“there has always been something slightly bipolar about california. it was either utopia or dystopia, a dream or a nightmare, a hope or a broken promise...and too infrequently anything in between" ― kevin starr, california: a history
the old pier on davendort beach was used by the concrete company in the town of davenport to help carry concrete from the factory way up on the cliffs above down to the beach below to be loaded onto ship to take to san francisco and other parts of the world...
but settlement in the area of today’s davenport got its start in 1868 when captain john davenport, a sea-based whaler by trade, built a 450 foot wharf off what became to be known as davenport’s landing. the wharf was used to export local timber by boat to san francisco. the original town was about a mile to the north of the present location near el jarro point, in the beautiful cove at the mouth of agua puerca creek
captain davenport also used a practice developed in the azores islands of portugal called shore-based whaling. scouts on the bluffs would alert men to go out from shore in a boat, kill the whale, and tow it back to shore for processing. it allowed the crew to stay with their families and was easier than processing the blubber at sea. by 1880 the high costs of operation of the wharf forced capt. davenport and all his workers to give up his business and abandon the landing and move to santa cruz.
the history of the modern town of davenport is wholly wrapped up with the davenport cement plant. in 1905, an east coast cement businessman named william dingee began the santa cruz lime company on the banks of san vicente creek, two miles south of davenport landing. in the following year, the santa cruz portland cement company was built nearby. the town was built in 1905 by the coast dairies and land company to house workers for the cement plant on the shores of san vicente creek, the town was originally called san vicente, but when the post office was moved from davenport landing south to the new town in 1907, it retained the name of davenport. in those days, the power of the post was great, so san vicente slowly faded away as a name, to be officially replaced by davenport.
by 1915 davenport had a population of about 1800 people, with 60 homes, two hotels, a school, a hospital, and a church. the cement from the plant was used to rebuild san francisco after the 1906 quake, build one of the panama canal locks, the golden gate bridge in the mid-1930s, and even construct the dry docks in pearl harbor, hawaii. though it was bought and sold by several different companies over the decades, the plant continued to supply cement for major construction projects up and down the west coast. it was the main employer in davenport for over 100 years.
in 2005, cemex, a mexican company, acquired the plant and kept it operational until 2010, when a bad economy, high operation costs (the highest of its 14 cement plants in the US), and fears of chromium 6 poisoning similar to hinkley, ca (of erin brockovich fame) forced it to close. at the time it employed about 120 people. its closure was a big blow to the town in loss of jobs and other services. for example, cemex was paying about $185,000 annually for operation and maintenance of the local water and sewage treatment facilities. after the closure, the community had to absorb those costs, on top of the many job losses in a weak economy.
in the first third of the 20th century getting into and out of davenport was a big deal. there were over 700 turns on the road from davenport to santa cruz. as such, the town was isolated and developed a close-knit community. it was made up of a very culturally diverse group of people. most of the managers were swiss, because the coast dairies and land company was owned by four swiss families, but the workers were from all over the world. italian and greek families were very prominent but workers apparently came from all over europe and the middle east. prior to world war one, over 20 different languages were spoken in the town.
by the 1930s the roads and cars had improved such that many people moved to santa cruz and commuted to davenport to work at the cement plant. the cement plant apparently chartered with greyhound to bus workers back and forth daily. by the 1940s it was a much smaller town with a population less than five hundred.
during world war two, the united states government brought in mexican workers, under the bracero program, to do agricultural work. many worked in the davenport area. after the war, several mexican workers came back and the town’s cultural makeup began to include more people of mexican decent and lose the influence of previous italian and greek cultures.
alverda orlando, a davenport resident from 1945-1975, tells a story about one mexican man, known as pancho, who walked up the stairs of the cement plant one day looking for work. at the same moment a shift worker, an italian-american was walking down having just quit. the superintendent hired pancho on the spot. pancho went on to work at the cement plant for years, brought his whole family up from mexico, and bought seven homes, eventually giving one to each child of his...
of a historical note..the st. vincent depaul church, in davenport, was built entirely of cement from the local cement factory in 1914 and is the subject of a famous photograph by ansel adams.
also of historical interest is the davenport jail. it has two cells, and was used only twice from the time of its construction in 1914 until its decommissioning in 1936. today it is a museum featuring coastal history supported by volunteers from the santa cruz museum of art and history.
the southern portion of the ocean shore railroad operated between davenport and santa cruz from 1907-1920. now the southern pacific freight line between the two communities is still in place, running directly through davenport along the cliffside, eventually tracing the entire california coast.
davenport is also home to american a, which is a producer of farm raised california red abalone. california farm raised abalone has been selected by the monterey bay aquarium’s sea watch program as an excellent choice for environmentally conscious seafood consumers.
and there you have a nice history of the small little community of davenport, its concrete factory, and its concrete pier ruins...
"we live in an era of great metamorphosis. the old rules of the past are crumbling and we hunger for change. we are tired of the oppression and the limiting boxes that we have been taught we need to exist within. we grow weary of a society that teaches us that we need to adhere to their regulations and keep our eyes closed to our talents and our gifts" ― c. ara campbell
"it is not selfish to be into loving yourself, and be into doing what you love, nor is it selfish to protect those things your love flows into...if anyone questions and doesn't support your methods and reasons for protecting your loves, then they are seriously the true selfish ones..." ― bodhinku, into love