A closer look at the new mural in downtown Boulder Creek

By Lisa Robinson

Skyline-to-the-Sea

The Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail runs from the summit of the Santa Cruz Mountains along the old Saratoga Toll Road through Castle Rock and Big Basin State Parks to the ocean at Waddell’s Beach. William Waddell, a pioneer millman, died in 1872 as a result of a bite from a grizzly bear. California Grizzly Bears roamed the canyons until the 1890s.

First Redwood Felled

William Peery, adopted son of Boulder Creek pioneer lumberman Joseph W. Peery, stands with his hands on his hips on top of a giant redwood. This tree was the first to be felled in the forests above Big Basin by the Hartman and Peery Lumber Company.

Bear Creek Sawmill

Twins Austin and Oscar Harmon came to Boulder Creek in the late 1860s. They built this sawmill on Bear Creek in 1886. The twins are credited with pioneering the construction of the Bear Creek Toll Road to Lexington in the 1870s. This would become a county road in 1890.

Sempervirens Falls

Sempervirens Falls is so named for the camp that the Sempervirens Club used in their early trips to the Big Basin. The club was formed on May 15, 1900 by a group of eight preservationists; six men and two women. They camped close to the falls at the foot of Slippery Rock on the Sequoia Trail at Big Basin Redwoods State Park.

The Commercial Hotel

The Commercial Hotel was built in 1897 by lumber baron Henry L. Middleton. Middleton recognized the importance of his first growth redwood holdings in the Big Basin and it was the state purchase of his land that resulted in California’s first Redwood State Park in 1902. Middleton entertained dignitaries at the hotel to promote the formation of the park. The hotel was renamed Big Basin Hotel in 1914. It was razed in 1956 by Johnnie Montanari to make way for Johnnie’s Super.