Pescadero Memories

Story & Photos by John Vonderlin

Email john (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)

Story by Mountain Mike Merritt, Butano Park Seasonal Interpreter

Email Mike (wanderingmike@lycos.com)

Hi June,

I wanted to highlight the history of the valleys (Cloverdale Valley and Butano Valley) surrounding Butano State Park along Cloverdale Road. Leading south from Pescadero, the road winds through the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, past our local farms and into the protected POST and California State Park lands. This posting will focus on Cloverdale Valley.

Our European history began in 1768 when Don Gaspar de Portola, the man himself, strolled right through the Cloverdale and Butano valley on his way to discovering the San Francisco Bay. Because of their remote locations, the Spanish missions influence was slow in reaching the area.

During Mexico’s control of California, the valleys were part of several ranchos,  including Ricon de la Ballena (between Bean hallow and Gazos Creek), Rancho Butano to the north, and Rancho Punta de Ano Nuevo, a combination of lands from ranchos that left a legal mess.  Simeon Castro’s Rancho Punta de Ano Nuevo consisted of over 17,000 acres, including much of what is now Ano Nuevo SP and SR, as well as Butano SP. It was later to become the exclusive property of Loren Coburn

Enjoy and please feel free to respond to any information I have offered.

“Mountain” Mike Merritt

Butano SP Interpreter

Cloverdale Valley

Known to be the area along Cloverdale road between Gazos Road and the saddle near the Blue House Farm.

*Some may extent the name of the valley all the way along Butano Creek to Pescadero. This larger area I refer to as the Butano Valley, not to be confused with the Butano Canyon area. The Butano Valley runs from Pescadero south to the Blue House Farm.

Edgar Steele & The Cloverdale Dairy

Edgar Steele was born in 1830 in New York. In 1863 Edgar Steele built the Cloverdale Dairy in the area between the Butano and Gazos Creeks known as the Cloverdale Valley. Edgar worked 16-hour days for eight years, milking 20 cows himself, handling general business matters at the dairy, and keeping the books for The Steele Brothers firm. Thoroughly drained, in 1864 he leased his dairies for a comfortable yearly income of over $5,000 and went back East for a long rest. He toured the Southern States for couple of years after the Civil War, and married a Tennessee general’s daughter, Julia P. Stanley.

When the Point Reyes lease expired his vacation ended and Edgar returned to California to look for new land for the Steele milk cows. He would find cheap land near San Luis Obispo and moved with his wife to begin a dairy there. (Tess Black)

Horace Gushee took over the Cloverdale operation sometime prior to 1867 with 125 cows. Gushee made cheese.

The next to lease the land from Coburn and Clark was C. S. Walker in 1882. “Next is the Cloverdale Dairy, C. S. Walker proprietor, on shares for the Steele Bros. Clark & Coburn ranch, lease to run for two years, 100 cows milked, made cheese and butter, the butter being packed, and at present worth 30 cents per pound. Four men are employed at a monthly price of $35 each.”

A goat ranch was located in the Cloverdale Gulch, (a small ravine in the middle of the valley) in the 1930’s. It was operated by Joe Abbotti, who previously lived on Goat Hill, an area in the Little Butano Canyon.

The Cloverdale Valley fell into other ownership including the Peninsula Farm Company in the 1920’s, Shoreland Property and the Snows in the 1950’s.

Lawrence Silva was the last to work the land by running cattle. During the Silva lease the property was owned by Joseph Crummer.

On May 27, 1969 the Hoover House on Cloverdale Road midway between the park and Gazos Creek Rd burned to ground. The exact location is currently not known as well as the history of the house. *Looking for photos.

Cloverdale Road was paved in 1972 from Pescadero to the park entrance.  San Mateo County undertook the project primarily to improve access to Butano SP.

On August 2, 1973  a Cow Barn in Cloverdale Gulch was bulldozed by Lawrence Silva. The history of the barn is unknown but it may have dated as far back as to the 1860’s when Edgar Steele built his dairy in the valley. *More info and photo’s are needed.

This is the last surviving evidence of the dairy and ranching days in Cloverdale Valley. Its origins and use are unknown. Currently it is located on state park property. Please refrain from visiting as it is fragile and has yet to be studied. I will post more pictures upon request on it to satisfy you explorers.

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Want to read a book about Pescadero? Check out Tess Black’s History of Four Pescadero Families

Book by Thomas J. Barrett
“A practical inquiry into soil-building, soil conditioning, and plant nutrition through the action of earthworms, with instructions for intensive propagation and use of Domesticated Earthworms in biological soil-building.”

Ever wonder what an earthworm is made of? For a larger image, click on the photo!

Story by John Vonderlin

Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)

All work for this story was done at the San Mateo County History Museum in Redwood City.

Levy Brothers Built a Small Empire of General Stores: Part 8, Finis

Adrien’s leanings toward real estate probably prompted the brothers to accumulate 3,000 acres near Pomponio Creek in the early 1900s. In the meantime, they also attempted to revive whaling south of Pescadero at Pigeon Point–plus a crew of two dozen men worked at their sawmill on Butano Creek.

As a mechanical cream separator revolutionized the dairy industry, the Levys invested in creameries and cheese factories. One factory, with 600 cows, stood at Pigeon Point [this sounds like it was part of the ranch that belonged to Loren Coburn]; another was located north of the old Peterson and Alsford Store in San Gregorio [which now belongs to the Cattermoles.] The third stood on the site once used by a water-powered grist mill on Pilarcitos Creek in Half Moon Bay.

About the same time, the Levys signed the lease for a much larger store–as big as three buildings– on Purissima Street in Half Moon Bay.

Although the Levys loved the small town atmosphere of the Coastside, they actively explored outside investments. By the early 1900s, most businessmen looked to the peninsula. Plans for the extension of an electric trolley car service from San Francisco to San Mateo tantalized potential investors.

As homes filled newly subdivided land, the population rapidly increased. The Levy brothers concluded that a move to the bay side held greater promise for their future.

By 1902, when the brothers had already opened their mercantile in San Mateo, newspapers continued to run ads for their chains of stores at Half Moon Bay, San Gregorio and Pescadero.

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AfterNote: The Levy brothers opened stores on the peninsula and moved there as well. All the stores on the Coastside were closed; the land at Pomponio Creek sold. After decades of success on the peninsula, the store’s owners looked to fresh opportunites in Half Moon Bay, returning there in 1972. But things didn’t work out as expected; the store was closed in the 1980s or 90s.

From the Redwood City Tribune

Feb. 4, 1924: “Dr. T. K. Miller of this place [Pescadero] is reported to have rented Mrs. Roy Johnson’s home, formerly the Yellow Moon Tearoom in Half Moon Bay, with a view of locating his practice in the coastside town to the north. Dr. Miller came to Pescadero from Lathrop a year ago. Since that time he has been identified with the Pescadero community, the Boy Scouts and the Odd Fellows. Mrs. Miller has purchased the books of the circulated library in HMB conducted by Mrs. Johnson.”

Jan. 25, 1924: Phillip Hoffman, recently discharged from the United States army, has established himself here as a cabinetmaker and general mechanic….Claude Scott was in town from the Gazos mills Tuesday. He reports great progress being made to get the lumbering operation under way.

Jan. 11, 1924: Paul Smith editor of the High School Carnelian has returned from a Christmas stay with his mother in Oakland…H. Phillips, proprietor of the New Pescadero Inn, made a surprise business trip to the city Tuesday…A. E. Rease, proprietor of the Emporium , the Mainn street garage here, is suffering from a serous attack of lumbago…

more coming

Story by John Vonderlin

Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)

Hi June,

After our little adventure visiting “The Notch,” Meg and I drove the short distance south to where the Monty Parker Memorial stands, perched on a blufftop at the rappel site the Merry Pranksters reputedly used to access the beach below for “Acid Tests.” in the Sixties.

I had a jar I wanted to leave at the base of the sign that declares the spot to be: “AMBS BEACH, Monty Parker’s Favorite Spot in the World.”

Inside the jar was a slip of paper with Larry’s contact information on it and several sheets of paper and a pen. On one I wrote my name, the date of our visit and MONTY LIVES.

Imagine our surprise when we found a brand new one- inch rope tethered to one of the poles driven into the ground beside the sign, and leading over the cliff to the beach below. We couldn’t see anybody on the beaches visible to the north, or south, so possibly the rope is a permanent fixture.

The second photo is of the rappel spot and the new rope, looking straight down to the rocky ledge beach. The other photo is the skeleton in the path I mentioned. The odd thing is, every other deer skeleton I’ve seen was dismembered by scavengers. This one probably was picked clean by the vultures we see occasionally cruising the coastal cliffs. It was kind of eerie because of its intactness.