Davenport is a

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 ...

(CDP) in Santa Cruz County,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Davenport sits at an elevation of . The 2020 United States census reported Davenport's population was 388.

Overview

Davenport lies along the coast of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, situated about 9 miles north of Santa Cruz, on Highway One. Originally on the banks of San Vicente Creek, the town expanded to the north during the twentieth century. The town is presently noted for the spectacular cliffs and bluffs above the Pacific, beaches in between cliffs, surfing opportunities, the cement plant run by Cemex (shuttered in January 2010), and the former headquarters of Odwalla, a company that made fruit juices.

History

A whaling captain named John Pope Davenport settled at , about half a mile from today's town, in 1867. Davenport built a 400-foot wharf at the mouth of Agua Puerca Creek ("agua puerca" translates to "muddy water"). This wharf was built to load the lumber brought down from the hills for shipment to Santa Cruz. A small village grew up around the port and was known as Davenport Landing. The local post office began operations in 1874, but was known only as Davenport. Agua Puerca Creek lived up to its name by bringing down so much mud that the port filled up and steamers could not tie up to the wharf to load lumber. A small extension did not solve the problem. Then a competitor built a longer wharf, but it was destroyed in a storm. Captain Davenport went bankrupt and moved to Santa Cruz. The post office in Davenport Landing closed in 1889. When Captain Davenport went bankrupt, his assets were auctioned off to pay creditors. Among the items auctioned off were whaling items leading to speculation that he carried out whaling activities from the port, especially after he started losing money. However, no eyewitness reports of whaling activities at Davenport Landing have been found. In 1905, an east coast businessman named William Dingee bought the Santa Cruz Lime Company, which had a lime quarry on the banks of San Vicente Creek, south of Davenport Landing. In the following year, the Santa Cruz Portland Cement Company manufacturing plant was built nearby. At that time, the closed Davenport Landing post office opened up in the settlement that grew up around the cement plant. It again only used the name of Davenport; hence, the name of the town. Davenport has three restaurants, a hotel (at one of the restaurants), two art galleries, a store, a post office, and Pacific School, the only school in the Pacific Elementary School District. The ZIP Code is 95017 and the community is inside area code 831.

Points of interest

;American Abalone Davenport is home to American Abalone, which produces farm-raised California red abalone. No tours are offered. California farm-raised abalone has been selected by the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Sea Watch program as an excellent choice for environmentally conscious seafood consumers. ;Cement Plant and CEMEX Redwoods The cement plant was built in 1906 and operated as the Santa Cruz Portland Cement Company. In subsequent years, it was operated by Pacific Cement and Aggregates (1956), Lone Star Cement Corporation (1965), and RMC Pacific Materials (1998). In 2005, the plant was acquired by Mexico's CEMEX corporation. That same year, the plant was reported to have emitted 100 pounds of mercury. The presence of high levels of chromium-6, purported to be a cancer-causing chemical, led to strained relationships between CEMEX, the Environmental Protection Agency, and County of Santa Cruz. CEMEX ceased operations and decommissioned the plant in 2010. The 8500-acre parcel is now referred to as the CEMEX Redwoods and is planned for future park use. According to the Palo Alto-based Peninsula Open Space Trust, the CEMEX Redwoods have been renamed th
San Vicente Redwoods
Davenport Jail Of historical interest is the Davenport Jail. It has two cells, and was used only twice from the time of its construction in 1914 until its decommissioning in 1936. Today it is a museum featuring coastal history supported by volunteers from the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History. ;Saint Vincent DePaul Church St. Vincent DePaul Church, in Davenport, was built entirely of cement from the local cement factory in 1914. The Church is the subject of a famous photograph by Ansel Adams. ;Southern Pacific Freight Line The southern portion of the Ocean Shore Railroad operated between Davenport and Santa Cruz from 1907 to 1920. The Southern Pacific freight line between the two communities is still in place.

Geography

It lies at . According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the CDP covers an area of 2.8 square miles (7.4 km²), 99.63% of it land and 0.37% of it water.

Climate

Davenport has mild weather throughout the year, enjoying a Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb) characterized by cool, wet winters and warm, mostly dry summers. Due to its proximity to

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by about 75 miles (120 km), accessible via California S ...

, fog and low overcast are common during the night and morning hours, especially in the summer.

Demographics

The 2020 United States census reported that Davenport had a population of 388. The population density was . The racial makeup of Davenport was 243 (62.6%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 3 (0.8%)

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 13 (3.4%) Native American, 3 (0.8%) Asian, 0 (0.0%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...

, 53 (13.7%) from other races, and 73 (18.8%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 152 persons (39.2%). The census reported that 92.5% of the population lived in households, 7.5% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized. There were 121 households, out of which 29 (24.0%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 54 (44.6%) were married-couple households, 12 (9.9%) were cohabiting couple households, 22 (18.2%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 33 (27.3%) had a male householder with no partner present. 30 households (24.8%) were one person, and 20 (16.5%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.97. There were 72 families (59.5% of all households). The age distribution was 98 people (25.3%) under the age of 18, 25 people (6.4%) aged 18 to 24, 92 people (23.7%) aged 25 to 44, 108 people (27.8%) aged 45 to 64, and 65 people (16.8%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 40.7years. For every 100 females, there were 100.0 males. There were 140 housing units at an average density of , of which 121 (86.4%) were occupied. Of these, 76 (62.8%) were owner-occupied, and 45 (37.2%) were occupied by renters.

Notable people

* Joe Brovia, professional baseball player * Valerie Corral, cannabis activist and caregiver * Olga Najera-Ramirez, anthropologist * Marcel Soros, professional surfer

References

External links

Santa Cruz County Conference & Visitors Council - Davenport Visitor Information

{{authority control Census-designated places in Santa Cruz County, California Census-designated places in California Populated coastal places in California