PLEASURE SEEKERS

Author's Personal Collection

“… as this is as free as air, one can enjoy a day's outing in this splendid grove, can go when he pleases, rest in the cool hotel parlors, and lounge on the pleasant veranda, without money and without price. If visitors choose, they can have good luncheons served them in the grove at small cost, and when parties of pleasureseekers come in numbers, with music and jollity, there are the dancing platform, swings, and other appliances at their service. No more pleasant spot for a midsummer day's lounge can be found in the county; and nowhere in the State is there a more beautiful grove of California's royal tree, the redwood, or Sequoia [sempervirens].”

This description of Big Trees Grove comes from the History of Santa Cruz County, California, by Edward Sanford Harrison. By the time it was published in 1892, it was out of date ... at least in regards to cost.

In the spring of 1891, grove leasee Joseph Ball built a fourteen-foot high fence at the grove’s entrance. The change was not received well by the people of Santa Cruz.

“Everybody will be sorry to learn that the Big Trees near Felton are being enclosed by a hideous board fence.…We also hear that ten-cents to be charged for a sight of those monarchs of the forest. Some lovers of the beautiful…believe that such majestic monuments of nature’s skill as these grand old trees ought to remain free and open, an inspiration to all.”

Courtesy of Ross Eric Gibson

Ball made many improvements to the resort including construction of two additional hotel buildings, a store and dining pavilion.

The illustration above shows the amenities available within the Fremont Group. These included the outdoor bar which Ball erected beneath the Three Sisters as well as the Arcade, a rustic gazebo. The big tree in the center of the illustration is the famous "Jumbo".  

Sources: “Felton and Ben Lomond,” Santa Cruz Daily Surf, March 26, 1891; History of Santa Cruz County, California, by Edward Sanford Harrison, 1892.