still cooking with a wood stove into the 1950s.

The house was a provost’s residence in the early years of the University and is now the University Women’s Center.

Take the Self-Guided Mobile Tour

This piece is part of UCSC Lime Kilns Tour by Frank Perry on behalf of The Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District. Download the free app with many tours of the Santa Cruz area and beyond.

The content for this blogpost and the AppTour was prepared by The Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District, University of California, Santa Cruz, and is © 2015 by The Friends. Much of the information is from the book, Lime Kiln Legacies: The History of the Lime Industry in Santa Cruz County. The book can be purchased at the Museum of Art and History in person or on-line. It’s also available through Amazon.com.

If you take the AppTour tour you will see that some of the historic buildings have been put to modern uses by the University. Others remain unused but are gradually being restored with private gifts of funding and materials. For more information on how to help, contact the Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District. This UCSC friends group is dedicated to researching, preserving, and teaching about the history of this historic site.

Today the Cook House is home to the UCSC Admissions Office. Photo Courtesy Friends of the Cowell Limeworks Historic District.

The main entrance to the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) is gateway not only to a world class institution of higher learning, but also to the Cowell Lime Works Historic District. The district encompasses 30 acres of the UCSC Campus near the main entrance and holds what was the center of the largest lime manufacturing region
in California during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Preserved are four lime kilns, the cook house, a cooperage (where barrels were made), a hay barn, The Cardiff House, several workers’ cabins, and many other structures from the 19th century.

In 2007 the Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Photo Courtesy Friends of the Cowell Limeworks Historic District.

A succession of companies operated here. The first to make lime on a large scale was the firm of Isaac E. Davis and Albion P. Jordan starting in 1853. In 1865 Henry Cowell bought A. P. Jordan’s half of the business and, in 1889, Davis’s share. Cowell, and later his sons, ran lime-making operations at this and three other nearby locations in Santa Cruz County. They also made lime in the Sierra foothills and in Washington state. The last of Cowell’s Santa Cruz County kilns, beside Highway 9 in what is now Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, ceased operation in 1946.

The Cook House: A Lucky Place

What is now the UCSC Admissions Office was originally where the lime workers ate their meals. The house is built of redwood and the local limerock. According to oral history, the building was constructed in the 1880s. While most buildings here were whitewashed, the Cook House was always red (considered a lucky color by Cowell’s Chinese cooks).

During peak operations in the late 1800s and early 1900s, some 40 workers lived here, many of them immigrants from the Azores (part of Portugal), and Italy. Still earlier, many were Irish. Meals were pretty basic: beans, potatoes, bread, coffee, and beef—lots of beef. Cowell kept herds of cattle on the property. Once a week they slaughtered a steer—always a tough one according to the late John Hong Dong, one of the last cooks. Indeed, old cattle bones unearthed in an archaeological dig beside the Cook House in 2008 corroborated that they ate poorer cuts of meat from older animals.

Early-Day Garbage Disposal. Waste from the kitchen was mashed up and dumped into this pig feeder to fatten the resident porkers. Photo Courtesy Friends of the Cowell Limeworks Historic District.

The University remodeled the building for use as offices in the 1960s and again in 2008.

Take the Self-Guided Mobile Tour

This piece is part of UCSC Lime Kilns Tour by Frank Perry on behalf of The Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District. Download the free app with many tours of the Santa Cruz area and beyond.

The content for this blogpost and the AppTour was prepared by The Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District, University of California, Santa Cruz, and is © 2015 by The Friends. Much of the information is from the book, Lime Kiln Legacies: The History of the Lime Industry in Santa Cruz County. The book can be purchased at the Museum of Art and History in person or on-line. It’s also available through Amazon.com.

If you take the AppTour tour you will see that some of the historic buildings have been put to modern uses by the University. Others remain unused but are gradually being restored with private gifts of funding and materials. For more information on how to help, contact the Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District. This UCSC friends group is dedicated to researching, preserving, and teaching about the history of this historic site.