Wed, Dec 02, 2020
Laurel Maxwell
Uncover Santa Cruz History: The Best Books to Gift
Escape into the pages of some of Santa Cruz County’s greatest stories.
Below you’ll find a roundup of our staff’s favorite publications, hand-picked to make excellent gifts for the budding or veteran historian in your life.
Fall deep into the pages as you get lost in years of research covering a breadth of topics about Santa Cruz County inhabitants, places, events and activities. The MAH’s Publications Committee has been producing journals, walking guides, and more to make our local history easier to find, enjoy, and share.
Plus, you can support the MAH as you uncover local history. Your purchase of a MAH publication directly supports the museum and helps us maintain our collections, develop new exhibitions, and produce educational resources. A win-win!
You can learn more about how to get involved with the MAH’s Publication Committee by visiting: santacruzmah.org/join-a-committee
For the Food Lover: Harvesting Our Heritage
Inspired by a tattered family recipe book, the local foodies turned authors wondered how early Santa Cruzans ate the food they were growing, raising, and catching. Written by local food lovers this MAH publication offers bite-sized history with the perfect amount of delectable recipes. Offering a taste of local history without leaving you stuffed, this publication will fit perfectly on your coffee table, nightstand, or in use with your flour-dusted kitchen recipe collection.
For Those Who Love Neighborhood Walks:
The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture
This thirty-year-old classic has been thoroughly revised and updated, reflecting the changes the years (and the Loma Prieta earthquake) have wrought. With more than 480 individual entries (covering both present and demolished structures), nearly 200 photographs, biographies of local architects, a supplemental list of buildings, an extensive bibliography, an index of street addresses, and an extensive and carefully researched main index, The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture is certain to secure a place among the essential books on the history of Santa Cruz.
For the Avid Historian: Names on the Map
This book tells the fascinating story of the 1889 official map of Santa Cruz County and how it came into being. Known as the “Hatch Map,” it not only shows towns, roads, creeks, and mountains, but also landowners. This gold mine of information for historians and genealogists is fully reproduced here and all the names indexed. The book also includes biographies of the key figures responsible for the map’s creation.
For the Budding Historian: Do You Know My Name?
Get a glimpse into the history of Santa Cruz County through the lives of its people. It tells of Native Americans who came to live at Mission Santa Cruz; of Californios who struggled to keep their land after California became a state; of the young men of color who played baseball here in the early 1900s; of African American preachers who founded early churches in our community; of Japanese Americans from Watsonville who were interned after Pearl Harbor.
For the Conservationist: A Split History
The history of the Santa Cruz Mountain redwoods consists of many stories: stories that tell of the thousands of years these aged giants thrived as the Ohlone people managed the landscape; that tell of the settlers who came from afar and saw the seemingly endless forests as a source of profit; that tell of the far-sighted women and men who joined together to preserve groves of these ancient trees. The stories progress to the present day as the split interests of logging and conservation continue to collide.