Boulder Creek is a small rural mountain community in the coastal Santa Cruz Mountains. It is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP) in Santa Cruz County,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, with a population of 5,429 as of the 2020 census. Throughout its history, Boulder Creek has been home to a logging town and a resort community, as well as a counter-culture haven. Today, it is identified as the gateway town to

Big Basin Redwoods State Park Big Basin Redwoods State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of California, located in Santa Cruz County, about northwest of Santa Cruz. The park contains almost all of the Waddell Creek watershed, which was formed by the seismic uplift ...

History

The Boulder Creek area is in the traditional tribal territory of the Awaswas people, of which there are no living survivors and are spoken for by the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. According to one anthropologist, the indigenous name for the area was ''Achista'' and tentatively included ''Acsaggi''. The cultural unit,

Ohlone The Ohlone, formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the ...

, to which the Boulder Creek natives belonged were part of a contiguous set of bands that inhabited the coastal region of present-day California from the San Francisco Bay to the Monterey Peninsula and down to San José and Salinas Valley. The earliest European presence in the area was a Spanish exploratory party in 1769, led overland from Mexico by Don

Gaspar de Portolá Gaspar de Portolá y Rovira (January 1, 1716 – October 10, 1786) was a Spanish military officer, best known for leading the Portolá expedition into California and for serving as the first List of governors of California before 1850, Governor ...

and Father Juan Crespí. On August 28, 1791, a Spanish mission,

Mission Santa Cruz Mission Santa Cruz (''La Misión de la Exaltación de la Santa Cruz'', which translates as the Mission of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross), was the twelfth of twenty-one Spanish missions in California (today's U.S. state), established by the Fr ...

, was established by the

Franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

from

Mission Santa Clara de Asís Mission Santa Clara de Asís ( es, Misión Santa Clara de Asís) is a Spanish mission in the city of Santa Clara, California. The mission, which was the eighth in California, was founded on January 12, 1777, by the Franciscan order. Named for ...

for the conversion of the Awaswas. The Awaswas were moved to Mission Santa Cruz and

Mission San Juan Bautista Mission San Juan Bautista is a Spanish mission in San Juan Bautista, San Benito County, California. Founded on June 24, 1797 by Fermín Lasuén of the Franciscan order, the mission was the fifteenth of the Spanish missions established in presen ...

, which claimed the land and peoples. The Awaswas language and its dialects became the main language spoken at Mission Santa Cruz. Upon independence from Spain in 1821, the area became a part of Mexico. Although Spain had not awarded land grants in the Santa Cruz area, the Mexican government started issuing them in 1822 when it took over the administration of California. Most of the grants lay along the coast, with the only ones within the San Lorenzo Valley being

Rancho Zayante Rancho Zayante was a Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Cruz County, California. The grant, measuring one league by one-half league (2,658 acres), straddled Zayante Creek and the San Lorenzo River. It included most of the present-day communit ...

and

Rancho San Agustin Rancho San Agustin was a Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Cruz County, California given in 1833 by Governor José Figueroa to José Antonio Bolcoff. The grant was bounded by the San Lorenzo River on the west and Rancho Carbonera on the sou ...

. Under Mexican administration, only natural citizens could own land. Although not a Mexican citizen, in 1841,

Isaac Graham Isaac Graham (April 15, 1800 – November 8, 1863) was a fur trader, mountain man, and land grant owner in 19th century California. In 1830, he joined a hunting and trapping party at Fort Smith, Arkansas that included George Nidever. Graham ...

purchased the Rancho Zayante land grant by proxy from frontiersman and naturalized Mexican citizen Joseph Ladd Majors. In 1843, together with

Peter Lassen Peter Lassen (October 31, 1800 – April 26, 1859), later known in Spanish as Don Pedro Lassen, was a Danish-born Californian ranchero and gold prospector. Born in Denmark, Lassen immigrated at age 30 to Massachusetts, before eventually final ...

, Graham built one of the first water-powered sawmills in California and, with it, the first significant settlement in the area. Graham's settlement marked the beginning of San Lorenzo Valley's lumber-based economy. Following the

Mexican-American War Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexicans, Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% ...

of 1846–48 and the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

of 1848, the area steadily grew in population, including considerable immigration. While the

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( es, Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo), officially the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, is the peace treaty that was signed on 2 ...

ending the War obliged the United States to honor Mexican land grants, the process took many years of court hearings. In the meantime, squatters and entrepreneurs moved into the valley to harvest its rich resources of timber and lime. Despite the lack of roads, many families braved the wilderness to homestead the upper San Lorenzo. There were few large operations in the upper San Lorenzo Valley, leading the pioneers to develop their own systems of harvesting and transporting to the lumber and tanning markets. Logging in the valley supplied large timbers to shore up the underground workings of the mines after the initial rush of gold-panning gave way to other mining techniques. By the late 1850s, early settlers and lumbermen were using the Turkey Foot floodplain as a gathering point for their mule and oxen teams.

Timber town

Branciford Alcorn was one of the first to settle along Bear Creek in 1865. Daniel Crediford and sons Wilfred and Stephen moved about four miles up Boulder Creek to the Sequoia district in 1867. West Virginian Joseph Wilbur Peery also settled in the Boulder area in 1867 and began a small-scale logging project along the San Lorenzo River. Peery built a dam across the river at Two Bar Creek to provide water power to his mill and for the one he later built two miles south of the junction of the river, Boulder and Bear creeks. Twin brothers Austin and Oscar Harmon assisted at the Two Bar Creek mill until its closure. The erection of the Two Bar Creek sawmill by Peery later helped in the establishment of the settlement of Boulder. The year 1868 was the founding year for the settlement of Boulder. Transportation remained a problem, slowing development of the small communities that now dotted the valley. A road extension from Graham Hill Road linking the upper San Lorenzo valley with Santa Cruz through Felton was completed in May. It also marked the completion of the United States government's survey of all land not held by grants in the Santa Cruz Mountains, which was then opened for purchase and homesteading. Government surveyors divided the largely unsettled San Lorenzo Valley into claimable sections. The area of Boulder Creek occupied two 160-acre tracts. The northern half, between Harmon and Bear Creeks, was awarded to John Alcorn, Branciford's son. Loggers moved up the San Lorenzo and its tributaries removing every marketable tree that were then sold to the demanding market of the San Francisco Bay area. The lumbermen and their families moved into scattered cottages and homes around the periphery of Peery's Two Bar Creek sawmill, while a general store, livery stable, and blacksmith shop arose nearby to support the mill and its visitors. The increase in the number of families with children determined the need for a school, the first one of which was started in a small building on Alcorn's land on what is now West Park Drive. Lumber could not be shipped over the mountains to Santa Clara Valley. Two years later in 1871, another road extension, the Saratoga Toll Road, was added from the summit at the Saratoga Gap and ran 11 miles to meet the road that ran about four miles above Boulder Creek. In June, the Maclay Turnpike officially opened. Alcorn erected a two-story boarding house, the Boulder Creek House. That same year, Peery was awarded a land grant and relocated his lumber mill a mile south to Lorenzo, a settlement that he laid out, which was bounded by what is now Harmon, West, South, and East Streets. With an access point to the greater San Francisco Bay Area came the establishment of a post office named Boulder Creek in 1872, with Peery becoming the first Postmaster. Mail runs were limited to twice a week because it took a mail carrier two days to travel from Santa Clara to Felton. What is now Boulder Creek was originally once two settlements: Lorenzo at the southern end of town, and Boulder was north of the current town core. Boulder Creek served as the upper terminus of the San Lorenzo Valley Logging Flume terminating in Felton, which began construction in 1874 and, when formally opened in October 1875, was augmented by a new rail line to transport logs to the wharf in Santa Cruz. In the 1880s, this lumber town which was called Lorenzo took the name of the Boulder Creek post office that had been established in the 1870s. Grace_Episcopal_Chrurch

Geography

Boulder Creek is located on the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...

. The town has a total area of , of which all is land. The town is bordered by

San Mateo County San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City is the county seat, and the third most populated city following Daly ...

to the northwest;

Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring Sa ...

to the northeast;

to the west; and Brookdale to the south. Boulder Creek is from Santa Cruz, from San Jose, from San Francisco, and from Sacramento. Boulder Creek sits at the north end of the

San Lorenzo Valley The San Lorenzo Valley is in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Santa Cruz County, California and was once a logging industry center of California especially during the rebuilding of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake. Now it is home to over 35,000 ...

at the confluence of

San Lorenzo River The San Lorenzo River is a long river whose headwaters originate in Castle Rock State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains and flow south by southeast through the San Lorenzo Valley before passing through Santa Cruz and emptying into Monterey Ba ...

and Boulder Creek within the

Santa Cruz Mountains The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States. They form a ridge down the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco. They separate the Pacific Ocean from ...

, a Level IV ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an area surrounded by steep, redwood- and pine- covered hills formed by the river, creek, and their tributaries. The river flows through Boulder Creek on the east and south through Brookdale, Ben Lomond, and Felton, and continues south to the City of Santa Cruz where it enters Monterey Bay. Directly across from Boulder Creek's confluence with the San Lorenzo River, Bear Creek flows into the river and creates a topographical feature known as the Turkey Foot. The Turkey Foot creates a floodplain, particularly on the western side of the river where the mountainside is less steep.

Climate

Boulder Creek has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Csb'') characteristic of California's coast, with moist, mild winters and dry summers. Located about 15 miles inland, the Boulder Creek skies can be overcast due to moisture from the Pacific Coast marine layer. The dry period of May to October is mild to warm, with the normal monthly mean temperature peaking in August at . The rainy period of November to April is slightly cooler, with the normal monthly mean temperature reaching its lowest in December at . On average, there are 75 rainy days a year, and annual precipitation averages . Variation in precipitation from year to year is high. Above-average rain years are often associated with warm

El Niño El Niño (; ; ) is the warm phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and is associated with a band of warm ocean water that develops in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific (approximately between the International Date L ...

conditions in the Pacific while dry years often occur in cold water

La Niña La Niña (; ) is an oceanic and atmospheric phenomenon that is the colder counterpart of as part of the broader El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate pattern. The name ''La Niña'' originates from Spanish for "the girl", by an ...

periods. Flooding of the San Lorenzo River, caused by a combination of high tide, storm surge, and runoff, has been known to cause extensive damage. During the January 1982 El Niño storm, from January 3 to 4, 12.74 inches of rainfall occurred in Boulder Creek over the period of 24 hours. This generated debris flows and shallow landslides. During the El Niño winter of 1996 and 1997, higher concentrations of debris flows was observed in the area around Boulder Creek. Fires have occurred throughout Boulder Creek's history for various reasons but recently because of climate change. The

CZU Lightning Complex fires The CZU Lightning Complex fires were wildfires that burned in Northern California starting in August 2020. The fire complex consisted of fires in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, including fires that had previously been separately tracked as ...

started on August 16, 2020 due to a severe thunderstorm that initially started several separate fires. Due to a change in wind conditions, these separate fires merged together and rapidly spread through nearby communities, including Boulder Creek. The CZU fire incident was finally contained on September 22, after destroying a number of houses but sparing the town's historic main street. Previously, two conflagration-sized fires nearly destroyed downtown Boulder Creek and the nearby village of Lorenzo in 1891. Boulder Creek falls under the

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

9b Plant

hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...

Cityscape

California State Route 9 State Route 9 (SR 9) is a rural and mountainous state highway in the U.S. state of California that travels from SR 1 in Santa Cruz to SR 17 in Los Gatos, passing through the San Lorenzo Valley and the Saratoga Gap in the Santa Cruz Mountai ...

enters Boulder Creek from the south at River Street, bisecting the town as the Central Avenue arterial thoroughfare, before passing by Bear Creek Road to the northeast and becoming SR 9 once again. Within the town core, Route 9 connects to the southern terminus of

California State Route 236 State Route 236 (SR 236) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It is an approximately 18-mile (29 km) "C" shaped loop route of State Route 9 in the Santa Cruz Mountains that serves Big Basin Redwoods State Park. SR 236 begins ...

with an at-grade intersection, which provides access to the northwest of the town as Big Basin Way. Route 236 then continues westward from Boulder Creek and into Big Basin Redwoods State Park. The community is divided into three geographical sections of unequal size: Village Core, South Village, and Outlying Village Areas.

Architecture

The architecture of Boulder Creek varies but is generally popular among tourists and locals. Many of the commercial buildings along Central Avenue are designed primarily in the Boomtown style. Historic buildings are designed primarily in the Queen Anne and a variety of Victorian styles. For examples, the designs of the McLeod House and the Stagg/Hartman House are drawn from these architectural movements. Modern and other non-classical architectural styles, such as

Minimal Traditional Minimal Traditional is a style of architecture that emerged in mid 20th century America as a vernacular form that incorporates influences from earlier styles such as American Colonial, Colonial Revival, Spanish Revival, Tudor Revival, and American ...

and

Ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

, are also seen throughout the community. Outside downtown Boulder Creek, architectural styles are even more varied. The former Grace Episcopal Church is designed in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style.

Demographics

The

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

showed Boulder Creek's population to be 5,429, an increase of 10.3% from the 2010 census. As of the 2020 census, the racial makeup and population of Boulder Creek included: 4,142

Whites White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as " ...

(76.3%), 411

Multiracial Americans Multiracial Americans are Americans who have mixed ancestry of two or more races. The term may also include Americans of mixed race ancestry who self-identify with just one group culturally and socially (cf. the one-drop rule). In the 2010 Unite ...

(7.6%), 117 Asians (2.2%), 28

African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

(0.5%), 22 Native Americans and

Alaska Natives Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a numbe ...

(0.4%), 12

Native Hawaiians Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii ...

and other

Pacific Islanders Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Oce ...

(0.3%), and 61 persons of other races (1.5%). There were 636 Hispanic or Latinos of any race (15.4%).

2010 Census data

The

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

reported that Boulder Creek had a population of 4,923. The population density was . The racial makeup of Boulder Creek was 4,429 (90.0%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 54 (1.1%)

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 31 (0.6%) Native American, 81 (1.6%)

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 5 (0.1%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 119 (2.4%) from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 204 (4.1%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 366 persons (7.4%). The Census reported that 100% of the population lived in households. There were 2,124 households, out of which 548 (25.8%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 997 (46.9%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 176 (8.3%) had a female householder with no husband present, 97 (4.6%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 189 (8.9%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 29 (1.4%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 598 households (28.2%) were made up of individuals, and 129 (6.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32. There were 1,270

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

(59.8% of all households); the average family size was 2.80. The population was spread out, with 884 people (18.0%) under the age of 18, 319 people (6.5%) aged 18 to 24, 1,222 people (24.8%) aged 25 to 44, 2,066 people (42.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 432 people (8.8%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 105.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.3 males. There were 2,455 housing units at an average density of , of which 71.6% were owner-occupied and 28.4% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.1%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.5%. 74.0% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 26.0% lived in rental housing units.

2000 Census data

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 4,081 people, 1,630 households, and 1,025 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 1,829 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 90.25%

, 0.59%

, 1.10% Native American, 1.72%

, 0.20%

, 2.18% from

, and 3.97% from two or more races.

of any race were 5.68% of the population. There were 1,630 households, of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.1% were non-families. 25.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.02. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 23.6% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 33.8% from 25 to 44, 28.7% from 45 to 64, and 6.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.6 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $60,455, and the median income for a family was $66,037. Males had a median income of $48,125 versus $40,197 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the CDP was $32,012. About 1.9% of families and 8.0% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 0.9% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

The area's economy was historically based on the timber and lime industries, but now relies on tourism. As the closest town to Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Boulder Creek provides services to some of Big Basin's visitors. Many of its current residents are retirees, families and professionals who commute to nearby jobs.

Culture

Museums

The San Lorenzo Valley Museum is an educational foundation that maintains two of the area's official museums. The California Humanities and the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

(NEH) partially fund the Museum, and its permanent and temporary exhibits are open to the public free of charge. Its main gallery is in Boulder Creek, which is housed in the former Grace Episcopal Church, a historical landmark listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. The other location is the Faye G. Belardi Memorial Gallery in Felton.

Festivals and street fairs

Boulder Creek is home to several different and unique street festivals, parties, and parades. Most famous are its Fourth of July Parade and Lumberjack Days held every July; Halloween Sidewalk Party in October; and Christmas in the Redwoods in November. The Boulder Creek Art, Wine, and Music Festival was previously held every Memorial Day Weekend on Central Avenue for more than 20 years; it has continued as the Santa Cruz Mountain Art and Wine Festival and is held every Labor Day Weekend at Garrahan Park.

Government

Boulder Creek is an unincorporated community, a status it has held since being dis-incorporated during the 1915 session of the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legisla ...

. While Boulder Creek is not governed at the municipal level, it does consist of a number of entities to support its needs. Its executive and legislative governing body is the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors and in the county-wide elections, Boulder Creek forms part of District Five. The Board acts in place of a city council. Because of its unincorporated status, Santa Cruz County provides land use planning, parks, public works, and economic development services and regulation. In the

, Boulder Creek is in the 17th Senate District and in the 29th Assembly District. In the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, Boulder Creek is in California's 18th congressional district.

Departments and agencies

Independent and semi-independent entities include the: * Boulder Creek Business Association * Boulder Creek Fire Protection District * Boulder Creek Recreation and Park District

Education

San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District is a public school district in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. The district serves the unincorporated communities of Ben Lomond, Boulder Creek, Brookdale, Felton, Lompico, Mount Hermon ...

(SLVUD), the sole public school district in the town, operates the town's single public elementary school, Boulder Creek Elementary. In the 2021-22 school year, 445 students were enrolled in the public elementary school. From sixth to twelfth grades, Boulder Creek students attend San Lorenzo Valley Middle and High Schools, both located in Felton. The town is also home to three private schools (PK, PK-K, 1-12), one of which is a

Montessori The Montessori method of education involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing real-world skills. It emphasizes indepen ...

Teacher-run pre-school, and one public charter school (K-12). Santa Cruz Public Libraries operates one neighborhood location, the Boulder Creek Branch Library.

Media

KBCZ is a non-profit, community-based radio station broadcasting, since receiving its license in June 2013, from the Boulder Creek Recreation and Park District's Visitor Center office in downtown Boulder Creek. The FCC granted extended coverage in 2021 and KBCZ now covers all of the San Lorenzo Valley, Scotts Valley, Lompico and parts of Santa Cruz.

Notable people

Michael Been Michael Kenneth Been (March 17, 1950 – August 19, 2010) was an American rock musician who achieved critical attention and rotation play on MTV in the 1980s with his band The Call. He later released an album of his solo work and toured with hi ...

- musician; resident * Aric Cushing – actor, director, author * Cora Evans – Catholic mystic; resident *

Jonathan Franzen Jonathan Earl Franzen (born August 17, 1959) is an American novelist and essayist. His 2001 novel ''The Corrections'', a sprawling, satirical family drama, drew widespread critical acclaim, earned Franzen a National Book Award, was a Pulitzer Pr ...

– author; resident for several years *

Nick Herbert Nicholas Le Quesne Herbert, Baron Herbert of South Downs, (born 7 April 1963) is a British Conservative Party politician and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Arundel and South Downs from 2005 to 2019. He was Minister of State for Police ...

– physicist and author; resident *

Christopher Hills Christopher Hills (April 9, 1926 – January 31, 1997) was an English-born author, described as the "Father of Spirulina" for popularizing spirulina (dietary supplement), spirulina cyanobacteria as a food supplement. He also wrote 30 books on con ...

- author; resident *

Jordan Hubbard Jordan K. Hubbard (born April 8, 1963) is an open source software developer, authoring software such as the Ardent Window Manager and various other open source tools and libraries before co-founding the FreeBSD project with Nate Williams and Rodn ...

FreeBSD FreeBSD is a free and open-source Unix-like operating system descended from the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), which was based on Research Unix. The first version of FreeBSD was released in 1993. In 2005, FreeBSD was the most popular ...

co-founder; resident * Paul Locatelli - Jesuit priest and academic; born in Boulder Creek * Martan Mann - jazz pianist, educator, author; resident *

Tom Pepper Tom Pepper (born August 24, 1975 in Des Moines, Iowa) is a computer programmer best known for his collaboration with Justin Frankel on the Gnutella peer-to-peer system.Oram, Andrew ''Peer-to-peer: harnessing the benefits of a disruptive technolo ...

–

Nullsoft Nullsoft, Inc. was an American software house founded in Sedona, Arizona, in 1997 by Justin Frankel. Its products included the Winamp media player and the SHOUTcast MP3 streaming media server. In later years, their open source installer syste ...

co-founder; resident * Samuel H. Rambo –

California State Senator The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. ...

; resident

References

External links

Boulder Creek Business AssociationBoulder Creek Fire Protection DistrictBoulder Creek Recreation and Park DistrictSan Lorenzo Valley Museum

Big Basin VineyardsSanta Cruz Mountain BulletinUnofficial website
– Outdated since 2011. {{authority control Census-designated places in Santa Cruz County, California Census-designated places in California