The Santa Cruz Surfing Museum is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

which was established in May 1986 to document the history of surfing. With collections dating back to the earliest years of surfing on mainland

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, the museum houses a historical account of surfing in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz ( Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a po ...

Location

Located in the Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse at Lighthouse Point on West Cliff Drive, the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum opened its doors in June 1986 as the first surfing museum in the world. The lighthouse was built in 1967 as a memorial to surfer Mark Abott, who died while surfing at the nearby Pleasure Point surf break. Overlooking the

Steamer Lane Steamer Lane is a famous surfing location in Santa Cruz, California. It is just off a point on the side of cliffs in the West Cliff residential area near downtown Santa Cruz, providing easy access and a good vantage point for viewing. The Sant ...

surfing hotspot, this little museum features photographs, surfboards, and videos tracing over 100 years of surfing history in Santa Cruz. After funding cuts in 2009, the Santa Cruz Surfing Club Preservation Society and private donations kept the museum open.

Exhibits

The exhibits at the museum explore over 100 years of surfing in Santa Cruz. Introduced in 1885 by three Hawaiian princes who surfed the mouth of the

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 ...

on plank boards, surfing has permeated every facet of the Santa Cruz community. A plaque was dedicated to the princes:

David Kawānanakoa David Laʻamea Kahalepouli Kinoiki Kawānanakoa (February 19, 1868 – June 2, 1908) was a prince of the Hawaiian Kingdom and founder of the House of Kawānanakoa. He was in the line of succession to the Hawaiian throne. After Hawaii's annexatio ...

Edward Abnel Keliʻiahonui Edward Abnel Keliʻiahonui (May 13, 1869 – September 21, 1887) was a prince of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. His name means "the chief whose strength is attained through patience". Early life Keliʻiahonui was born May 13, 1869, at Kaʻalaʻa at ...

, and

Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole (March 26, 1871 – January 7, 1922) was a prince of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi until it was overthrown by a coalition of American and European businessmen in 1893. He later went on to become a representative in the Te ...

(later a delegate to US Congress) in April 2010. Throughout its history, surf culture has reflected and responded to popular culture. Photographs chronicle the evolution of surfing culture in Santa Cruz from idyllic summers spent at the beach in the 1930s and 1940s, through the hipster beach party 1950s, the surf rock 1960s, the “soul surfing” 1970s, the neon 1980s, and the rebirth of classic long-board riding in the 1990s. Examples of surfboards from each era are on display, from the huge hollow paddle boards and redwood planks made and ridden in the 1930s and 1940s to examples of early foam and

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

boards, and speedy short boards used to create radical new surf moves beginning in the 1970s.

Santa Cruz Light

The museum contains the current Santa Cruz Light, marking Point Santa Cruz on the west side of Santa Cruz Anchorage. USCGsantacruz

The original lighthouse was one of a number of California coastal lights allocated funding by Congress in 1850, only 19 days after statehood.Perry, Frank. ''Lighthouse Point: illuminating Santa Cruz'' (2002). Santa Cruz, CA, Otter B Books Because of disputes over ownership of the land, construction did not proceed until 1868. The original light was a two-story wooden structure, with a lantern housing a fifth-order

fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships." The design allows the c ...

. Erosion of Point Santa Cruz required the lighthouse to be moved back in 1879. Around 1909 (sources vary, possibly 1913) the lens was replaced with a fourth-order fresnel, for better visibility against the light of the city. The light was electrified in 1917, replaced by a wooden tower in 1941, and the original building demolished in 1948.

References

External links

Santa Cruz Surfing Museum Website

City of Santa Cruz website
Location of the museum and its surrounding
{{Authority control , additional=Q28374648 Museums in Santa Cruz County, California Sports museums in California Santa Cruz, California Surfing museums Surfing in California Museums established in 1986 1986 establishments in California Sports in Santa Cruz County, California

Location

Exhibits

Santa Cruz Light

See also

References

External links