Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a popular tourist destination, owing to its beaches, surf culture, and historic landmarks

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Overview

Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz (Spanish for "Holy Cross") is a popular tourist destination, owing to its beaches, surf culture, and historic landmarks. Santa Cruz was founded by the Spanish in 1791, when Fermín de Lasuén established Mission Santa Cruz. With the Mexican secularization of the Californian missions in 1833, the former mission was divided and granted as rancho grants. Following the American Conquest of California and the admission of California as a U. S. state in 1850, Santa Cruz was incorporated as a town in 1866, and became a charter city in 1876. The creation of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in 1904 solidified the city's status as a seaside resort community, while the establishment of the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1965 made Santa Cruz a college town.

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Climate

Santa Cruz has mild weather throughout the year, experiencing a warm-summer Mediterranean climate characterized by mild, wet winters and warm, mostly dry summers. Due to its proximity to Monterey Bay, fog and low overcast are common during the night and morning hours, especially in the summer. Santa Cruz frequently experiences an Indian summer, with the year's warmest temperatures often occurring in the autumn. Since the city faces south rather than west with mountains to its north, temperatures are usually several degrees warmer than in coastal areas to its northwest.

Arts and culture

Santa Cruz has a number of cultural institutions and other attractions, including the University of California, Santa Cruz, Arboretum; Mission Santa Cruz; the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History; the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History; the Santa Cruz Art League (which includes an art gallery, theater, and classroom); the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum (housed in a lighthouse near Steamer Lane); and the Tannery Arts Center.

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Landmarks on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Santa Cruz County, California include the Branciforte Adobe, the Cowell Lime Works Historic District, the Golden Gate Villa, the Hinds House, Mission Santa Cruz, the Neary-Rodriguez Adobe, the Octagon Building, and the Santa Cruz Looff Carousel and Roller Coaster, among others.

Parks and recreation

Santa Cruz is home to several state parks and beaches, including Lighthouse Field State Beach, Natural Bridges State Beach, Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park, Twin Lakes State Beach, and Seabright State Beach.

Santa Cruz has three greenbelt open space properties along the city limits, including Arana Gulch, Moore Creek, and Pogonip. There are also five community parks and eighteen neighborhood parks.

Natural Bridges State Marine Reserve is a marine protected area off the coast at the northern edge of Santa Cruz. Most of the rest of the coastline of Santa Cruz lies adjacent to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

The Santa Cruz Wharf is known for fishing, viewing marine mammals and other recreation.

Santa Cruz is well known for watersports such as sailing, diving, swimming, stand up paddle boarding, paddling, and is regarded as one of the best spots in the world for surfing. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is California's oldest amusement park and a designated State Historic Landmark. It is family-operated, and celebrated its Centennial in 2007. It is home to the iconic Giant Dipper roller coaster, which is currently the fifth oldest coaster in the United States. Home to a National Historic Landmark, a 1911 Charles I. D. Looff Carousel and 1924 Giant Dipper roller coaster, the Boardwalk has been owned and operated by the Santa Cruz Seaside Company since 1915.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Santa Cruz, California", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0