Holy City is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Santa Clara County, California 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 ...

. Once considered a

Utopian community An intentional community is a voluntary residential community designed to foster a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork. Such communities typically promote shared values or beliefs, or pursue a common vision, which may be political ...

in the 1920s and 1930s, it is now considered a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

. The town is located in the

Santa Cruz Mountains The Santa Cruz Mountains ( Mutsun Ohlone: Mak-sah-re-jah, "Sharp Ridged Mountain of the Eagle" or "People of the Eagle Mountain") are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States, constituting a part of the Pacific Coast R ...

, off State Route 17 on Old Santa Cruz Highway. It is part of the Lexington Hills

census designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 counte ...

. Its ZIP code is 95026, and its area codes are 408 and 669.

History

Holy City was founded in 1919 by

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

-leader William E. Riker and about thirty of his followers. Calling his ideology "The Perfect Christian Divine Way", Riker preached

celibacy Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, the term ''celibacy'' is applied ...

, temperance,

white supremacy White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

, and segregation of the races and sexes. Holy City Art Glass Sign

Riker bought the that became Holy City. During the early years, the city was the only development between Santa Cruz and San Jose, known for its strange roadside attraction signs. They attracted tourists to a restaurant, service station, zoo, observatory, peep show, soda stand, barbershop, shoe repair. The town was incorporated in 1926. The religious community had no church; services were held in Riker's home. By the 1930s the PCDW confirmed disciples probably never numbered more than about 30 people, however the population of Holy City and the surrounding neighborhood peaked at around 300. By 1938, only 75 men and 4 women lived at the site.

KFQU

A radio station was built in Holy City in 1924 and went on the air on July 7 of that year under the call letters KFQU. In April 1931, KFQU had been operating on a radio frequency far from its assigned frequency. The station went off the air in December 1931, and had its license renewal denied on January 11, 1932, due to "irregularities."

Decline of population

The town began to further decline in population in the 1940s, with the construction of State Route 17. Holy City was no longer on the main route through the mountains. With the end of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, many of Riker's followers were able to find work elsewhere. The town was disincorporated in 1959, and Riker lost control of the property. Several of the buildings mysteriously burned down shortly afterwards. The developers who purchased the property eventually put it up for sale in 2006, but it lingered on the market until 2016, when it was bought for $6 million by Robert and Trish Duggan. The Duggans are members of the

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religiou ...

. Robert Duggan has been referred to as the church's "largest financial supporter" by former

Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by the American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It is variously defined as a scam, a Scientology as a business, business, a cult, or a religion. Hubbard initially develo ...

executive

Mark Rathbun Mark C. "Marty" Rathbun (born 1957) is an American former Scientologist who served as a senior executive of the Church of Scientology. He last held the post of Inspector General of the Religious Technology Center (RTC), the organization that ...

. The Holy City Zoo, a former comedy club in San Francisco, had the sign, table and chairs that all came from the original site of the zoo.

History

KFQU

Decline of population

References

Further reading