Zayante, California
Encyclopedia
Zayante is a census-designated place
(CDP) in Santa Cruz County
, California
. It is a residential area located on Zayante Creek
. Zayante sits at an elevation of 699 feet (213.1 m). The 2010 United States census reported Zayante's population was 705.
people, originally inhabited the area. Early history of the area recalls the Zayante people finding shelter and game in the plentiful forests. The area provided them with enough acorns, fish from Lompico
and Newell Creek, and small game to live a peaceful, easy life. Temascals (saunas), songs, and games were the rule, while fighting and thievery the exception.
In 1769, the Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portola
discovered the land area which is now known as the City of Santa Cruz
. When Portola came upon the river which flows from the Santa Cruz Mountains
to the sea, he named it San Lorenzo
in honor of Saint Lawrence
. He called the rolling hills above the river, Santa Cruz, which means "holy cross". Twenty-two years later, in 1791, Father Fermin de Lasuen established Mission Santa Cruz
, the twelfth mission to be founded in California.
Over the next 20 years, word spread throughout the Ohlone tribes, including the Zayante Indians, that the Santa Cruz Mission would provide a regular source of food, even through the winter, warm shelter in the winter, clothes made from woven fabrics (a miracle to the Native Americans), manufactured items (also miraculous) both useful (pots and pans) and curious (trinkets such as glass beads, etc.), and education, if they came to live at the mission. Unfortunately, once lured to the mission by these things, the Indians became virtual indentured servants. In fact, for the Mission system to work it required the services of large numbers of "workers" (to till the gardens, construct and maintain buildings, etc.), something which New Spain (Mexico) was unable to provide because few there were willing to relocate to what was considered the harsh and primitive environment of Alta (Upper) California. The missionaries truly believed they were benefiting what they considered barbaric people through teaching them the manual skills of carpentry, European farming techniques, etc., and through "civilizing" them to the Spanish / European religious and cultural beliefs and practices. This process shattered the ancient native culture wherever it was exposed to it. In addition, diseases which were mostly annoyances to their European hosts decimated the Indian populace, and only small groups remained after 1820. In 1821, Mexico achieved its independence
from Spain, and California came under control of the Mexican government. In the 1830s, Mission Santa Cruz and other California missions were secularized by the Mexican government; only to seriously decline and, in some cases, fall into ruin. The very last of the Zayante people was a woman who lived for many years beside Zayante Creek. When she died in 1934, she was buried somewhere among the giant redwoods in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park
. Her grave, like her people, is lost now.
The Lompico
area became part of Rancho Zayante
, which was granted by Mexico in 1834 to Joaquin Buelna and consisted of 2658 acres (10.8 km²) just north of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. The next year Buelna let his claim lapse and, in 1836, the American-born settler Isaac Graham
, with his friend Henry Neale, acquired Rancho Zayante and the adjoining Rancho San Agustin
via Joseph Majors, who had the required Mexican citizenship in order to be granted a Rancho. In 1841, Majors, Graham, a German named Frederick Hoeger, and a Dane named Peter Lassen
, agreed to erect a mill on Zayante Creek near where it enters the San Lorenzo River. This was reputed to be the first power sawmill in California and was used to mill trees from Lompico.
While building the mill (six years before discovery of gold at a saw mill being constructed in Coloma which resulted in the California gold rush), Isaac Graham found a single gold nugget worth $32,000 (close to $1,000,000 in today's dollars). In comparison, the flake that set off the California gold rush was no larger than one’s little finger nail. In 1855, gold again was discovered along Zayante Creek in what is known today as Henry Cowell State Park. During the summer of that year, miners realized three to ten dollars ($70 - $225 in today's dollars) a day for their efforts and the gold panning fever spread throughout the San Lorenzo Valley and up into Zayante Creek and its tributaries, including Lompico Creek. Much gold still remains in these creeks but is too cost prohibitive to extract.
By the 1850s, Felton
became the hub of the logging industry and the coastal redwood trees that blanketed the area became the largest export. Early loggers described the area as dense, nearly impenetrable redwood forests, howling canyons, and frequent encounters with ferocious grizzly bear
s, the last of which, a silvertip sow, is said to have been killed near Bonny Doon in the late 1880s. They also struggled with a lack of access and suitable transportation for the timber. Eventually the original trusty oxen were replaced by wood burning donkey engines, of which some tracks can still be found today in Lompico. Between 1890 and 1900, the entire area was clear cut and the forest is now in the process of reestablishing itself on the young, steep slopes of marine sedimentary rock common to the California coast.
As with most of the San Lorenzo Valley, once the logging era ended, the old Rancho Zayante was subdivided and sold off to land developers who created the neighborhoods of Olympia, Zayante and Lompico.
Named for either Zayante Creek or the Zayante tribe, Zayante was a stop on the narrow gauge railroad that ran from Los Gatos
to Santa Cruz
from 1880 to 1940, primarily to ship lumber and various fruits grown in the area. Zayante had its own post office. The railroad was acquired by the Southern Pacific in the early 1900s, which added weekend excursion trains until the April 18, 1906, earthquake. Damage to rails, tunnels, and bridges was repaired and the railroad continued to operate until March 1940. Later that year, State Route 17 was routed away from Zayante and other stops along the railroad right-of-way.
Today, the area around Zayante is sparsely populated, and does have one small "corner" market, The Zayante Market.
, the CDP covers an area of 2.7 square miles (7.1 km²), all of it land.
was 258.7 people per square mile (99.9/km²). The racial makeup of Zayante was 647 (91.8%) White, 10 (1.4%) African American, 6 (0.9%) Native American, 4 (0.6%) Asian, 0 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 18 (2.6%) from other races
, and 20 (2.8%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 57 persons (8.1%).
The Census reported that 705 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.
There were 304 households, out of which 80 (26.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 120 (39.5%) were opposite-sex married couples
living together, 28 (9.2%) had a female householder with no husband present, 20 (6.6%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 35 (11.5%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships
, and 5 (1.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 91 households (29.9%) were made up of individuals and 18 (5.9%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32. There were 168 families
(55.3% of all households); the average family size was 2.83.
The population was spread out with 129 people (18.3%) under the age of 18, 59 people (8.4%) aged 18 to 24, 221 people (31.3%) aged 25 to 44, 249 people (35.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 47 people (6.7%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.7 years. For every 100 females there were 104.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 108.7 males.
There were 344 housing units at an average density of 126.2 per square mile (48.7/km²), of which 215 (70.7%) were owner-occupied, and 89 (29.3%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.8%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.3%. 514 people (72.9% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 191 people (27.1%) lived in rental housing units.
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
(CDP) in Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz County, California
Santa Cruz County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, on the California Central Coast. The county forms the northern coast of the Monterey Bay. . As of the 2010 U.S. Census, its population was 262,382. The county seat is Santa Cruz...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It is a residential area located on Zayante Creek
Zayante Creek
Zayante Creek is a stream within the San Lorenzo River watershed in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. The U.S. government has designated Zayante Creek as impaired with respect to sediment. Lompico Creek, a tributary of Zayante Creek, is listed for impairment by pathogens...
. Zayante sits at an elevation of 699 feet (213.1 m). The 2010 United States census reported Zayante's population was 705.
History
The Zayantes, a local tribe of the OhloneOhlone
The Ohlone people, also known as the Costanoan, are a Native American people of the central California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the area along the coast from San Francisco Bay through Monterey Bay to the lower Salinas Valley...
people, originally inhabited the area. Early history of the area recalls the Zayante people finding shelter and game in the plentiful forests. The area provided them with enough acorns, fish from Lompico
Lompico Creek
Lompico Creek is a tributary of Zayante Creek in Santa Cruz County, California, USA. The placename of Meehan is associated with a location near the mouth of Lompico Creek as it discharges to Zayante Creek. The geology of this watershed including the mainstem watershed of Zayante Creek is...
and Newell Creek, and small game to live a peaceful, easy life. Temascals (saunas), songs, and games were the rule, while fighting and thievery the exception.
In 1769, the Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portola
Gaspar de Portolà
Gaspar de Portolà i Rovira was a soldier, governor of Baja and Alta California , explorer and founder of San Diego and Monterey. He was born in Os de Balaguer, province of Lleida, in Catalonia, Spain, of Catalan nobility. Don Gaspar served as a soldier in the Spanish army in Italy and Portugal...
discovered the land area which is now known as the City of Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
. When Portola came upon the river which flows from the Santa Cruz Mountains
Santa Cruz Mountains
The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central California, United States. They form a ridge along the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco, separating the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco Bay and the Santa Clara Valley, and continuing south,...
to the sea, he named it San Lorenzo
San Lorenzo River
The San Lorenzo River drains a large watershed in Santa Cruz County, California. The headwaters originate in the Santa Cruz Mountains at an elevation of , and the river flows through the San Lorenzo Valley before emptying into the Pacific Ocean at Monterey Bay...
in honor of Saint Lawrence
Saint Lawrence
Lawrence of Rome was one of the seven deacons of ancient Rome who were martyred during the persecution of Valerian in 258.- Holy Chalice :...
. He called the rolling hills above the river, Santa Cruz, which means "holy cross". Twenty-two years later, in 1791, Father Fermin de Lasuen established Mission Santa Cruz
Mission Santa Cruz
Mission Santa Cruz was established in 1791 and named for the feast of the Exultation of the Cross, the name that the explorer Gaspar de Portolà gave to the area when he camped on the banks of the San Lorenzo River on October 17, 1769, and erected a wooden cross...
, the twelfth mission to be founded in California.
Over the next 20 years, word spread throughout the Ohlone tribes, including the Zayante Indians, that the Santa Cruz Mission would provide a regular source of food, even through the winter, warm shelter in the winter, clothes made from woven fabrics (a miracle to the Native Americans), manufactured items (also miraculous) both useful (pots and pans) and curious (trinkets such as glass beads, etc.), and education, if they came to live at the mission. Unfortunately, once lured to the mission by these things, the Indians became virtual indentured servants. In fact, for the Mission system to work it required the services of large numbers of "workers" (to till the gardens, construct and maintain buildings, etc.), something which New Spain (Mexico) was unable to provide because few there were willing to relocate to what was considered the harsh and primitive environment of Alta (Upper) California. The missionaries truly believed they were benefiting what they considered barbaric people through teaching them the manual skills of carpentry, European farming techniques, etc., and through "civilizing" them to the Spanish / European religious and cultural beliefs and practices. This process shattered the ancient native culture wherever it was exposed to it. In addition, diseases which were mostly annoyances to their European hosts decimated the Indian populace, and only small groups remained after 1820. In 1821, Mexico achieved its independence
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...
from Spain, and California came under control of the Mexican government. In the 1830s, Mission Santa Cruz and other California missions were secularized by the Mexican government; only to seriously decline and, in some cases, fall into ruin. The very last of the Zayante people was a woman who lived for many years beside Zayante Creek. When she died in 1934, she was buried somewhere among the giant redwoods in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park is a California State Park located in Santa Cruz County, primarily in the area in-between the cities of Santa Cruz, Felton, and Scotts Valley, and the University of California at Santa Cruz, and it includes an extension in the Fall Creek area.-Geography:The main...
. Her grave, like her people, is lost now.
The Lompico
Lompico, California
Lompico is a census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, California. Lompico sits at an elevation of . Lompico shares the 95018 ZIP code with Felton. Lompico was founded in 1927. It is in area code 831...
area became part of Rancho Zayante
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 , straddled Zayante Creek, near its confluence with the San Lorenzo River...
, which was granted by Mexico in 1834 to Joaquin Buelna and consisted of 2658 acres (10.8 km²) just north of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. The next year Buelna let his claim lapse and, in 1836, the American-born settler Isaac Graham
Isaac Graham
Isaac Graham was a fur trader and mountain man. In 1830, he joined a hunting and trapping party at Fort Smith, Arkansas that included George Nidever. Graham attended the rendezvous of 1832 and took part in the battle of Pierre's Hole. From there, Graham joined Joseph R. Walker's party headed for...
, with his friend Henry Neale, acquired Rancho Zayante and the adjoining Rancho San Agustin
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...
via Joseph Majors, who had the required Mexican citizenship in order to be granted a Rancho. In 1841, Majors, Graham, a German named Frederick Hoeger, and a Dane named Peter Lassen
Peter Lassen
Peter Lassen was a Danish-American blacksmith, rancher, prospector and Freemason.-Early life:Peter Lassen was born on October 31, 1800 in Farum, Denmark and immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts in 1830...
, agreed to erect a mill on Zayante Creek near where it enters the San Lorenzo River. This was reputed to be the first power sawmill in California and was used to mill trees from Lompico.
While building the mill (six years before discovery of gold at a saw mill being constructed in Coloma which resulted in the California gold rush), Isaac Graham found a single gold nugget worth $32,000 (close to $1,000,000 in today's dollars). In comparison, the flake that set off the California gold rush was no larger than one’s little finger nail. In 1855, gold again was discovered along Zayante Creek in what is known today as Henry Cowell State Park. During the summer of that year, miners realized three to ten dollars ($70 - $225 in today's dollars) a day for their efforts and the gold panning fever spread throughout the San Lorenzo Valley and up into Zayante Creek and its tributaries, including Lompico Creek. Much gold still remains in these creeks but is too cost prohibitive to extract.
By the 1850s, Felton
Felton, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Felton had a population of 4,057. The population density was 891.2 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Felton was 3,691 White, 25 African American, 29 Native American, 69 Asian, 11 Pacific Islander, 60 from other races, and 172 from...
became the hub of the logging industry and the coastal redwood trees that blanketed the area became the largest export. Early loggers described the area as dense, nearly impenetrable redwood forests, howling canyons, and frequent encounters with ferocious grizzly bear
Grizzly Bear
The grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America...
s, the last of which, a silvertip sow, is said to have been killed near Bonny Doon in the late 1880s. They also struggled with a lack of access and suitable transportation for the timber. Eventually the original trusty oxen were replaced by wood burning donkey engines, of which some tracks can still be found today in Lompico. Between 1890 and 1900, the entire area was clear cut and the forest is now in the process of reestablishing itself on the young, steep slopes of marine sedimentary rock common to the California coast.
As with most of the San Lorenzo Valley, once the logging era ended, the old Rancho Zayante was subdivided and sold off to land developers who created the neighborhoods of Olympia, Zayante and Lompico.
Named for either Zayante Creek or the Zayante tribe, Zayante was a stop on the narrow gauge railroad that ran from Los Gatos
Los Gatos, California
The Town of Los Gatos is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 29,413 at the 2010 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area at the southwest corner of San Jose in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains...
to Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
from 1880 to 1940, primarily to ship lumber and various fruits grown in the area. Zayante had its own post office. The railroad was acquired by the Southern Pacific in the early 1900s, which added weekend excursion trains until the April 18, 1906, earthquake. Damage to rails, tunnels, and bridges was repaired and the railroad continued to operate until March 1940. Later that year, State Route 17 was routed away from Zayante and other stops along the railroad right-of-way.
Today, the area around Zayante is sparsely populated, and does have one small "corner" market, The Zayante Market.
Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the CDP covers an area of 2.7 square miles (7.1 km²), all of it land.
Demographics
The 2010 United States Census reported that Zayante had a population of 705. The population densityPopulation density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 258.7 people per square mile (99.9/km²). The racial makeup of Zayante was 647 (91.8%) White, 10 (1.4%) African American, 6 (0.9%) Native American, 4 (0.6%) Asian, 0 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 18 (2.6%) from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 20 (2.8%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 57 persons (8.1%).
The Census reported that 705 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.
There were 304 households, out of which 80 (26.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 120 (39.5%) were opposite-sex married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 28 (9.2%) had a female householder with no husband present, 20 (6.6%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 35 (11.5%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships
POSSLQ
POSSLQ is an abbreviation for "Persons of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters," a term coined in the late 1970s by the United States Census Bureau as part of an effort to more accurately gauge the prevalence of cohabitation in American households....
, and 5 (1.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 91 households (29.9%) were made up of individuals and 18 (5.9%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32. There were 168 families
Family (U.S. Census)
A family or family household is defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes as "a householder and one or more other people related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption. They do not include same-sex married couples even if the marriage was performed in a state...
(55.3% of all households); the average family size was 2.83.
The population was spread out with 129 people (18.3%) under the age of 18, 59 people (8.4%) aged 18 to 24, 221 people (31.3%) aged 25 to 44, 249 people (35.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 47 people (6.7%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.7 years. For every 100 females there were 104.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 108.7 males.
There were 344 housing units at an average density of 126.2 per square mile (48.7/km²), of which 215 (70.7%) were owner-occupied, and 89 (29.3%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.8%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.3%. 514 people (72.9% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 191 people (27.1%) lived in rental housing units.