The state of California has been the focal point of pivotal activity at the national level ever since people of European extraction began settling there. Despite this, the Santa Cruz region, which lies in the very southwest section of the San Francisco Bay Area, has escaped with little notice. It is probably best known as a seaside resort area while its mountains are used as a depository for murder victims. The latter thought is rather unfair, since no county in California is completely clean of these grisly discoveries. Ghost Towns of the Santa Cruz Mountains provides some background on a section of the state that has never demanded nationwide attention, so the folks who should appreciate it most are locals. The term "ghost towns" is being used as a metaphor. The folklore is kept in a historical context.

The 2002 edition comprises 23 chapters covering the people and small towns that made up the community that grew in the Santa Cruz Mountains, including Mountain Charley, the Summit District, Patchen, Burrell, Austrian Gulch, Germantown, White Wash Alley, Skyland, Highland, Buffalo Jones, Frémont, Silent Charley, Lexington, Alma, Glenwood, Woodside, Searsville, New Almaden, Stevens Creek County Park, Felton, Ben Lomond, Brookdale, and Boulder Creek. Supplementing the chapters are a couple of prefaces (one by the author's daughter), an introduction, index, a map, and quite a few black & white period photos. Most of these chapters were originally written during 1934 while late Author John V. Young was working as a cub reporter at the San Jose Mercury Herald, covering a country beat. News was slow in the area, so he wrote historical features, which were used as feature stories for the Sunday editions.

Although several of the little towns Young touches on are still occupied, others have been lost to the elements. During the 19th century, many little towns sprouted up throughout the western United States; however, most of them relied on single industry for their prosperity (usually mining). Once the business fell apart, the towns' populations abandoned them for another where the prospects were brighter. The small towns in the mountains of Santa Cruz were no exception. A few were even swallowed by the needs of the state when they were flooded and their land turned into reservoirs.

Patchen is one that survives and has even been declared a state historical landmark. Young ran across conflicting accounts of how its name was determined, which was usually done when the post office was established. The most interesting was that when the postal inspector first emerged from the stagecoach, he asked an old man who was busy mending something what he was doing. The oldster replied, "Patchin'." Another source claims the town was named after a horse.

When the railroad was introduced during the 1870s, it gave the region a big economic boost. Not only did drilling tunnels and building the railroad create jobs (albeit temporary), but it eased transporting the product of the local logging industry and brought tourists in for visits. The affects of the 1906 earthquake also did heavy damage to the locomotive network, which was built either along or crossing the San Andreas faultline.

What makes this book even more colorful are the stories of the people who populated the community. The families who pioneered the region and their obstacles are highlighted, but some are more pronounced than others. Santa Cruz County had its own real-life equivalent to Holling Vincoeur of Northern Exposure. As people were first beginning to settle in the woods, they were constantly being threatened by hostile bears. Irish born Charles Henry McKiernan survived having his skull cracked during a fight with a grizzly bear and went on become the legendary Mountain Charley. Another Charley, Charlotte Parkhurst, became the first woman to vote and be counted in public elections by disguising herself as a man.

Other nuggets of intriguing info come out such as 19th century Bay Area land disputes, some of the great redwoods growing in its forests, covered bridges, and how the Loma Prieta mountain has moved 20 feet northeast from 1850 to 1934, toward Morgan Hill. One of the more irritating aspects of the writing is keeping track of its timeline. Between the chapters' original release in 1934 and the three editions of this title, it disrupts the reader's train of thought when dates have to be supplied next to each reference of time. If the last eight chapters were written specifically for this book, why not just update the entire content? Aside from that grievance, Young's style is clean, informative, and easy to follow. The index, on the other hand, misses several of the subjects the book touches on.

Ghost Towns of the Santa Cruz Mountains is a fun and fascinating historical look at an overlooked region of California. Unfortunately, without any incidents of national interest occurring there, it's most likely readers are either past and present residents or those who have visited and are looking for souvenirs. The more they know about the old buildings or names they see on a daily basis or otherwise run across, the more they appreciate them. Recommended to anyone living in the San Francisco Bay Area or readers who enjoy provincial history.


Recommended: Yes