Pescadero Memories

(Photo: This pendant belonged to Mrs. Caroline Dias of Pescadero.)

By June Morrall

The Swanton House did not hold the monopoly on Pescadero’s tourist trade. Postmaster Charles Kinsey, and wife, Nancy, ran another hotel nearby. But when both were indicted for the murder of Harvey Green, the Kinseys abruptly left town.

The windmill-powered Pescadero House opened its doors across the road from the Swanton House, and the ritzy Sulphur Springs Hotel, located two miles east of the flag pole, was financed by San Francisco businessmen. Yet the Swanton House not only outlived them all, the Swanton House was also the most fondly remembered.

By June Morrall

(Pebble Beach ad nauseum.)

“Those who have never seen or examined this wonderful, and I may say remarkable spot,” raved the writer, called Sigma, in the Daily Alta Californian in 1867, “can have but little conception of its character of the beautiful gems that lie scattered about on all sides, if one will only take the trouble to hunt for them…Here are found the carnelian, ruby, amethyst, emerald, garnet, amber and opal, the two latter being very pure and transparent…

“The costumes of pebble hunters are as varied as pebbles while attitudes and positions are worthy of notice of an artist from the cliff above a full view of the scene may be had….Imagine a dozen females some in bloomers, and some without; some with long, some with short dresses, high boots and low-cut gaiters, straw hats, green veils, bandanas, and the inevitable shaker [said to be a sunbonnet] lying about in every conceivable position, some on their knees and hands, others flat on their stomachs with hands busy, feet stretched out and hands half buried in holes they have made in the beach; others sitting, stooping and in every position that suits them best. The scene is worthy the pencil of a painter and if there were a wreck in sight it would have the appearance of a number of bodies washed up by waves and left on the beach…

“…The most extraordinary part of it is that perfect silence is observed and I only discovered the reason when on approaching a huge bundle of of colored clothing surmounted by the antiquated shaker, unnatural and incoherent sounds emanating from under the shaker, and to my surprise discovered a well known lady from San Francisco (who wears her silks and fine bonnets there) but who was so perfectly and admirably disguised that recognition was almost impossible…In an instant she took from her mouth a handful of pebbles which had been kept in that receptacle as a matter of convenience, and pointing to me, exclaimed for the first time, ‘beautiful, isn’t it?’.

“I now discovered the cause of this fearful silence among among many females. They keep the pebbles in their mouth to test them, and if satisfactory, keep or throw them away.”

Pebble Beach was loved by all. Too bad it was located on the unfenced Pocket Ranch owned by Loren Coburn.

By June Morrall

To see a pendant from Pebble Beach, click here

In 1872 H.A. Schofield, the San Mateo County Gazette editor, stayed overnight at the Swanton House and his report gives us a glimpse of how Sarah Swanton ran the bed and breakfast business.

When he arrived the hotel was buzzing with mostly women and children talking about going to nearby Pebble Beach. They were discussing travel arrangements: they could take the hotel’s wagon or wait for the stage or contact the former Santa Cruz sheriff who rented teams of horses at any time of the day.

(Silas Swanton, brother of Charles, left Massachusetts for Pescadero where he bought a half-interest in the Pescadero Livery Stable. Silas lived in the house, later bought by Loren Coburn.}

The Swanton House was also a popular wedding spot. The Swanton’s son, Frank, was married there in 1877. (Sadly, when only 30, he died of a heart attack.)

Ask anybody in town and they would tell you that Sarah Swanton ran the hotel. It wasn’t a good idea to cross her. Her official domain included the kitchen, parlor and billiard room. Assisting her was pretty daughter, Eva, who later wed Pescadero businessman Peter Stryker.

Not to be missed in the dining room was the magnificent collection of pebbles and a cabinet filled with marine and geological curiosities, all said to be from Pebble Beach.

Where are the Swanton House pebbles and curiosities today?

By June Morrall

(Yes, this story goes on and on and on…)

In Pescadero, Charles Swanton was the one-man chamber of commerce and how I would enjoy seeing photos of the Swanton family. What did they look like?

What Charles enjoyed most of all was showing off the nearby natural wonders, including Pigeon Point lighthouse and Pebble Beach. He also worked closed with Dr. Isaac Goodspeed, whose goal was to pull Pescadero out of Santa Cruz County and into San Mateo County.

Why brought the Swantons to this isolated village south of Pescadero? They had owned stock in the U.S. Central Railroad which turned them into great fans of travel by rail. When they heard rumors of an iron road connecting the city of San Francisco with tiny Pescadero, they didn’t want to be left out of the excitement, the day when the rails reached this place cut off from the rest of the world.

They arrived about 1858 and were impressed by the stakes that had been laid out for lots on North Street. But it took another long decade before Western Union established an office in town–a sign that progress wasn’t moving as fast as the Swantons might have hoped for. Yet, like everybody else who stayed, they believed prosperity was coming with the railroad and it would enrich them all.

In June 1871, H.A. Schofield, the editor of the San Mateo County Gazette, described his trip to the Swanton House. At Redwood City, he boarded the 8:50 a.m. train bound for San Mateo, where he took a seat in “on oef Wellington & Son’ssplendid six-horse Concord Coaches” headed for Pescadero.

“It was hard to find a more delightful and pleasant trip than it is at this season of the year to go from San Mateo to Pescadero,” wrote Schofield, the editor. “There is scarcely any dust to annoy the traveler, and the invigorating breeze constantly blowing from the broad Pacific renders it specially pleasant and comfortable after reaching the summit going to Halfmoon Bay…After eating a good dinner at the Dawson House in Half Moon Bay, the travelers in good condition to enjoy the ride of 18 miles down to the coast in Pescadero–passing on the route, the Purissima House and the San Gregorio House, and arriving at Pescadero at half past three o’clock p.m., where the smiling, good natured and accommodating Swanton is always on hand to give the guests of the Swanton House a cordial welcome. Everyone knows Swanton and all their relatives.”